The Negative Behavior In The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer By Mark Twain

The main character of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, Huck Finn, undergoes a complete moral change while having to make life changing and moral questioning decisions throughout his journey on the river. Huck appears first as a morally inferior character caused by living with a self absorbed and abusive father, because of his alcoholic habits. Throughout the whole book Huck is guided by Jim, a runaway slave who goes with him and helps Huck gain his sense of morality. During these encounters, he is in many situations where he must look within and use his judgement to make decisions that will affect Huck’s morals.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn begins with the boy, Huckleberry (Huck for short), telling a story in a very conversational tone. The story is a recap of Twain’s previous novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, in which Huck and Tom find a robber’s treasure of 12 thousand dollars, and invest it in the bank. Tom had apparently reached out to Huck again, asking him to join Tom’s very own band of robbers. Huck, of course, agreed, and moved back in with Widow Douglas, who cares for him, and makes sure he remains clean. Huck, however, is selfish, and dislikes being “civilized.” He accepts religious and social views the widow enforces upon him, yet decides for himself if he wants to follow them, and doesn’t tell her so as to not cause any unnecessary

Huck emphasizes that he wants a “change” from society’s stereotypical beliefs, such as those in religion. According to Huck, hell is more favorable than heaven if he is not bound by the rules of society. Although Huck pursues individuality over conformity, he does not confront society’s stereotypes. At this point, Huck has a vision to pursue freedom, but not to yet challenge society as he “first hated school, but by and-by could stand it” (Twain 11). As Twain emphasizes Huck’s position as the “ego,” he highlights Huck’s indecisiveness towards the concept of morality, but also molds Huck into a rebel against society’s

In the story The adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn is described as the “Juvenile pariah” of the village, and how he was despised by all the mothers of the town. However, based on the events that took place earlier these are not accurate representations of who he really is, because of how he helped the widow Douglas, stayed loyal to Tom, and how well he treated Muff. The first reason why he should not be considered an awful kid is how compassionate his actions toward the widow Douglas were. When hanging out in town he saw two figures running toward the edge of town, so he followed them. They were soon found out to be Injun Joe and his accomplice trying to get revenge for Injun Joe, and how he was whipped.

Throughout the classic novel of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain we see a lot of moral development with the main character Huckleberry Finn. Throughout the story Huck’s friendships greatly influence his moral identity. Throughout the series of events that unfold upon our main character, Huck Finn, we see huge moral leaps in the way he thinks that are influenced by that friendships he makes on his journey. He starts the book as a young minded individual with no sense morals other than what has been impressed onto him and ends up as a self empowering individual. Through the friendships he makes with Tom Sawyer, Jim, and the Duke and King we see big moral leaps with Huck.

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the theme of individual identity, especially contrasted against mob mentality and assimilation, is present in almost every chapter of the novel. Throughout the novel, the characters within the story, especially Huck as the protagonist, make decisions regarding which type of mentality they will use, which then affects their relations with other characters, such as Tom Sawyer. In the book, Twain uses both Huck 's idealization of Tom and Tom, the physical being, as secondary characters to help the reader understand how Huck falls into both of these mentalities and how his identity as individual changes throughout the novel. This insight allows the reader to better understand Huck 's character by showing Huck 's response to the pressure to assimilate to mob mentality, mainly through his relationship with Tom, and development in his ability to think for himself by contrasting his behavior in Tom 's presence and absence along with the reasons this development occurs.

Comparison of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

In order for Huck to challenge any of the values and assumptions of the time he must first be acquainted with them.  And he is not only intimately acquainted with the values of his society but he holds many of its beliefs himself.  But Huck longs for freedom away

Tom Sawyer, a character in Twain’s novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, is a young kid, and is well portrayed as such by Twain through his decisions and actions throughout the novel. Throughout the novel, Tom displays instances of cruel treatment for Jim, lack of sensitivity to Jim’s feelings, acts of cruelty towards Jim, and sometimes other characters, which in turn comments on society and the normal views of society at the time. In the latter stages of the novel, Huck and Jim reunite with Tom, and include him in the plan and idea to release Jim for slavery. While deciding the plan to execute, the boys decide to go with Tom’s plan, a plan that just goes horrid in terms of actually making Jim free.

At the beginning of Huck’s narration, he immediately mentions his previous adventures with Tom Sawyer; by instinctively introducing himself in terms of Tom’s story, Huck demonstrates that he thinks of himself more as a supporting character to Tom’s life than the protagonist to his own. This belief also compels Huck to listen to Tom’s advice. When the Widow Douglas decides to civilize Huck, he initially runs away in disgust, but Tom ultimately convinces him to stay. Huck explains, “But Tom Sawyer he hunted me up and said he was going to start a band of robbers, and I might join if I would go back to the widow and be respectable. So I went back,” (1). Tom’s influence outweighs Huck’s instinct to escape civilization, and Huck instead chooses to try to become “respectable” like Tom. Despite Huck’s multiple sets of ideologies, the values he adopts from Tom Sawyer prevail as the most influential and serve as a guide for many of Huck’s

Through the theme of rebellion against society, Huck demonstrates the importance of thinking for oneself and embodies the idea that adults are not always right. This is highlighted in his noncompliance when it comes to learning the Bible and in the decisions he makes when it comes to Jim, decisions that prove to be both illegal and dangerous. By refusing to conform to standards he does not agree with, Huck relies on his own experiences and inner conscience when it comes to making decisions. As a result, Huck is a powerful vehicle for Mark Twain’s commentary on southern society and

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer appears in St Petersburg and at the Phelps’ farm as Huck Finn’s companion. Though Tom serves as Huck’s partner-in-crime of sorts, the two boys contrast in crucial perceptual and behavioral aspects: where Tom possesses a love for romanticism and a strict policy of adherence to societal conventions and codes, Huck possesses a skeptical sort of personality in which he tends to perceive society’s infatuations as frivolous. Tom’s presence represents an overlying trend in behavior for Mark Twain’s era wherein individuals adhere to an idealistic social code that justifies the subjugation of others for the entertainment of the privileged populus. In this regionalist critical novel, Mark Twain uses Tom Sawyer as a vehicle to reveal the dangers of an idealistic society and how idealism leads to society rationalizing its day-to-day standards; thereby, its idealism serves to hide the questionable moral behaviors prevalent in Twain’s era.

Mark Twain once described his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as “a struggle between a sound mind and a deformed conscience”. Throughout the novel, Huck wrestles with the disparity between his own developing morality and the twisted conscience of his society. In doing so, he becomes further distanced from society, both physically and mentally, eventually abandoning it in order to journey to the western frontier. By presenting the disgust of Huck, an outsider, at the state of society, Mark Twain is effectively able to critique the intolerance and hypocrisy of the Southern South. In doing so, Twain asserts that in order to exist as a truly moral being, one must escape from the chains of a diseased society.

Huck Finn seemed like a rebel without a cause right from the start. He seemed as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Huckleberry Finn was also greatly influenced by Tom Sawyer. Huck even joined a band of robbers called “Tom Sawyer’s Gang” in which a group of young boys pretend to capture, rob, and murder people. He saw Tom as a role model, someone who he could look up to. Huck’s decisions during the course of the novel are solely based on Tom and whether he would see fit to it. Huck appeared as a naïve troublemaker in the beginning of the novel.

Since Tom’s parents died, he lives with his Aunt Polly, his half-brother Sid, and his cousin Mary. Huck, however, still had his father, Pap, but is equivalent to not having a father