Huck and the Question of His Morality

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Throughout the book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main character, Huck goes through major changes. The story is set before the Civil War in the South. Huck is a child with an abusive father who kidnaps him from, Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, the people he was living with. He eventually escapes from his father and finds Jim, Miss Watson’s runaway slave. As Huck travels with Jim, Huck begins to realize that Jim is more than a piece of property. During the travel down the river, Huck makes many decisions that reflect his belief that Jim deserves the same rights he has. Because of these realizations, Huck chooses to do the right thing in many instances. Some of these instances where Huck does the right thing instead of society’s version of the right thing include, Huck apologizing to Jim, not turning Jim in, and tearing up the letter he was going to send to Miss Watson.
One action that shows what Huck thinks of Jim is when Huck apologized to Jim for lying to him. The two were heading down the river and the fog rolled in. Huck got separated from Jim in the fog. Huck got in the canoe and tried to paddle to Jim who was in the raft. After a long time adrift, Huck finally finds Jim. Huck fools Jim into thinking the entire thing was a dream. Jim, despite society’s idea of slaves being “less” than white people, is pretty smart. Jim notices all the debris, dirt, and branches that were collected on the raft while it was adrift. He got mad at Huck for making him look like a fool and worrying him so much. In a famous quote from the book, “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards” (Twain 131). This quote demonstrates the beginni...

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...tter. The idea that Jim had rights like any other person was forming in his head when he decided to not turn Jim in and when he apologized to him. After the letter was torn up, Huck goes to free Jim, is distracted by Tom and the adventure in saving Jim. Huck loses some of the humanity he has been working so hard to develop the entire story. When Jim is finally freed, Huck decides to go out West on the Frontier and leave civilized society. This represents a new beginning for Huck, a chance to escape from all the hardships he has faced and the cruelty he has encountered in society. Huck does what he thinks is the right thing for him in going out west to start again. According to Huck, during those three instances examples in the book, he does the right thing despite what he has been told by society is the right thing.

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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

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