Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

654 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Huckleberry finn character analysis paper

Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is a person to be admired. His caring attitudes and blunt honesty prove that he is a great person. Although Huck can be seen lying, cheating and stealing, he does these things out of necessity and as a result of his poor upbringing. These negative attributes don’t affect his overall high character. Huck Finn has many great aspects, but he is fallible and capable of doing wrong. He often lies, cheats, and steals simply to survive and get out of trouble. Huck also displays this bad behavior as a result of his poor upbringing. Much of this behavior was learned from his father, as evidenced in the following passage. “Pap always said it warn’t no harm to borrow things if you was meaning to pay them back some time; but the widow said it warn’t anything but a soft name for stealing, and no decent body would do it” (65). It is this learned behavior, his desire to survive and “get out of jams,” and society’s negative influences, such as its view that slavery is right, that motivates him in doing wrong. Although Huck can sometimes be labeled as a miscreant, he is actually a very honest person. In a literal sense, Huck doesn’t always exhibit honest behavior. However, it is Huck’s realistic and slightly naive view of society that is honest--he sees things for what they truly are. One example of this honesty occurs when Huck helps Jim to freedom. While he doesn’t view his own actions as honorable, the reader can infer that they are. Huck feels guilty for his role in Jim’s escape, knowing that he was doing something society would have scorned. He says, "I couldn’t get it out of my conscience, no how nor no way. It got to troubling me so I couldn’t rest; I couldn’t stay still in one place. It hadn’t ever come home to me before, what this thing was that I was doing. But now it did; and it stayed with me, and scorched me more and more...I got to feeling so mean and miserable I most wished I was dead" (88). Huck is honest with himself and his feelings.

Show More
Related

  • Turning Points In Huck Finn

    1285 Words  | 3 Pages

    He gets into all sorts of conflicts that force him to battle and work his way out of them, and in turn, they propel his moral position’s evolvement. It is especially hard on Huck when it comes time to resolving moral dilemmas. He is always stuck between making his own moral decisions, be it conventional or not, or allowing influencers, his father, the widow, and society, to make the decisions for him. He can never let go of the guilt associated with taking the unconventional path and rejecting what society upholds because that is all he has ever been taught in his life. That is why it is hard to apologize to Jim at first, but given time Huck is able to muster the courage to do so because that is the right thing to do even when society says so otherwise. The same goes for helping a slave, such as Jim, escape to a free state where he can find the opportunity to reunite with his family. Ultimately, he violates the demands of society to do what is right and not contribute to the enslavement of another human being. And it is not until the end of the novel that Huck no longer views his decisions as moral failings, but instead as moral triumph because he stayed true to himself and not once did he allow society to dictate his

    Read More

  • charhf Changes in Huck Finn's Character

    669 Words  | 2 Pages

    Huckleberry Finn – The Changes of His Character Throughout the Novel. & nbsp; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is a novel about a young man's search for identity. Huckleberry Finn goes through some changes and learns some life lessons throughout his journey. Huck changes from being just an immature boy at the beginning of the novel to being a more mature man who looks at things from a different perspective now. & nbsp; At the beginning of the novel, Huck tends to have an immature side to him. There are some things in the beginning that show that Huck still has a very childish side to him. They get down on one thing when they don't know anything about it."

    Read More

  • Huck Finn Morality

    942 Words  | 2 Pages

    In chapter 16, Huck goes through a moral conflict of whether he should turn Jim in or not. “I was paddling off, all in a sweat to tell on him; but when he says this, it seemed to kind of take the tuck all out of me (89).'; Right off from the beginning, Huck wanted to turn Jim in because it was against society’s rules to help a slave escape and Huck knew it. But when Jim said that “Huck; you’s de bes’ fren’ Jim’s ever had; en you’s de only fren’ ole Jim’s got now (89),'; made helped Huck to grasp the concept that there is a friendship in the making. Even though Huck didn’t turn Jim in, he is till troubled by his conscience when the slave catchers were leaving because he knows it is wrong to help a slave. Still Huck cannot bring himself forward to tell on Jim, thus showing that his innate sense of right exceeds that of society.

    Read More

  • Understanding and Accepting Parfit's Nature of Persisting Persons

    1765 Words  | 4 Pages

    Parfit’s view on the nature of persisting persons raises interesting issues in terms of identity. Though there are identifiable objections to his views, I am in favor of the argument he develops. This paper will layout Parfit’s view on that nature of persisting person, show support as well as argue the objections to the theory. In Derek Parfit’s paper Personal Identity, Parfit provides a valid account of persisting persons through time through his clear account of psychological continuities. He calls people to accept the argument that people persist through time but people do not persist or survive by way of identity.

    Read More

  • National Football League Pros And Cons

    813 Words  | 2 Pages

    On September 17, 1920, some men gathered in Canton, Ohio at the Hupmobile showroom of Ralph Hay (“NFL Founded” 1). At the end of this meeting between these men the American Professional Football Association was formed but later will become the National Football League. This is a story of how the National Football League has transformed into the league it is today (1).

    Read More

  • A Description of the History of the NFL

    1718 Words  | 4 Pages

    The NFL has become the most popular sport in the United States. It is watched my millions every weekend. The NFL is only growing in popularity. With new fans joining the fun every day. The NFL has faced its share of problems too. With concussions scaring away many future players, the NFL is hoping to lower the possibility of concussions in the future. Each NFL team plays a total of 16 games over a span of 17 weeks. There are two conferences in the NFL, the AFC and the NFC. There are four divisions in each conference, each with 4 teams. The playoff teams are decided by the division rankings. The winner of each division makes the playoffs, with the two best 2nd place teams making it in as a wild card.

    Read More

  • David Rosenhan's Experiment

    1610 Words  | 4 Pages

    They quickly gained admission to the hospitals; not a single person was denied. “Immediately upon admission to the psychiatric ward, the pseudo-patient ceased simulating any symptoms of abnormality” (Rosenhan). The pseudo-patients immediately started acting sane after being admitted into the hospital. The staff members were quick to diagnosed them with a psychiatric disorder upon admission. “Seven of the volunteers were diagnosed as schizophrenic and the other as a manic depressive psychotic” (Brown). All of the ps...

    Read More

  • Super Bowl History

    943 Words  | 2 Pages

    The title “Super Bowl” came about in the 1960’s. College post season games were called “bowl” games as they are still known today. This lead AFL founder Lamar Hunt to suggest that the championship game be renamed “Super Bowl”. Along with the name change in 1969, roman numerals were introduced to designate the individual games. The following year the NFL and AFC merged into one league with two conferences allowing for 13 teams. This allowed for the game to be played between the winners of the AFC (American Football Conference) and the NFC (National Football Conference). The winners off the game were then titled “NFL Super Bowl Champions”. Along with the merger and the conferences being added the Lombardi Trophy was added as the trophy for the Super Bowl champions to display after their winning of each super bowl. The trophy was named for Vince Lombardi, who inspired and led the Green Bay Packers to win b...

    Read More

  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a type of anxiety disorder that can be best characterized by the recurrent or disturbing thoughts that are labeled as obsessions. Sometime these obsessions can take on the form of intrusive images or the unwanted impulses. The compulsions can come from the repetitive or ritualized behaviors that a person feels driven to perform on a daily basis. The majority of people with the diagnosis of OCD can have both obsessions and compulsions, but most of the times about 20% have obsessions alone while 10% may have the compulsions alone (Goodman M.D., 2013) . Common types that have been illustrated in individual’s diagnoses with OCD can be characterized with concerns of contamination, safety or harm to themselves, unwanted acts of aggression, the unacceptable sexual or religious thoughts, and the need for symmetry or exactness. While some of the most common compulsion can be characterized as excessive cleaning, checking, ordering, and arranging rituals or the counting and repeating routines activities that are done sometimes on a daily basis multiple times in a day.

    Read More

  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

    1064 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are several things that are included in OCD, including its symptoms, treatments and its involvement with the brain. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder recognize their symptoms to be ego-dystonic which are thoughts one would not usually have and not within one’s control but is still a product of one’s mind. The two common symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder are obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions take the form of persistent and uncontrollable thoughts, images, impulses, worries, fears or doubts. An anonymous writer wrote about his/her images, “These images included hitting, stabbing, poisoning and shooting people, even the people I loved the most…” However, compulsions are either repetitive physical behaviors or mental thought rituals that are performed over and over again to help relieve a person’s anxiety. Over time compulsions can become more elaborate and time- consuming. Shirley Brinkerhoff mentions in her book Amanda, a high school girl facing OCD, said, “Then I started having to count my steps. Like, 387 steps to the bus stop, and if missed...

    Read More

  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

    1590 Words  | 4 Pages

    OCD is an anxiety disorder that is described as someone with obsessive thoughts and/or compulsive behavior. People with OCD are caught up in repetitive behavior and thoughts that they cannot stop. Obsession is defined as unwanted, recurrent, and disturbing thoughts that a person cannot stop. These thoughts are unable to be suppressed and can result in severe anxiety. Compulsions are the result of the obsession. These are repetitive, ritualized behaviors that are done to alleviate the anxiety caused by the obsession. (2) The most common obsessions are fear of contamination, fear of causing harm to another, fear of making a mistake, fear of behaving in a socially unacceptable manner, need for symmetry or exactness, and excessive doubt. The most common compulsions are cleaning/washing, checking, arranging/organizing, collecting/hoarding, and counting/repeating. (3) Some people with OCD have rituals that help relieve the anxiety; however, that relief is only temporary. (4) Most patients (at least 80%) with OCD have both obs...

    Read More

  • The Roman Army

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    To a soldier, war was not romantic nor an intellectual adventure: It was a job of work to which he brought a steady, stubborn, adaptable schooled application (Adcock 6). A grouping of men called Legions were the main force in the Roman Empire. In the Republican times the legions were given a serial number (I, II, III, etc.) each year they were recruited. The smallest unit in the legion was the century, made up of one hundred men. Legionaries used javelins to begin the battle at long range and disrupt enemy battle lines before charging forward to engage the enemy at close range with swords and shields. The normal strength of a Legion was four thousand infantry and two hundred calvary, which could be expanded to five thousand in an em...

    Read More

  • On Being Sane In Insane Places Summary

    1463 Words  | 3 Pages

    The notes gathered by the pseudo-patients were used to conclude how patients experience a psychiatric ward. However, the pseudo-patient's perceptions were biased as they do not reflect the needs and perceptions of actual patients. Rosenhan (1973) makes assumptions about what patient's consider is 'quality care' from a biased view, rather than establishing criteria that reflected authentic experiences of psychiatric patients. The study can be seen to have low ecological validity as it can be argued that the pseudo-patients aren't really insane therefore it may have been difficult for them to behave "normally" in the hospital environments. (Spitzer,

    Read More

  • Humanity Exposed in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    1165 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain illustrates several traits that are common in mankind. Among these traits are those that are listed in this essay. Through characters in the story Twain shows humanity's innate courageousness. He demonstrates that individuals many times lack the ability to reason well. Also, Twain displays the selfishness pervasive in society. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, many aspects of the human race are depicted, and it is for this reason that this story has been, and will remain, a classic for the ages.

    Read More

  • Prostitution in the United States

    1027 Words  | 3 Pages

    Opponents argue that, prostitution has health effects and that is the reason as to why it remains illegal in most parts of the United States. Prostitution has social economic, physical, and a number of mental implications. The prostitutes and their clients are subject to a nu...

    Read More

More about Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Open Document