The Contradiction between Beliefs and Actions in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

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One of the oldest problems of humanity is the contradiction between

beliefs and actions. The Shepardsons and the Grangerfords act out this

contradiction in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

Contradictions

One of the oldest problems of humanity is the contradiction between

beliefs and actions. The Shepardsons and the Grangerfords act out this

contradiction in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

Although these families attend church and pay lip service to the

teachings of the church, they do not live by these teachings. The act

of Christian men and woman, such as in the Catholic faith, is often

contradictory as to how they believe they should live their lives.

In the book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain strikes a parallel

between two feuding families, and the contradictory patterns of the

Church they attend. This parallel is first grazed on when upon

attempting to explain to Huck why the feud started, Buck Grangerford

declares that "Oh, yes, pa knows, I reckon and some of the other old

people; but they don't know what the row was about in the first place"

(Twain 108). From this it is evident that the two families have no

idea what they are fighting about. The only reason they partake in the

feud is because the rest of their family has done so, and that they

are expected to.

This is similar to the actions of those who attend church every

Sunday. By being programmed by their parents or guardian to attend

church at such a young age, these children get into a habit of

attending a service they do not fully comprehend. And as time passes,

this programming is embedded into their minds.

As the great Thomas Paine once said "Time makes more converts than

reason" (Paine, 322). ...

... middle of paper ...

...s long as the human condition

prevails, humans cannot be forced into any single understanding of God

and God's laws.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

· Cardinal Bernardin. The Gift of Peace. New York: Doubleday, 1998.

· Conbeg, Matthew. Books of Catholic Customs. New England: Servant

Publication, 1995.

· Dolan, Robert. American Catholic Experience. Philadelphia:

University of ND. 1994.

· Gleason, Phillip. Contemporary Catholicism in the United States. New

York: Viking Penguin, 1973.

· Harris, Bristol. Lourdes: A Catholic Church. New York: Viking

Penguin, 1999.

· Lewis, CS. Mere Christianity. New York: Doubleday, 1982.

· McBride, David. The Story of the Church. New York: St. Anthony

Messenger, 1996.

· Paine, Thomas. Common Sense. New York: Norton and Company, 2003.

· Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Dover Pubns,

1994.

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