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Themes in the novel Huckleberry finn
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Huckleberry Finn Chapter 31 Analysis
In the story of Huckleberry Finn Huck is facing a constant battle within himself between following the laws of the land and doing what he knows is morally correct. There appears to be an underlying question of whether or not a person is born with morals and good character or if this is a learned behavior raised in the story. The circumstances of Huck’s upbringing were not ones that were conducive to him being a person with a good moral compass, in actually he should have been just the opposite, but he decided to go against the grain and do what he felt was morally correct which was befriend a runaway slave and try to set him free. Now we can questions his motives for wanting to help Jim, i.e., did he just want companionship so anybody would do, or did he genuinely see the good in Jim and want him to be a free man? If we explore the earlier chapters of Huckleberry Finn one would come to the conclusion that Huck was simply lonely and bored and Jim was just good company, once we reach chapter 31 we see that Huck has become quite attached to Jim and not only thought of him as a companion but also a good friend who he could no longer see himself living without. Chapter 31 is when Huck begins to question everything that he has been taught and the morality of the laws of the land.
Chapter 31 opens with the King, the Duke, Huck and Jim on the boat and they find themselves going down the river and heading into the south where it is extremely hot. The Duke and the King are making plans to scheme more people in the small towns that they are approaching Huck and Jim both hear them even though they are speaking quietly to each other and Jim and Huck are trouble and uneasy. They are planning to burgl...
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...ke he is committing an act against God and resolves that he would rather go to hell than to accept what society says about slaves.
While the resolution seems courageous and noble end the end Huck disappoints. While he was able to be strong willed and strong minded in this instance as soon as Tom Sawyer enters the story again Huck seems to lose all of the credibility and maturity he gained throughout the story. He accepts Tom Sawyer as a leader and an authority on the freeing of Jim even though the way he wanted to go about it was absolutely ridiculous. Even though Huck decides to go along with Tom’s plan he never loses sight of freeing Jim which would show us that the lessons we see that he has learned in Chapter 31 are still there. What Huck and especially Chapter 31 teaches is that people are born with moral compass and that no matter what the circumstances
Along the river, Jim and Huck run across two scam artists who claim to be a runaway King and Duke. Their raft is overtaken by these two men who force Huck and Jim into their dangerous, yet comical scams. Their last scam proves t be too much of Huck. The King and Duke claim to be the brothers of a quite wealth, but conveniently deceased man. Because of their acclamation, the two men are guaranteed a large inheritance. However, when Huck falls for the beautiful heart and kindness of one of the dead man's nieces he can't imagine stealing the money form her. Huck tells the niece the whole story, and admits who the "brothers" really are. The King and Duke are eventually discovered by the town to be impersonators, and are tarred and feathered.
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
Jim's character traits are easy to over look because of his seeming ignorance, but in reality Jim possessed some qualities that created a positive influence on Huck. He began by demonstrating to Huck how friends teach friends. His honest compassion also eventually causes Huck to resist the ideas society has placed upon him, and see Jim as an equal-- rather than property that can be owned. Huck knew he was going against society, and of the consequences that he could receive for freeing a slave. "It would get all around, that Huck Finn helped a nigger to get his freedom; and if I was to ever see anybody from that town again, I'd be ready to get down and lick his boots for shame", (269-270). Huck then claims, "All right, then, I'll go to hell…"(272) This shows that Huck was willing to put himself on the line for a slave, because he ceased to view Jim as property and recognized him as a friend. At the beginning of the story Huck would have never done this, but after the many adventures that occur, Jims unconditional love for Huck pierces the shell society placed ar...
When one is young they must learn from their parents how to behave. A child's parents impose society's unspoken rules in hope that one day their child will inuitivly decerne wrong from right and make decisions based on their own judgment. These moral and ethical decisions will affect one for their entire life. In Mark Twains, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is faced with the decision of choosing to regard all he has been taught to save a friend, or listen and obey the morals that he has been raised with. In making his decision he is able to look at the situation maturely and grow to understand the moral imbalances society has. Hucks' decisions show his integrity and strength as a person to choose what his heart tells him to do, over his head.
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.
In lieu of his escape, Jim emphasized his feelings of becoming a free man. Jim said it made him all over trembly and feverish to be so close to freedom (p. 238). Huck came to the realization that Jim was escaping for a far different reason than he, and began to see this “nigger’s” freedom as his own fault; he was an accomplice. Huck’s conscience became plagued by the fact that Jim was escaping the custody of his rightful owner, and he was doing nothing to stop this. In Huck’s eyes, Jim was essentially the property of poor old Ms. Watson, who didn’t do anything less than teach Jim his manners and his books. Altogether, Huck felt that he was doing wrong by concealing this, and felt miserable to say the least.
The first eleven chapters of Adventures establish Huck's character prior to his journey on the river with Jim. Dealing with external difficulty is easy for Huck, as he consistently adapts to his environments; however, his actions contradict his desires, revealing that Huck is conflicted.
...ndons his effort to escape society and its imposition (by becoming Tom Sawyer’s sidekick again). His conflicted nature serves as the novel’s tragic aspect: although he had resolved to decide his morality independent from society, Huck’s freedom will be limited once Aunt Sally adopts him, a result of his choice to comply with Tom instead of freeing Jim and leaving on the river, where they have both lived freely throughout the novel.
Spending time with the King and the Duke, Huck learned about how people can have the heart to deceive each other in the most evilest ways. When Jim get kidnapped and taken away Huck knew it was wrong and it was right to help get him set free. His relationship built with him was ignited by the brotherhood companionship inscribed in his heart, he just needed a person to ignite it. At the end of the novel Jim is set free because of Huck. Huck learns that sometimes don't have to follow the rules of society if you believe in something. Something that gives you divine right to believe it is a morally good thing to do.
Ransomed? Whats that???.. it means that we keep them till they're dead (10). This dialogue reflects Twains witty personality. Mark Twain, a great American novelist, exploits his humor, realism, and satire in his unique writing style in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain, born in 1835, wrote numerous books throughout his lifetime. Many of his books include humor; they also contain deep cynicism and satire on society. Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, exemplifies his aspects of writing humor, realism, and satire throughout the characters and situations in his great American novel.
He was even disappointed when all the gang did was cause trouble at a Sunday school meeting. Later on in the novel, Huck is also faced with a moral dilemma when he comes across Jim, Miss Watson’s runaway slave. As they travel down the river, Huck mentions, “I began to get it through my head that he was most free—and who was to blame for it? Why, me. I couldn’t get that out of my conscience, no how, no way.
Mark Twain achieves his purpose of describing the natural world in the passage, “Miss Watson she kept … Tom Sawyer waiting for me” (2-3), in the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The purpose of this passage was to show how the night reflects the loneliness in Huckleberry’s life by using imagery, diction, and tone.
Huck Finn learns from the actions of people around him, what kind of a person he is going to be. He is both part of the society and an outlier of society, and as such he is given the opportunity to make his own decisions about what is right and what is wrong. There are two main groups of characters that help Huck on his journey to moral maturation. The first group consists of Widow Douglas, Miss Watson, and the judge. They portray society and strict adherence to rules laid out by authority. The second group consists of Pap, the King, and the Duke. They represent outliers of society who have chosen to alienate themselves from civilized life and follow no rules. While these characters all extremely important in Huck’s moral development, perhaps the most significant character is Jim, who is both a fatherly figure to Huck as well as his parallel as far as limited power and desire to escape. Even though by the end of the novel, Huck still does not want to be a part of society, he has made a many choices for himself concerning morality. Because Huck is allowed to live a civilized life with the Widow Douglas, he is not alienated like his father, who effectively hates civilization because he cannot be a part of it. He is not treated like a total outsider and does not feel ignorant or left behind. On the other hand, because he does not start out being a true member of the society, he is able to think for himself and dismiss the rules authority figures say are correct. By the end of the novel, Huck is no longer a slave to the rules of authority, nor is he an ignorant outsider who looks out only for himself. This shows Huck’s moral and psychological development, rendering the description of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” as a picaresq...
“The situation of the orphan is truly the worst, you’re a child, powerless, with no protectors or guides. It’s the most vulnerable position you can be in, to see someone overcome those odds tells us something about the human spirit. They are often depicted as the kindest or most clever of characters.” Michelle Boisseau describes how important these types of characters are. In a Sunday Times article, she states that a lot of the stories and novels are considered to be apologues about orphans becoming the hero of the book. Huck’s story is quite like this subject. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel written by Mark Twain, it’s about a boy named Huckleberry Finn, who sets out on a journey to discover his own truth about living free in nature, rather than becoming civilized in a racist and ignorant society. Mark Twain implies that Huck Finn resembles more of what he believes is right rather than what society surmises from him. Twain reveals this through the themes of satire, racism, and hero’s journey, which he uses constantly through out the book.
While living on the island he meets Jim who was a slave but Huck soon learns that he has ran off and now in the process of making his way up north to Canada. Here Huck is faced along with his first tough decision, to go with Jim and help him, or just go and tell the officials of a runaway slave and get the reward. Huck reluctantly joins Jim and promises him to get him to free land for the sake of a good adventure but he still feels guilty to be conversing with a runaway slave let alone help him escape. Along the way Huck has many challenges, which are just like this one. This is truly remarkable for a child to be able to break away from the influence of society and go with his heart and do what is right especially when it was considered wrong.