More handpicked essays just for you.
Huckleberry finn's growth
Huckleberry Finn as a novel of freedom
The growth and development of huckleberry finn
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, characters that advocate segregation and racism surround the main character Huck. As a result, these characters influence Huck’s mind, leading him to believe slavery is customary and just. Through Huckleberry Finn’s journey, Twain exposes Huck to new ideas and characters such as Jim in order for Huck to develop his own ideals instead of those around him. Living in the household of Miss Watson, Huck is only exposed to a specific set of rules. Huck is expected to make his bed, eat dinner without mixing his food, and go to church on Sunday’s. Because of this, it is easy for the reader to see why it is hard for Huck to form his own opinion on larger issues such as slavery. However, Twain foreshadows that Huck is capable of change. For …show more content…
During the time, under social normality, it was neither acceptable nor tolerable for Huck to build such a sincere relationship with a castaway slave like Jim. When he has his first opportunity to send Jim back to Miss Watson, Huck makes his first notable decision that society would not side with. Huck is aware that Jim is technically Miss Watson’s property, but after hearing from Jim about Jim’s family and his aspirations to be free, Huck cannot bring himself to turn him in. Huck later illustrates this bond with Jim after the duke and the dauphin sell Jim to the Phelps family. Huck is left with a morally challenging decision whether to leave Jim behind or to help him escape. The climax of the novel is when Huck is writing the letter to Miss Watson to tell that Jim should be returned to her, and instead of sending it to her; he crumples it up and says he’d rather go to hell. Twain makes this moment the climax to prove to the reader Huck has morally developed and is capable of going against society. Through action, Huck demonstrates he is content with siding with
Together, Huckleberry Finn and a runaway slave named Jim head south along the Mississippi during one summer. During their adventures, Huck has trouble with his conscience—he knows Jim is a runaway, and that the socially correct thing to do would be to turn him in and get him sent back to his owner. However, whenever the opportunity to do so arises, Huck finds it impossible to do. Near the end of the book, when Huck is out meandering and Jim is still on the raft in the river, Jim is captured by an old man as a runaway and gets sold for $40. It is here, at this point, that Huck has his largest moral dilemma. Should he let Jim remain captured, as he is legally the property of Miss Watson, or should he rescue the true friend who has stayed steadfastly and unwaveringly by his side? Huck does not want to remain “wicked,” as he himself calls it, so he writes a letter to Miss Watson informing her that her slave is being held by a Mr. Phelps down south of Pikesville. He cannot, though, bring himself to send the letter. He winds up ripping the letter to shreds, with the comment, “All right, then, I’ll go to hell” (p. 207). He is willing to sacrifice his soul, and do a deed he believes he will be damned for, to save Jim, the runaway slave. It takes a character of great moral strength to do what he did.
Upon arriving at Cairo, Huck must decide if he should go along with society and turn Jim in as a runaway slave, or keep his promise to his friend, and see him through to freedom. Huck feels guilty not turning Jim in when he hears him talking about hiring an abolitionist to steal his family. He does not think it is right to help take away slaves from people that he doesn 't even know. To turn Jim in for these reasons would be the influence of society on Huck. Huck 's decision on this matter marks another major step in Huck 's moral progression, because he decides not to turn in Jim on his own. This is the first time he makes a decision all on his own based on his own morality. They stop at Grangerford’s Farm, in Tennessee, after the raft is temporality destroyed. With Huck busy with the Grangerford family, Jim was able to rebuild the raft. Huck just met the Grangerfords, but fits right in immediately. He later feels that someone should take the time to write poetry about Emmeline Grangerford, recently deceased, since she always took the time to write about other people who died. He even tries to write the poetry himself, but it doesn 't turn out right. Then he also sees people shooting at each other makes him sick to his stomach. He sees it as an act against humanity and he simply cannot relate or understand how humans can treat each other in such an uncivil
Huck has been raised in a high-class society where rules and morals are taught and enforced. He lives a very strict and proper life where honesty and adequacy is imposed. Huck being young minded and immature, often goes against these standards set for him, but are still very much a part of his decision-making ability and conscience. When faced to make a decision, Hucks head constantly runs through the morals he was taught. One of the major decisions Huck is faced with is keeping his word to Jim and accepting that Jim is a runaway. The society part of Hucks head automatically looks down upon it. Because Huck is shocked and surprised that Jim is a runaway and he is in his presence, reveals Hucks prejudice attitude that society has imposed on him. Huck is worried about what people will think of him and how society would react if they heard that Huck helped save a runaway slave. The unspoken rules th...
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.
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Twain’s main characters depicted the societal issues of racism in the South. Huck Finn, a poor white boy, and Jim, an African American slave, both encounter situations that cause these characters inter turmoil because of the societal standards of the time. According to Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,
In nature, on the journey down the river, Huck decides to help Jim obtain freedom from slavery. In that time period, it was frowned upon to think of blacks as more than slaves, but Huck does not conform to that idea, befriending Jim, a slave. As soon as the bond between the two sparks, Huck wants to help him escape slavery. Huck thinks to himself that he should write a letter to Miss Watson explaining how the Phelps family is keeping Jim, but then he quickly decides against it. Thinking about the repercussions of what would happen to Jim and himself he ponders, “And then think of me! It would get all around that Huck Finn helped a nigger to get his freedom; and if I was ever to see anybody from that town again I’d be ready to get down and lick his boots for shame” (223). If word got around that Huck helped Jim, he would receive negative remarks for going against the common belief. With the use of Huck’s inner dialogue, Twain is able to express his opinion of how society causes conformity. Huck has knowledge that his going against the beliefs of society would have great consequences and Twain emphasizes its impact with Huck’s indecisiveness towards this situation concerning Jim. At the end of the novel, once Jim gains freedom for risking his own freedom to help nurse Tom back to health, the discussion over who Huck is going to live
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is considered a classic novel from the realism period of American Literature that accurately depicts social conventions from pre-civil war times. Despite this reputation as a historical lens of life on the Mississippi River, elements of blatant racism overshadow the regionalist and realist depictions. Huck Finn does not promote racism because all derogatory or racist remarks are presented as a window to life during the 1850s, in a satirical context, or to show Mark Twain's moral views on racism. Huckleberry Finn accurately presents the mistreatment, abuse, and hatred that African Americans faced in pre-civil war times. Huck Finn portrays racism as a part of life and as a social normality accepted by most people.
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.
Studying the novel points out moral issues of the 19th century that cannot be overlooked. This was a time that society created this hypocritical concept of morality that was clearly evident throughout the The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as Huck is influenced by different factors including his caretakers, Jim, Tom, the duke and the dauphin and even the raft one could add. By attempting to uncover the realities and better meanings of the world, Huck molds his own values and morals, but at the same time he creates an identity for himself that is not based on the ideas of those around him.
Jim gets captured by Mr. Phelps, thus separating Huck and Jim. Huck debates on what he should do in this situation, whether he should write Miss Watson a letter telling her that Jim has been captured or go on his own to figure out how to free Jim himself. Huck writes out a letter to Miss Watson telling her he’s been captured. ‘“It was a close place. I took it up, and held it in my hand. I was a-trembling, because I’d got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it. I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself: All right, then, I’ll go to hell-and tore it up”’ (Twain 206). Huck does this because he remembers all the wonderful things Jim has done for Huck and how great of a friend Jim has been to him. Huck also would rather go to hell than have Jim captured, even though he knows it is wrong religiously, he does not care because his conscience is telling him to go free Jim out of slavery. Huck makes this sacrifice for Jim because of their relationship. Huck also knows it is wrong, but his conscience is leading him towards being a good friend to Jim because of the race issues he knows he has to free Jim.
Even at the beginning of the novel, before Huck has gotten an opportunity to explore what he feels is right, Huck is growing tired of dealing having society and what culture thinks is right and also civilized. Huck says, "The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me...I got into my old rags and my sugar hogshead again, and was free and satisfied “(Twain 1). Huck prefers living free and having the ability to think what he wishes, rather than being “sivilized”. When Huck escapes from the surrounding society, at Jackson Island Huck runs into Jim and he is very happy to see him. Later Huck takes on a mean trick with Jim. He kills a rattlesnake and puts it on the foot of Jim’s comforters. Huck expects that Jim will react like almost any stereotypically, foolish, black man or woman. But Jim is not really a stereotype, and the joke becomes bad when Jim gets bitten through the snake’s mate. This tests Huck’s morality. Huck senses ashamed for what he did, but does not take responsibility for not understanding that Jim is a human being. This situation shows Hucks immaturity early in the novel.
From their growing friendship, Huck is able to see Jim more as an equal human being. All the while, Huck is at conflict with his conscience as his mind reminds him of what he’s been taught to think about slaves, but at the same time his heart strives to tell him to do what he feels is right. During the middle of their journey, Huck recognizes that his morals increasingly try to interfere with what his mind believes society would want him to think. One of the first instances where Huck accumulates more respect for Jim was after a violent storm where Huck took advantage of Jim and tried to trick Jim into thinking he dreamt of a wild storm that separated both of them on the river for hours. In the end Huck gave Jim the respect he deserved as a person and apologized: “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a n****” (92). This is the first symbolic moment where Huck verbally admits his wrong doing to Jim and shows more respect towards him as a person. However, Huck still finds his conscience getting in the way as he almost convinced himself it would be better to write a letter to Jim’s owner, Ms. Watson, and tell her where he is and just end the whole journey down the river, “At last I had an idea; and I says, I’ll go and write the letter—and then see if I can pray”
Another theme that is dealt with in this book is slavery. In fact, slavery is one of the main topics that has been frequently debated in regards to Huckleberry Finn since it was first published. Twain himself was vehemently anti-slavery and Huckleberry Finn can in many ways be seen as an allegory for why slavery is wrong. Twain uses Jim, a slave who is one of the main characters, as a way of showing the human side of a slave. Everything about Jim is presented through emotions: Jim runs away because Miss Watson was going to sell him South and separate him from his family; Jim is trying to become free so he can buy his family's freedom; and Jim takes care of Huck and protects him on their journey downriver in a very materialistic manner.
The way Huck and Jim encounter each other on the island, draws parallels in their similar backgrounds. Huck is torn between a life of manners and etiquette and a dangerous life a freedom, and while Jim at an impasse because he is being sold into slavery farther away from his home and away from his family. Each choice, for both characters comes with a cost so they both decide to runaway, in an attempt to assert some control over their lives. After spending much time together, the pair establish a connection which at times Huck feels guilty about since it violates everything he was raised to believe. At a certain point, Huck considers turning Jim in by, writing a letter, but after recalling the goods times they shared, Huck exclaims, "All right, then, I 'll go to hell!” (Twain) and quickly tears up the letter. Twain depicts Huck and Jim 's eventually friendship as a source of emotional strife for Huck and Huck constantly has to decide whether to abandon Jim and turn him in or abandon his religious beliefs and stay with Jim. The ripping up of the letter that would have turned Jim in symbolizes the choice Huck 's has selected. For this moment onward, Huck is dedicated to keeping Jim from being sold back into slavery and has no intent on going back on his choice. While there are times, Huck pays attention to the color of Jim 's skin he believes that
...e end of the novel, Huck and the reader have come to understand that Jim is not someone’s property or an inferior man, but an equal. To say that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a racist novel is absurd, but there are always some hot-heads claiming that the novel is racist. These claims are not simply attempts to damage the image of a great novel, they come from people who are hurt by racism and don’t like seeing it in any context. However, they must realize that this novel and its author are not racist, and the purpose of the story is to prove black equality. It is vital for the reader to recognize these ideas as society’s and to recognize that Twain throughout the novel does encourage racist ideas, he disputes them. For this reason, and its profound moral implication, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should not be removed from the literary canon. [1056]