Huckleberry Finn: Analytical Research

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The gist of my analytical research derives from from a chapter out of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a story that was written by Mark Twain in 1884. The story is one that still resonates with readers today, as Twain unravels the protagonist’s character throughout the story in order to grasp the reader’s attention. In fact, the story’s meaning goes beneath the surface. The possibility of someone being able to do a complete 180 turn in personality may seem improbable to many. Nevertheless, Huckleberry Finn is able to do just that. This leads to the bigger question, as to whether personality change is indeed possible with individuals in reality. Even though the story of Huckleberry Finn was written in 1884, the plot of the book was one that …show more content…

For example, Walter Mischel, a former psychologist at Harvard University, states in the article, “Invisibilia: Is Your Personality Fixed, Or Can You Change Who You Are?”, “if he’s friendly at 20, he should be friendly at 25.” (Spiegel) Researchers believed that even though someone is growing older and experiencing different changes, the trait of being friendly should remain consistent. With that claim, one could assume that no matter how much time has passed a good samaritan would remain a good samaritan and a common crook would remain a common crook. Contrary to that assumption, a study of honesty with children done in 1928 came back with interesting results. The same child who would cheat in one class, would demonstrate academic integrity in another. Lee Ross, a psychologist at Stanford University, presented an intriguing claim in the same article as Mischel. According to Ross, “We see consistency in everyday life because of the power of the situation. Most of us are usually living in situations that are pretty much the same from day to day, and since the circumstance are consistent our behavior is too.” (Spiegel) If one was to accept that statement as a valid claim, then Huckleberry Finn’s rough upbringing could very well be the reason that he initially displayed such troublesome personality

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