In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, characters battle with perfect and imperfect duties. A perfect duty is a duty that must always be completed acting solely on the duty itself. An imperfect duty must be completed but there may be an underlying motive to get it completed. The duty of self-improvement and the duty to help others are imperfect duties. The imperfect duty towards others drives characters to act in a way that reveals their moral character. Huckleberry escapes from an abusive father. In Huck's plan to run away, he framed it to look as though a murder had taken place. Miss Watson’s slave, Jim overheard a discussion occurring that would have sold him to another master farther in the south. He decided for his best interest that …show more content…
During this period, Huck and Jim explored the island. While on one of their outings, they noticed a frame house floating down the river. Huck and Jim paddled over to the house and went inside to see if it was occupied. Jim noticed a deceased body. It looked like he was “dead two” or “three days” (68). Jim invited Huck to come into the house but instructed him not to look at the body since it was “too gashly” (68). Huck entered the house while Jim threw “some old rags over him” performing an informal burial that was abiding the imperfect duty towards other of burying the deceased (68). Jim’s actions shows that he greatly values childhood innocence by protecting Huck from having to stare at his father’s dead …show more content…
While on the river, Huck and Jim get separated while going around an island. When they are reunited Jim is asleep on his raft. Huck goes to extensive lengths to convince Jim that the fog did not separate them but instead Huck had “been setting there talking with” Jim “all night till” he “went to sleep” (110). Jim accepted all of Huck’s faults but he could not forgive himself when he slapped his daughter. Elizabeth was not responding Jim’s order of shutting the door. She stood in the middle of the room not moving. As a punishment for not listening to her elders, Jim slapped her on the side of her head. Jim went to another room and ten minutes later he returned to find ‘Lizabeth standing in the same spot crying. She had gone deaf. Jim would never be capable of forgive himself for treating his own deaf child with such violence. He prayed to “Lord God Amighty” to “fogive po’ ole Jim” because he would never be able to “fogive hisself as long’s as he live” (197). For all of the wrongdoings that happened to Jim his own mistake was the one that would haunt him. Jim’s moral character allowed him to forgive others who had caused him harm but when he was the cause of harm, Jim resorted to praying to a higher being since he knew that he would not be able to forgive himself for his
In both The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, and “On The Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien, the main characters are faced with situations where they must do either what they think is right or what the rest of the world they know thinks they should do. Huck must choose either to save Jim and help him escape to freedom, and maintain loyalty to his friend, or do as society would dictate and let the runaway slave remain in captivity. Tim O’Brien must either flee a war he thinks is wrong or obey his country’s call to arms. While the morals of both Huck Finn and Tim O’Brien are put to the test, only Huck is strong enough to stand up for his beliefs.
He risks his freedom to help the doctor save Tom’s life and help Huck successfully escape the Shepherdsons’. Jim shows his appreciation for Huck bringing him on this journey toward freedom by telling him he will never forget him for helping him and lying to protect his hope. On the other hand, Jim can be considered intelligent due to his belief in ghosts. But, he also posses great common sense in situations where he must protect others such as Huck. Just as Jesus Christ shed light on all things human, Jim put important aspects of his life on the line and when others so that for him, he shows how thankful he is through
In the beginning of the novel, Huck plays many practical jokes on Jim. Huck and Tom begin the novel by waking up Jim when he is sleeping under a tree. They are both very immature boys and think it will be fun to scare Jim. They act like Jim isn’t a human being and don’t seem to be bothered by the fact that he has feelings too. When Huck and Jim get separated by the fog Huck must think Jim is stupid and won’t catch onto his lie. “Aamy heart wuz mos’ broke bekase you wuz los’, en I didn’ k’yer no’ mo’ what become er me en de raf’.En when I wake up en fine you back agin,all safe en soun’,de tears come,en I could a got down on my knees en kiss yo foot.”(109) Huck makes Jim believe the whole fog storm was just a dream and gets him very worried. Huck doesn’t realize that Jim is trying to protect him and be a father figure to him, and that he only wants the best for Huck. Huck also thinks Jim isn’t knowledgeable because he is a black slave. Huck and Jim are arguing and Huck feels Jim cannot say anything intelligent so Huck changes the subject. “I never seen such a nigger .If he got a notion in his head once, there warn’t no getting it out again. He was the most down on S...
Huck grows more apologetic upon the next prank he pulls on Jim. While traveling on the river, Huck and Jim reach a point in their path where a dense fog rolls in, causing them to lose their way and get separated from each other. Huck takes advantage of the opportunity given by this natural event and decides to play another trick on Jim (94). However, Jim did not handle it too well since he is worried sick. This post fog scene is one of many turning points of Huck’s moral development. He knows that it was wrong of him to make a fool of Jim because it made him feel so mean that he could kiss Jim’s foot (95). Although Huck did not mean it in a literal sense, what he said is powerful because he would have to bend over and lie close to the ground
When Huck and Jim first meet each other on the island they are just acquaintances who had little history together but the decision they make to help each other foreshadows their relationship later on in the story. When Jim first finds Huck he states, "Goodness gracious, is dat you, Huck? En you ain' dead—you ain' drownded—you's back agin? It's too good for true, honey, it's too good for true. Lemme look at you chile, lemme feel o' you. No, you ain' dead! you's back agin, 'live en soun', jis de same ole Huck—de same ole Huck, thanks to goodness!" (Twain ). By this time, Jim has heard the news of Hucks “death”, so when they find each other on the island it comes as a surprise to Jim. “People would call me a low-down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum--but that don't make no difference. I ain't a-going to tell, and I ain't a-going back there, anyways” (Twain ), Huck thought. After Jim told Huck that he was a runaway, Huck promised not to tell anyone, which shows his values and foreshadows their relationship later on in the story. After leaving ...
Jim remembers a time when he told his daughter to shut a door, when she doesn’t listen Jim slaps her. Jim feels very bad for what he did when he learns that she is deaf and dumb. Jim cries and says that he will never forgive himself for the rest of his life: “...’Oh, de po’ little thing! De Lord God Amighty fogive po’ ole Jim, kaze he never gwyne to fogive hisself as long’s he live!’ Oh, she was plumb deef en dumb, Huck, plumb deef en dumb—en I’d ben a-treat’n her so!” (140). Jim knows that what he did was very wrong and he won’t ever forgive himself. This helps show that Jim has a good sense of what's wrong and what's right, which helps provide moral support for Huck throughout the whole entire
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
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 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.
Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered the great American novel with its unorthodox writing style and controversial topics. In the selected passage, Huck struggles with his self-sense of morality. This paper will analyze a passage from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and will touch on the basic function of the passage, the connection between the passage from the rest of the book, and the interaction between form and content. The passage takes place in chapter 26. However, to better understand the passage itself, I believe it is necessary for some background information to be told.
...e to Miss Watson (224). Huck’s own morals replace the belief society gave him and convince him that turning in Jim would be wrong. As a result, he resolves that he will set Jim free again, and continues helping him.
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
In Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn there is a scene where the protagonist, Huck, is washed away from his sin. In Chapter 16 Twain suggests that Jim is either dead or gone, “I sung out for Jim about a dozen times, but I didn’t get any answer…” (98). After being almost hit by another ship Huck is overboard in the river. As Huck rises from the river he finds Jim gone.
This moral is shown in the story by each character. Starting with Huckleberry Finn, on the outside, he represents the epitome of a country bumpkin but he is very considerate and is always looking to help someone. “But you know Ed he was running for his freedom, and you could ‘a’ paddled ashore and told somebody”(Twain 90). In this quote, Huckleberry explains that he feels guilty about helping Jim escape from Miss Watson, but then he changes his mind because he knows that he is doing the right thing.
The friendship between Huck and Jim is constantly changing with the chain of events. The two characters encountered many things while floating along with the pace of the Mississippi, such as making decisions. In the novel Huck was forced to make the decision whether or not he would turn Jim in because it would be the, "right thing" to do because Jim was a run-away slave. It was a close place. I took...up [the letter I'd written to Miss Watson], and held it in my hand.