Mark Twain once said, “If Christ were here now, there is one thing he would not be- a Christian”, and I believe that that belief is fully reflected in “Huckleberry Finn”. In the book, Twain consistently attacks the Christian religion and Christians through his portrayal of them throughout. He consistently paints a picture of Christians as immoral and more importantly, incapable of seeing that their actions are such. These are actions that explicitly go against the bible, and that a true Christian would never do. These people have instead developed their own twisted version of a moral code, and each group holds theirs to be true. This results in a huge mess, as nobody can agree on who is actually moral or not, but really, no one is really moral. …show more content…
Instead, Twain chooses another character to be the torch-bearer for true Christian morals. In the novel, Huck, despite his not being overly religious, is consistently painted as representing true Christian morals as evidenced by the specific example of the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons going to church with their guns, supposed Christians supporting slavery, and Huck’s prayer and decision to “go to hell” in chapter 31. Huck, throughout the novel, has a battle with his conscience.
This battle of course, is in regards to the morality of slavery. Huck believes that slavery is wrong and immoral. He decides to stand by his friend Jim and go against society. Now, the part that really needs to be looked at here is the part about society. Most all of the places Huck visits during his adventures are towns or cities that are solid Christian communities, with the majority of residents being Christian. Why then, is this an issue for Huck? Should not Christians, being moral, be against such a decidedly immoral behavior? Precisely, and thus presents the hypocrisy of the Mississippi Christian. Christianity is meant to be a religion of compassion and love. Yet all the way down the Mississippi, Christians tweak and alter their religion to suit their own personal preferences and prejudices. As my article said, “The Mississippi Christian law seemed to become: judge not unless against blacks for blacks are naturally corrupt and culpable” (Taylor 49). This quote perfectly illustrates this rampant hypocrisy, as it shows just how much the Mississippi Christian deviated from their supposed values. Huck however, despite his generally skeptical outlook on religion, turns out to be the most moral and steadfast in his beliefs. A few times, Huck battled with himself over what to do with Jim, but he always returned to morality. His protection of Jim clearly illustrates his morality, especially in comparison to the …show more content…
particularly immoral and hypocritical behavior of the typical Christian he encounters. Moving down the river, Huck encounters a number of these types of Christians, however I think that one of the most glaring examples of not exhibiting “true” Christian behavior comes with the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons. The specific passage talks about how when the two families go to church, they bring their guns with them. The article mentions how “they go to church hours before pulling their triggers, a church where they are taught “all about brotherly love” “ (Taylor 50). This is the most glaring example of the hypocrisy of religion in the novel, as it stands in the starkest contrast. The irony of this moment is the kind of biting satire we’ve come to expect from Twain. Twain uses this irony as a weapon in his assault on the Christian religion throughout the novel. Huck meanwhile, is disgusted by this behavior. He even goes on to say, with regards to talking about the gunfight, “it would make [him] sick again if [he] was to do that” (Twain 115). Huck, despite the views and behaviors of society around him, still manages to keep his moral compass intact. By putting Huck’s behavior in such great contrast to the hypocrisy of the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons, Twain is able to paint Huck as the most moral, and the most like a “true” Christian. Huck maintains his morality throughout the whole novel, despite the fact that he does battle with himself quite a bit. The biggest of these battles comes in chapter 31, after Jim has been sold. He has to decide whether or not to go and try to save Jim or not. Huck actually comes very close to making the immoral decision. He even goes so far as to writing a letter to Miss Watson explaining the situation. He was about to give in. But he didn’t. He tried to pray but instead remembered Jim and how much Jim treasured their friendship. Finally, he makes the strongest display against religion in the entire book. He resigns himself to hell and tears up the letter, vowing to set Jim free no matter the moral consequence. Little does he know, he’s actually doing the morally right thing in this instance. Through this sequence, Twain effectively sticks it to religion. With Huck’s display here of going against religion and doing the morally right thing, Twain very effectively conveys his point here. As this was published after the Civil War, most everybody reading this would’ve seen slavery as wrong. Seeing Huck go against religion while making the right choice makes the audience really stop and think. Huck manages to stay moral and true to his beliefs throughout the whole story, in sharp contrast to most of the Christians he encounters, and this is especially evidenced here. In Huck Finn, Mark Twain has created a character that is truly good.
He remains moral even in the face of struggle, he remains true to his beliefs even when they aren’t widely held, and most importantly, he is able to still recognize morality even when those around him can not. In his assault on the Christian religion, Mark Twain is savage. In Huck’s adventures, he encounters many Christians, and most all of them are immoral and ingenuous. They have managed to make their own Christian “codes” that are privy to their every personal preference and prejudice. By including such things as the Christian community’s acceptance of slavery, as well as the Grangerfords’ and Shepherdsons’ feud after church, Twain paints the Mississippi Christian as the opposite of Huck. Huck’s behavior, specifically the decision in chapter 31, makes him a “true” Christian and the moral centerpiece of the
novel.
"What is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right." Whether he knows it or not, the character Huck Finn is a perfect example of the truth in this quote. His struggle between knowing in his mind and what is legal, but feeling in his heart what is moral was predominant throughout the novel. Today, we'll examine three examples of situations when Huck had to decide for himself whether to follow the law, or his heart.
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
Over the 129 years for which the book has been in print, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been regarded with much controversy, for many different reasons. As it has progressed, the subject of this controversy has been almost constantly changing. This essay will explore some of the claims and explanations of the controversy, as well as a discussion on whether the book is even that controversial. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion about this novel, The main complaints seem to revolve around three core topics: Twain’s portrayal of Jim and other blacks, The extensive use of the racial slurs and racism, and the final chapters of the book itself.
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...
The book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn tell the tale of a young boy who embarks on an adventure, one that leads him to find himself. Throughout the novel Huck develops a sense of morality that was always there to begin with, but not nearly as developed as it is by the end of the novel. Through living on his own, independent of societal and peer pressures, Huck is able to identify his own morals in defining what is 'right ' or 'wrong '.
In the first scenes of the book Huck is struggling to understand the concepts of Miss Watson's heaven and hell. He finds her harp strumming view of heaven boring and he wants to be in an exciting place. When Miss Watson tells Huck that he will get anything he prays for, he takes it very literally and decides to pray for fishing line, which he gets. But praying for fishing hooks didn't seem to work, when he asks her to pray for him to get some fishing hooks she calls him an idiot. These are both gentle pokes at southern religion. Christianity practiced a people so very pious, like Miss Watson, who can still treat their human slaves like property. This is an ongoing theme in the book. Twain points out some of the absurd incongruences between Christianity and the lifestyle of most of the south. Huck has not conformed to societies general way of thinking. When he is with the widow and Miss Watson, he begins to change, but Pap steals him away and he reverts back to a much more practical lifestyle.
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.
Huckleberry Finn, “Huck”, over the course of the novel, was faced with many obstacles that went into creating his moral compass. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn begins with Huck, a 12 year old boy heavily swayed by society and by Tom Sawyer, a fellow orphan. His opinions and depiction of right and wrong were so swindled to fit into society’s mold. Throughout the story Huck Finn’s moral compass undergoes a complete transformation in search of a new purpose in life. Huck was raised with very little guidance from an alcoholic father, of no mentorship. He was forced to live with Widow Douglas and with Miss Watson’s hypocritical values. Upon learning of God and Heaven from Widow Douglas, he remarks that he is unable to see the benefits of going
Still a problem in today’s society, the treatment of African Americans continues to cause problems in books, movies, television, and music. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a novel by Mark Twain, Huck Finn, and a runaway slave, Jim, search for freedom while traveling down the Mississippi River. Throughout their journey characters including Huckleberry Finn, the Phelps Family, and the Duke and King, depict racism and discrimination of African Americans in differing ways.
Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn explores the morality of Huckleberry Finn, a daring, young teen growing up in Missouri, who rafts down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave. While Huck travels, he is met with many adventures and problems that test his morality such as deciding whether or not to turn Jim, a runaway slave, into Miss Watson, Jim’s owner. When met with challenges, Huck constantly makes the righteous choice. Yet, because Huck lacks a civil upbringing, he never recognizes his morality and believes himself to be a degenerate even though he demonstrates sound virtue.
Society establishes their own rules of morality, but would they be accepted in these days?
The outcome when contrasting personal and societal interpretations of morality is that Huck begins his narrative with a self-centric strategy and neglects the use of his moral compass. Over time however, Huck is able to mature his moral standards while mobs of people never progress morally beyond the threshold that is established in the status quo. While Hucks transformation allows him to make his own sound judgements and this leads him to indict slavery. Furthermore, social morality is shown to be unsophisticated and potentially detrimental. Specifically, this brand of morality seeks self-preservation and in essence, mobs seem to devolve their moral standards and consequently, they allow the institution of slavery to continue. In sum, Huck grows more mature in terms of his moral responsibility and the overarching message that his story provides is that individual moral lessons are comparatively better to sharing the possibly misguided sentiment of the
Huck Finn, a narcissistic and unreliable young boy, slowly morphs into a courteous figure of respect and selflessness. After Pap abducts the young and civilized Huck, Huck descends into his old habits of lies and half-truths. However, upon helping a runaway slave escape, Huck regains morality and a sense of purpose. Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck lies to characters, casting the authenticity of the story into doubt but illustrating Huck’s gradual rejection of lying for himself and a shift towards lying for others.
When society becomes too much to bear, the best thing is to pack up and go off the grid. That is exactly what the main characters Huck Finn and Jim does in the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Huck Finn is a young boy who was abandoned by his alcoholic father. He is taken in and informally adopted by Widow Douglas. One day, Huck’s father, Pap, comes back to town and demands Huck to give him all his money. Huck does not do it. Pap kidnaps Huck and keep him locked up in a cabin where he physically and emotionally abuses him. Though Huck has to endure Pap’s abuse, he does not mind living away from Widow Douglas who tries to civilize him. Over time, the abuse becomes too much and Huck decides to run away. Huck fakes his own death
Huckleberry Finn - Moral Choices There were many heroes in the literature that has been read. Many have been courageous and showed their character through tough times. Through these tough times, they were forced to make important decisions and this is where you get the real idea of who deserves to be called a hero. The most influential though of all these was Huckleberry Finn. Through the innocence of childhood, he is able to break through the societal pressures that are brought on him and do right.