Theme Of Empathy In The Adventures Of Huck Finn

Although the conclusion to The Adventures of Huckleberry is often seen as diminishing much of Huck’s evolution, this opinion ignores the fact that much of Huck’s progress was not as great as many think. Furthermore, if the ending were in fact optimistic, the role that satire plays in the novel would be weakened significantly. The book would instead be a story about a poor white boy who overcomes his prejudice to see that black people are in fact not inferior. But that is hardly realistic, and Twain knew that. He knew that there is often not a “turning point” in life that one can point to, and that often people choose to ignore or actively fight against the positive changes inside themselves. Even throughout the novel, many of Huck’s displays of empathy, especially towards Jim, are made less powerful because of his racist beliefs. Huck never truly loses his racist views, rather what he gains is the ability to empathize with someone not

After his abusive father becomes too much to handle, Huck “[makes] up [his] mind [he] would fix up some way to leave there” (35). By leaving, Huck is leaving behind all that he knows, but he finally understands that what his father had put him through was not right, and that nobody should be treated in such a manner. It is through Huck’s experience with abuse that he begins to empathize with Jim, as he understands what it feels like to be wronged. It is this empathy that Huck also has after he plays the cruel trick on Jim. He owns up to his mistake, but still maintains much of his internalized racism, saying, “It was 15 minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a n*****” (97). In many ways, Huck’s reaction to his trick on Jim characterizes much of his evolution, as when he does something mature, he devalues it by inserting his own prejudices into