Why Is Huckleberry Finn Still Relevant Today

What are a few things that differentiate people in the world? How do they play a role in the lives of people today? How did they affect the lives of people in the 1800’s? Themes that were present in early life have helped shape the world into what it is today. The presence and evolution of different themes work for either the good or the bad, but sometimes both, in several different aspects of current lives. In Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, three meaningful themes are explored in education, conformity, and morality that are still relevant today.
Twain works the theme of education into numerous places throughout the entirety of Huckleberry Finn. Right off the bat, Twain makes it clear that education plays a major role in the novel when he says, “Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot” (Twain Notice). Twain shows through the novel that uneducated people are often tricked by some of the simplest things.

Educated people tend to be taken advantage of less, and are more capable of seeing through the deceit and lies from people around them. In Huckleberry Finn, the King and Duke are frauds. When they show up to impersonate Peter Wilks’ long lost brothers, the whole town is easily manipulated into believing that they are who they say they are. The only person to see right through them is Doctor Robinson. Another particular moment from the novel is when Colonel Sherburn shoots a drunk man. Sherburn is well spoken and carries himself professionally. As the mob comes to him with a plan to lynch him, he points out why he is not scared. He explains that the average man is a coward, and nonetheless, they are going about it the wrong way anyway. What do these two men have in common? They are educated.
The theme of education is relevant currently, though, as well. Just as it does in the novel, education truly determines the life most people live. Education is critical to be successful in this life. In current society, if someone does not have at least a high school education, he is forced to work in jobs that, most of the time, cannot even get him by. The difference between the 1800’s and modern life regarding education is the ability to recognize an educated person. In the 1800’s, educated people tended to talk with exceptional grammar and wear noticeably nice clothing, an example being Colonel Sherburn. In modern society, the jobs for educated people extend further than just the basics of doctors, politicians, and such. This is due to the fact that the majority of people are educated in today’s world. Therefore, it is more difficult to recognize educated people from uneducated people today.
Not only is the differentiation of people in regards to education present in the novel, but also in regards to conformity.

Twain says, “Your newspapers call you a brave people so much that you think you are braver than any other people – whereas you’re just as brave, and no braver” (110). Twain hits right on the head with this statement in Huckleberry Finn. Throughout the novel, Twain shows the cowardly nature of people. He uses the mob mentality to show this. In the situation where the mob wants to lynch Colonel Sherburn, Sherburn asks them why they do not lynch murderers. He says that it is because they are afraid the murderer’s friends will come after them in the dark, when they are not looking. The reason the mob does not lynch Sherburn is because they cannot step away from conforming to what the rest of the crowd does. They do not come after him in the dark, nor do they when he is not

looking.
This theme applies heavily to modern society. People say they are brave but, in reality, cowardice and conformity are much more common than bravery and originality. One of the most common examples in life today is appearance. Everyone has to have those Rock Revival jeans or that Victoria’s Secret top. What everyone else is wearing is what most other people strive to wear. Out in public, it is a lot rarer to see somebody with their own style. It is rarer to see people who are proud to be different and brave enough to look differently from the crowd. It is rarer to see nonconformists in the world.
Another very important and relevant theme explained throughout Huckleberry Finn is morality. Huck goes through a complete transformation from the beginning of the novel to the end. He changes from thinking as society thinks in that Jim is property, to realizing that Jim is a person, and a wonderful person at that. Toward the beginning of his journey with Jim, Huck plays jokes on him, not realizing that they are inappropriate given the circumstances. The true beginning of his transformation is when he says, “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards, neither” (65). What society thinks of slaves is not moral, but instead is conformity. By being around Jim, Huck’s moral senses begin flowing. Jim treats him in a fatherly manner and shows Huck how much he cares. Huck constantly thinks he is wrong for helping Jim to freedom, because that is what society tells him. However, he is actually doing something amazing. Twain shows that what is right and moral is not always what is popular. At the end of Huck’s transformation, he says, “All right, then, I’ll go to hell” (162), and comes to the realization that what he is doing is the morally right thing to do.
Along with applying to the novel, morality applies to the daily lives of people currently and seemingly all the time. People are constantly fighting between what is truly right and what society says is right. For instance, teenagers are in a consistent battle with morality in high school. What the school society portrays as being right is far from what many students think is morally correct. The children of the school society portray drinking to be right. The children of the school society portray smoking to be right. The children of the school society portray cheating to be right. However, the question that poses is whether these things are morally right. Ultimately, it is up to each individual to analyze what is truly right and to act on it. People cannot just trust what society suggests is right.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel that has been banned in schools throughout America due to the repetitive use of the word nigger. It is, in fact, mentioned over 200 times in the novel. Each of those 200 times is a reminder of how wrong the society was in the time period that Twain presents this in. Twain presents multiple themes to reflect on while reading the novel. Valuable lessons are learned from reading Huck Finn, including the importance of being aware. He portrays that it is extremely important to learn things for oneself. It is good to question certain things. One of the most important lessons given from the novel is to stand up for what is right. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an essential novel to reflect on. Although some of the direct situations are not timeless, the lessons given are undoubtedly timeless.