Huck’s moral dilemma – huckleberry finn by mark twain essay sample

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the narrative. taking topographic point prior to the Civil War. of a immature male child. Huck Finn.

who fakes his ain decease and runs off from place in order to get away his opprobrious male parent. Pap. Accompanying Huck on his escapade down the Mississippi River is Jim. a runaway slave. In the beginning.

Jim is depicted as a stereotyped and naive slave. and Huck and Jims relationship. at times. slackly resembles a master-slave relationship ; though Huck is non genuinely Jims maestro.

he tries to move in a superior mode toward Jim. probably because society has taught him to move this manner. As the narrative progresses. nevertheless. Huck and Jims relationship appears to alter and Huck struggles with an internal conflict of what is right: his scruples.

which is controlled by the values of society. or what he feels in his bosom. Hucks bosom wins this conflict a few times during his escapade. and Huck and Jims relationship continues to turn ; nevertheless.

because Huck is merely an waxy immature male child. it is impossible for him to wholly turn against the values of society. Though Twain appears. himself. to be deliberately racist. he uses Hucks character.

and his interactions with society. in an dry mode to negatively review the racialist civilization of the old South. and to demo how ailing inkinesss were treated. His intent in composing this novel was to notice on how small had changed.

even after the Civil War. When foremost introduced in the novel. Jims nescient nature and preoccupation with superstitious notion allow him to go an easy mark for Tom and Hucks hocus-pocus. At this point in the novel Jim is seen as nil more than Miss Watsons nigga who was most destroyed. for a retainer.

because he got so stuck up on history of holding seen the Satan and been rode by enchantresss ( 112 ) . Later. while on Glenda jacksons Island with Huck. Jim displays that profound cognition of nature underlies his superstitious outside. Huck narrated. Some immature birds come along.

winging a pace or two at a clip and lighting. Jim said it was a mark it was traveling to rain ( 135 ) . Huck and Jim continue to discourse more of Jims superstitious notions every bit good as his failed investings. Though Huck still on occasion tries to expose high quality. such as during his statement with Jim over French.

it is during this clip on the island that Huck and Jim develop a kind of friendly relationship. and he decides that he will non bewray Jim. Though Huck decides that he wouldnt turn Jim in. he still struggles with this determination throughout the novel because people would name [ him ] a low down Ablitionist and contemn [ him ] for maintaining silent ( 134 ) . However.

when it matters the most. Hucks bosom wins this battle. and he protects Jim from injury. The first major clip this occurs is on the river when they run across a twosome of white work forces looking for runaway slaves. Hucks scruples begins to acquire the best of him. and he is all set to turn Jim in.

until Jim proclaims that Huck is de bes fren [ Hes ] of all time had ; en [ Hucks ] de merely fren ole Jims got now ( 170 ) . Upon hearing this. Huck changes his head and makes up a narrative to cover for Jim. Huck writes this determination off as a consequence of his bad up-bringing ; he figures that since he comes from the lowest degrees of white society. his determinations can non be intelligent. The distance he has experienced from conventional society makes him dubious of many things around him ; nevertheless.

this pick to assist Jim still demonstrates the growing of Huck and Jims relationship. every bit good as the growing of Hucks character morally. Huck is faced with a similar quandary refering Jim when the King and the Duke sell him to the Phelps. He has a 2nd great. internal conflict over what is right.

and whether or non to turn Jim in. and this is the 2nd clip his bosom wins over his scruples. Huck decides one time and for all that he wants to assist Jim. even if it means that he will travel to hell. Again Huck feels that this determination comes from non being brought up right.

but he decides that he would travel to work and steal Jim out of bondage once more ; and if [ he ] could believe up anything worse. [ he ] would make that. excessively ; because every bit long as [ he ] was in. and in for good.

[ he ] might every bit good travel the whole pig ( 247 ) . At this point it becomes clear that Huck has grown morally. even though he believes he will travel to hell because of how society has shown him to believe and experience ( 246 ) . Unfortunately. assisting Jim becomes even more hard for Huck than he may hold imagined ; non merely is he fighting with his scruples. but his ideas and plans become convoluted by the visual aspect of Tom Sawyer.

Tom prides himself on making things by the book and. hence. alternatively of liberating Jim the manner Huck originally intended. he concocts an overly-complicated. more fashionable flight program.

Throughout the novel. Tom represents sivilized society. and is everything that Huck is non. When Tom decides to assist Huck free Jim. Huck goes along.

to a certain extent. with Toms equivocation programs. no affair how excessively complicated he may believe them to be. because he respects and idolizes Toms character and upbringing. ( Helping to liberate a black adult male may non be considered a sivilized thing to make. but subsequently Twain reveals that Tom knew Jim was already a free adult male.

a fact that probably weighed on Toms determination ) . Huck remarks that if he had Tom Sawyers caput. [ he ] wouldnt trade it off to be a duke. nor mate of a steamboat.

nor clown in a circus. nor nil [ he ] can believe of ( 258 ) . This mentality can. once more.

be traced back to Hucks feelings of holding an unequal upbringing. From Hucks point-of-view. Tom embodies all of the features of a male child with a good upbringing: he is educated and comes from a middle-class household. Though Tom on occasion causes problem because he is still a immature male child. his beliefs and ethical motives suggest that he is on his manner to being the ideal Southern white adult male. Hucks connexion to Tom through his desire to be more like him demonstrates his everlasting connexion with the societal order.

Though Huck may hold changed morally throughout the novel. it is non impossible for him to fall back under the influences of society because he is simply a immature male child who is still larning what is right and incorrect. To add complexness to Hucks quandary. Twain includes in his antebellum secret plan many racialist elements to contrast with Hucks altering ethical motives throughout his journey ; nevertheless.

Twain himself was non racist. Though readers of this novel may hold been concerned about arch Huck being a function theoretical account for immature readers. that is what Twain intended for him to be. Writing during the clip of Reconstruction.

he meant for Huck to interact ironically with society in order to do a statement about southern white civilization after the Civil War. A perfect illustration of this sarcasm is when Huck is speaking to Aunt Sally about the supposed boat accident he was in. Aunt Sally asks Huck if anyone is hurt and Huck answers. Nom.

Killed a nigga. to which Aunt Sally responds. Well. its lucky ; because sometimes people do acquire ache ( 251 ) . Aunt Sallys overlooking the decease of the black individual demonstrates the mentality Southern Whites had at this clip in history: that black people were less than homo.

Another manner in which Twain relays his negative feelings toward Southern civilization is through his word picture of the Southerners Huck meets each clip he is on shore. Among them are many prevaricators. deceivers. and dissemblers such as the King and the Duke who are able to draw off worse and worse cons throughout the narrative by taking advantage of people who are excessively naive to see through their hocus-pocus.

Twain besides criticizes society through the Grangerfords. Huck learns that the Grangerfords are feuding with the Sheperdsons over a affair neither household can retrieve doing both households seem petty and pathetic. Through this state of affairs. Twain indirectly mocks the fallibility of faith as both households on a regular basis attend church.

but non without taking their rifles along with them due to fear and misgiving. At the really beginning of the novel. Twain wrote that individuals trying to happen a moral in [ the narrative ] will be banished. nevertheless. Twain meant for this statement to be dry because The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn contains.

possibly. the greatest lesson to be learned at the clip the narrative was written ( 108 ) . Twain uses Hucks character as a moral usher for his readers ; his battle with how sivilized people are supposed to believe and act mirrors the battle that the South was holding during Reconstruction as to where black people fit into society. Hucks inability to wholly detach from society shows how difficult it was for Southern Whites to alter their beliefs after the war ; nevertheless Huck makes noticeable advancement as he journeys down the river.

Even though the visual aspect of Tom seems to do Huck to link back with society. the last lines of the narrative have Huck proclaim that he has to illume out for the district in front of the remainder. because Aunt Sally shes traveling to follow [ him ] and sivilize [ him ] . and [ he ] cant base it ( 294 ) . Though he may non hold wholly transformed by the terminal of the novel.

Huck shows great promise that he will go on to turn morally and oppugn the values of society. Mentions: Couple. Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Ed.

Nina Baym. New York: W. W. Norton & A ; Company.

Inc. . 2007. 108-294.