Huck Finn Morality
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, author Mark Twain uses Huck to demonstrate how one's conscience is an aspect of everyday life. The decisions we make are based on what our conscience tells us which can lead us the right way or the wrong way. Huck's deformed conscience leads him the wrong way early on in the chapters, but eventually in later chapters his sound mind sets in to guild him the rest of the way until his friend Tom Sawyer shows up. Society believes that slaves should be treated as property; Huck's sound mind tells him that Jim is a person, a friend, and not property. Society does not agree with that thought, which also tampers with Huck's mind telling him that he is wrong. Though Huck does not realize that his own instinct are more moral than those of society, Huck chooses to follow his innate sense of right instead of following society's rules. 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 wh
Whenever Huck follows his own sense on righteousness, and not those of society, his thoughts are more moral. Just the decision to help a slave escape is going against all rules of society. Huck's sound mind helped him go against societys rules and let him think by himself. It's just like the poem by Stephen Crane that says, "'Think as I Think," said a man, "Or you are abominably wicked; You are a toad." And after I had thought of it, I said, "I will, then, be a toad.'" This is just like Huck because all of his decisions that he makes based on instinct and not what society tells him. Loneliness sets in for Huck after Jim is sold, and Huck finds out what a friendship is all about. Huck also felt loneliness before when he and Jim were separated, when a steamboat hit their raft. When Jim was with Huck, Jim provided companionship for Huck and now that Jim is gone, Huck only feels loneliness. Now Huck recognizes that Jim is more than just property and understands that Jim is a friend to him. One of the first times that Huck recognize Jim as a human being is when Huck actually apologizes to Jim in chapter 15. "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 afterward, neither. I didn't do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn't done that one if I'd 'a' knowed it would make him feel that way (86)." No person in society would have ever have apologize to
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Approximate Word count = 979
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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