The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Conflict Between Social and Moral
10 December 2012
Heart vs. Deformed Conscience
In the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, a young boy narrates the story while ridiculing and questioning the corrupt society that he does not wish to be a part of. Twain’s goal for this novel was to protest against some evil practices present in their society. To do this while making it more appealing to the reader, Twain uses satire, a literary device that uses humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to criticize people’s vices. The use of a child as the narrator allows this to happen, as a child has not as developed and familiar with their society as an adult is and therefore will question everything. Mark Twain uses the main character of Huckleberry Finn and the conflict between his morally true heart and social conscience to criticize society. In this conflict between his socially influenced conscience and true heart, his heart prevails and comes out on top.
Huck is a character who has grown up in a society with strict rules and morals and therefore suffers with a deformed conscious. His dysfunctional upbringing due to the absence of his parents has caused Huck to experience these unclear morals. Huck has been living with "The Widow Douglas [who] took [him in] for her son" (13). Because he does not live with his parents, but instead a widow who is not related to him, Huck is not living a conventional childhood. Unfortunately his mother is dead, his father is distant and drinks all day, and because of this he has no choice but to live with a widowed woman. Huck feels as though society has rejected him, especially when he says, “All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change,” and therefore because he feels rejected, he rejects the morals of the society. Huck's distorted sense of morals is also a result of not accepting the principles, which have been ingrained and pounded into him. Twain uses satire to state his views on religion when Huck says, "Then she [Miss Watson] told
Heart vs. Deformed Conscience
In the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, a young boy narrates the story while ridiculing and questioning the corrupt society that he does not wish to be a part of. Twain’s goal for this novel was to protest against some evil practices present in their society. To do this while making it more appealing to the reader, Twain uses satire, a literary device that uses humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to criticize people’s vices. The use of a child as the narrator allows this to happen, as a child has not as developed and familiar with their society as an adult is and therefore will question everything. Mark Twain uses the main character of Huckleberry Finn and the conflict between his morally true heart and social conscience to criticize society. In this conflict between his socially influenced conscience and true heart, his heart prevails and comes out on top.
Huck is a character who has grown up in a society with strict rules and morals and therefore suffers with a deformed conscious. His dysfunctional upbringing due to the absence of his parents has caused Huck to experience these unclear morals. Huck has been living with "The Widow Douglas [who] took [him in] for her son" (13). Because he does not live with his parents, but instead a widow who is not related to him, Huck is not living a conventional childhood. Unfortunately his mother is dead, his father is distant and drinks all day, and because of this he has no choice but to live with a widowed woman. Huck feels as though society has rejected him, especially when he says, “All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change,” and therefore because he feels rejected, he rejects the morals of the society. Huck's distorted sense of morals is also a result of not accepting the principles, which have been ingrained and pounded into him. Twain uses satire to state his views on religion when Huck says, "Then she [Miss Watson] told