Preview

Huck Is a Non-Conformist

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1454 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Huck Is a Non-Conformist
"Self-Reliance" vs. Huckleberry Finn In Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay "Self-Reliance," he defends the personality traits that every creative human being possesses and a person's intellectual independence, which enables him to surpass the achievements of previous generations. Emerson explains how most of society is made up of conformists, people that simply conform to a past technique created by earlier innovators. Against being a conformist, Emerson chooses to support being a creator, or a person who has the courage to trust himself and disagree with society's beliefs. During earlier centuries, society was mostly grouped together in mobs, but Emerson challenges this trend and suggests individuality. Emerson's ideas of self-reliance connect to the themes and characters in Mark Twain's novel, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Huck's inner struggle of conforming to society or rebelling against it. The most obvious line in Emerson's essay, which relates particularly to Twain's novel, states that "society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members" (391). This quote from Emerson signifies how Huck's society is harshly against all black slaves. Mark Twain is able to create Huckleberry Finn, a young, immature boy who undergoes an adventurous journey in which he develops maturity, individuality, and intellect while resisting the urge to conform towards society's anti-black beliefs while traveling with Jim on the river. The main character in Mark Twain's novel, Huckleberry Finn, resembles an individual. An example of this can be seen while Huck and Jim are on the river, and Huck decides to hide Jim from any threatening strangers. Huck does not conform towards society's anti-black beliefs, and instead he stands strongly against harming them. During his rough journey on the river, Huck proves himself as a brave individual by not telling anyone that he is helping Jim escape. Huck risks his own life by lying to another white
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Huck Finn
    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Huck Finn

    In Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he develops the plot of the story alongside the adventures of Huck and Jim, the main characters, allowing him to discretely criticize society. The two main characters both run from social injustice and both are distrustful of the civilization around them. Huck is considered an uneducated, backwards boy, constantly under pressure to conform to the "humanized" surroundings of society.…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Examples Of Conformity In Huckleberry Finn
    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Examples Of Conformity In Huckleberry Finn

    Nonconformity might be viewed as rebellion to some, but to others is a sign of independence. In Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, a theme of growing maturity appears. Nonconformity is a trait among others that led to Huckleberry Finn’s evolving maturity. Responsibility along with growing independence led to his coming of age. Although maturity is an important trait and theme shown in the book, there are several factors that contribute and lead to this.…

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Conflict Between the Individual and Society
    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Conflict Between the Individual and Society

    The conflict between society and the individual is a theme portrayed throughout Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Huck was not raised in accord with the accepted ways of civilization. Huck faces many aspects of society, which makes him choose his own individuality over civilization. He practically raises himself, relying on instinct to guide him through life. As portrayed several times in the novel, Huck chooses to follow his innate sense of right, yet he does not realize that his own instincts are more moral than those of society.…

    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn
    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

    Many authors’ personal life experiences and ideals are reflected upon in their writing. For this reason, book's characters, settings and themes often coincide with people and places from the author’s life, as well as lessons learned and views the author has or had on society. Just like many other works of literature, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is one in which this reflection of personal experiences is evident. The author; Mark Twain presents his early life experiences to the readers and reveals his perceptive views on society at the time, his feelings towards racism and the slave society, and his childhood hardships through Huck’s journey, not only down the Mississippi River, but also through his journey in morality.…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Huckleberry Finn: Racism
    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Huckleberry Finn: Racism

    In Mark Twains' The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the main character Huck, makes two very important decisions. The first one is how he treats Jim when he first meets him at Jackson's Island and the second is to tear up the letter to Miss Watson because he cares deeply for Jim. When Huck first runs away from Pap he goes to Jackson's Island and thinks that he is the only person there. He soon finds out that this is not true, and that "Miss Watsons Jim"1 , is taking crap there as well. Many people would hate to be alone on an island with a "nigger"2 , but Huck is happy to have someone to talk with. At first Jim thinks he sees Hucks ghost and is scared. Huck gets Jims feelings by changing the subject and saying "It's good daylight, le's get breakfast"3 , showing that Huck is not only real but he does not mind that Jim is black. Jim feels that Huck might tell on him for running away, but he then decides that it will be okay to tell him why he ran away from Miss Watson. Jim keeps asking Huck if he is going to tell anyone about his running away, and Huck say's "People would call me a low down abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum but that don't make no difference I aint gonna tell"4 . Hucks response truly shows that his ignorance has no showing over his kindness. When taken into consideration good decisions are much more important in the long run than being the smartest person. After traveling with Jim for quite some time Huck begins to feel bad about harboring a runaway slave. He decides to write a letter to Miss Watson explaining the whole story, because Jim had been sold and he does not know where he is. Huck was indeed confused about what he should do so he dropped he dropped to his knees and began to pray. He felt by helping Jim he was committing a sin, but he later realized "you can't pray a lie"5 . Huck saying this shows that he feels what he has done for Jim is not wrong; instead what others had done to Jim is wrong. Still not sure of what to do about the…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Essay On How Huck Finn Mature
    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Essay On How Huck Finn Mature

    When Huck was being raised he was taught that African Americans were property and their feelings and dreams did not matter to the white folk. After Huck had been living with Jim for a little while he began to realize he was taught wrong and he should not remain close to his previous beliefs. He now knows no matter what the skin color, people are people and should be treated equal. Huck realized himself and Jim are just alike in many ways and have many of the same beliefs, only Jim has black skin and not white.…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Huckleberry Finn Morality Analysis
    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Huckleberry Finn Morality Analysis

    Jim then warns Huck not to look at the man's face, which allows Huck to have the motivation to continue his adventure thinking that his father is not dead. Jim continues to stay with Huck and provide him with moral support on the river, serving to develop Huck’s moral development along the way. An example of this moral support is where in Chapter 16, Huck makes up a story to preserve Jim's freedom and then Jim remarks he will never forget Huck's kindness. Huck later experiences a coming of age when he is faced with the ultimate moral dilemma of reporting Jim at the Phelps Farm to Miss Watson. Feeling conflicted about stealing “property” from Miss Watson, he writes a letter which he then crumples up after fully understanding that his letter would harm Jim, who he then realizes is a human being. This incident evokes feelings of regret in Huck, and shows that Huck is the one good person in the novel.…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Huck Finn Racist
    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Huck Finn Racist

    While all this is happening, while Huck is playing these tricks on Jim, we have to remember Huck is still a kid. He’s only around 13 years old, and that’s what kids do. They don’t think before they do things, and they like to play pranks and tricks on people. Huck was just trying to have fun with Jim, not be mean to him and be racist to him. In the novel Huck and Jim have a good relationship, they become friends and Huck starts seeing him as a person rather than a slave. They form a bond, a friendship.…

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Identity in Huckleberry Finn
    • 1017 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Identity in Huckleberry Finn

    In Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main character embarks on a journey of self awareness and discovery. This character, Huckleberry Finn, faces many situations in which he is forced to make decisions that advance his establishment of an identity. This series of decisions do not always foster this growth however, but sometimes force Huck to take steps backwards in his development. In establishing his own sense of self, Huck possesses inconsistencies in his life that make it difficult to create an identity. Huck’s creation of aliases and lies about his personality, his failure to establish a life in one place, and constant internal debate are hindrances in his ability to form his self image. These rejections of society overshadow Huck’s progress towards developing his own sense of self, as by the end of the novel he fails to fully establish his own individuality.…

    • 1017 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Huckleberry Finn Racism Analysis
    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Huckleberry Finn Racism Analysis

    Throughout Mark Twains Adventures Huckleberry Finn, Huck challenges everything society has taught him about racism and eventually forms his own beliefs, based experience. When Huck and Jim first decide to runaway with one another, they form a friendship that is merely based on survival. At the beginning of their companionship, Huck does not recognize that Jim has feelings, so he plays a cruel trick with a snake; he also fails to make an apology. During their journey down the Mississippi River, Jims humanity bewilders Huck. When Huck tells Jim about King Solomon, whom Huck believes to be the wisest of men, Jim takes an interesting perspective and argues it relentlessly; Huck is surprised and claims that he has never seen a nigger do such a thing. As Huck and Jim overcome each obstacle in their journey, particularly when Huck learns to apologize to Jim, their friendship strengthens from one that is founded on survival to a relationship that is built on compassion. Huck then starts to question what society…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Huck Finn's Relationship with Slavery in Mark Twain's, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Huck Finn's Relationship with Slavery in Mark Twain's, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    Huck 's first moral dilemma comes when he meets Jim on Jackson Island. Huck 's initial reaction on hearing of Jim 's escape is one of shock; he could not believe someone could run away from their slave master. He cannot believe that Jim would stoop so low as to run away from his master, which he sees as a terrible sin. Huck does promise to keep his secret, however, despite knowing that "people will call him a low-down abolitionist and despise him for keeping mum" (57). Although Huck disagrees vehemently with the idea of runaway slaves, he likes Jim, and so he warns him that dogs are coming on to the island. This shows that Huck 's heart and his intentions are often in stir with one another when it comes to the topic of slavery.…

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Huck Finn Character Changes
    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Huck Finn Character Changes

    During the book, Huck hasn’t really experienced what life really was and what you might encounter during times that just come out of anything. Jim is someone that you might call strange and unexpected. When Huck and Jim were together on the island and going down the river, Huck was mainly giving orders to Jim, but on occasion he didn’t. The reason why Huck was giving orders more often was because that was the environment that he had grown up around. As time goes on he begins to realize and understand how a black man has been treated throughout life and starts to respect him more and more by who he actually is. When Huck was deciding whether to tell Mary that Jim was with him, “ It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a slave; but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterward, neither” (Twain 92). Huck was scared to what was going to happen if he would tell Miss Watson, but he overcame it very well.…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How To Prevent Huck's Life
    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How To Prevent Huck's Life

    Subsequently, Huck helps others, gaining experience. Huck says, “At last I struck the time I saved him by telling the men we had smallpox aboard, and he was so grateful; and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world (Twain 228).” Huck risked quite a bit when he helped Jim, especially helping an escaped slave. He risked going to jail and even had a conscience breakdown but he still decides to help Jim become a free man, even though he risks his own life. The king and duke were con men and Huck would defend the money they were after to help Mary Jane’s family. Huck feels the moral obligation to help the people that the king and duke are going to swindle of money (“The Adventures of…” 4). Huck defends Mary Jane and her family’s…

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Human Nature and Society Presented Through Huckleberry Finn
    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Human Nature and Society Presented Through Huckleberry Finn

    Mark Twain opposed many of the ideologies of his time. Through his novel Huckleberry Finn, he explored human nature and the society. He made apparent his dislike for them. The book focus's on the general treatment of black people during this time. Specifically, the author criticizes morality, slavery and racism.…

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Huck Finn
    • 1433 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Huck Finn

    Huck Finn, the main character of Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, travels down the Mississippi River in search of personal truth and freedom, which ironically he achieves by living a lie. Huck's journey causes him to wear a variety of disguises and masks to survive. Unfortunately however, the people he meets along the way wear disguises which they use to deceive and cheat the same society that Huck and Jim, a runaway slave, are trying to escape from. Jim must use his own cleverness, Huck's protection and disguises in order to avoid getting caught by society. Together, all these characters use disguises, which are lies in physical forms, to their advantage. Huck's motive is to escape the rules of a restricting society. The King and the Duke are con men who want only to cheat society and take what isn't theirs. Jim uses disguises for survival, to escape from social prejudice and unfair punishment.…

    • 1433 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More