Preview

Theme Of Morality In Huckleberry Finn

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
494 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Theme Of Morality In Huckleberry Finn
Throughout the novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, conveys his message that one needs to listen to their own heart and do want you think is right. There will be people in this world who will try to steer one in the wrong direction, but in order to be successful in life, one needs to know their beliefs and stand for what they believe in. Throughout the novel, Huck struggles to find his own beliefs in order to judge his moral placement.Huck always conflicts in what to think since he was raised in two separate households with drastically different views. Even when he is starving he is constant morality battles in this head. His Pap always told him “it was no harm to borrow things, if [one] was willing them back, sometimes; but the widow said it …show more content…
The King and the Dukes lies were no longer simple white lies but they have turned into life altering lies. By beginning apart from this scamming act he realizes that this is “another [person] that [Huck] is letting them rob [their] money... Huck felt so ornery and low down and mean” (201). Once Huck realizes that he was being pushed around, he tried to make up for his friend’s poor actions. He stole the money from the Duke to give to the rightful Wilkes family, and he made a valiant effort to ensure that the family was well taken care of at any point. Throughout the story, one can see the transportation of Huck’s molars as he developed from a kid who was conflicted by a variety of an assortment varying families beliefs. By the end of the book, Huck develops into a leader who displays his own personal morals. Mark Twain wrote this book to be a light-hearted read, that also displays the fact that even the uncivilized child can grow up to become something great, even though society at the time said it could not be

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    In the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the main character Huck Finn undergoes many moral changes. In the beginning of the book, Huck is wild and carefree, playing jokes and tricks on people and believing them all to be hilarious. When Huck's adventures grow to involve more people and new moral questions never before raised, you can tell that he has started to change. By the time the book is almost over, people can see a drastic change in Huck's opinions, thoughts, and his views of "right and wrong".…

    • 1165 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The conflict between society as well as religion against the individuals ability to see past the mold that we live in, is a theme that is portrayed throughout the Huckleberry Finn. The book begins by creating a scenario in which a young boy, brought up in a regular South American society in the early 1800's and goes on to have him fight his way through a complex, internal, moral struggle caused by his love and friendship for a runaway slave. He had to figure out at a weather “right” was defined by what is correct in the eyes of society, or by what he felt was “right” in his heart, and then make a major decision. Huck Finn's inner struggles included; differentiating between religious, governmental, and societal rules which taught to him what is acceptable and what is not from the day of birth,and his own moral instincts. When it came time for huckleberry to make up his mind he took all that he was taught by society and his own ideology in to account and then he declared “Alright then, I’ll go to hell”. This indicated that Huck believed that following his own moral compass was more important than following the moral compass of others, or even G-d for that matter.…

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    As a slave, one is not a person. Mark Twain, author of the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, questions the belief that slaves are not people. Throughout the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain satirizes the morality of the 1800s in regards to how slaves are treated and implies that his own ethics disagree with the generally accepted morals of the time.…

    • 209 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Set in a pre-civil war time period, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is overall controversial and symbolic of a greater moral that is heavily present in this society. During this time was a large separation of North and South over the ethics of slavery and the morals of the enslaved population. During this story the protagonist, Huck Finn, makes a very important ethical decision upon whether he should or should not turn in Jim, a runaway slave. Huck has a moment of moral liberation and searches the social and religious principles of society. By having to think about these things when making a decision such as this, it can be said that this society is backwards. Mark Twain suggests that society is morally wrong with what they believe is right, their opinion of civilized and has a faulty logic.…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Adventures, kidnappings, slaves oh my! The theme portrayed in the thrilling book; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is freedom. The author develops this theme by using the river as a symbol of freedom for Huck and Jim. Both Huck and Jim are searching for two separate freedoms, but are striving for the same goal; living their own lives as themselves. In The Adventures of Huckleberry and Finn the characters experience quite a bit of turmoil and differences but they are united by their similar goal; freedom. Freedom is a privilege, but for some it’s not even an option.…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Knowing how to differentiate between what is ethically right and wrong is not an innate value, but rather a skill that must be learned and developed through experience. This concept is expressed in Mark Twain’s book, Adventures Huckleberry Finn, through the eyes of Huck. Huck is a seemingly naive teenage boy born in a time when slavery and racist ideologies are prevalent and he is strongly influenced by those archaic principles of society. Accompanying him during his adventure is an African American runaway slave named Jim, who befriends Huck while striving to achieve freedom. This unlikely coalition presents Huck with many internal and external conflicts, which ultimately allows Huck to discover values and beliefs that he truly believes. In…

    • 1256 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Huckleberry Finn Morality

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The book The Adventures of Huckleberry finn written by Mark Twain focuses on the character Huck and he had to fake his death and now hm and jim are run a ways.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic story which has an abolitionist tone that can be seen when a white lawyer defends a black man and tries to instill anti-prejudice values in his children. In addition to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Mark Twain uses his literature to speak out against social injustices. He wrote multiple books that focus on all aspects of everyday life, and one of the most famous of these books is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain uses a subtle abolitionist tone to criticize the injustice of slavery while trying to not directly offend the majority of people who will read his book.…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In a world in which everyone tells him it is okay, he has to discover it for himself. In the novel, Huck often does not want to be told what to do and is very rebellious. He looks up to Tom because of how Tom is able to do adventurous things. Huck’s growth is explained in, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn provides a means of observing his growth and change. As the narrative progresses, the succession of thefts performed by Huck- from the imaginary "julery" and "ingots" stolen by Tom's harmless band of robbers, to the very real act of slave stealing on the Phelps's farm- char Huck's growing moral depth and awareness. “(Link 305). He slowly grows as he becomes more aware of what is going on around him in the world he is living in. He learns to value his friendship with Jim over what society thinks about slaves. When Tom agrees to help Huck with stealing Jim, Huck agrees to follow the plan that Tom comes up with. Tom makes the situation so much more complicated and yet Huck goes along with it. Huck is typically more practical, but he goes along with Tom’s plan because in a way he does not want to have to be the leader. Without guidance, similar to Holden, Huck has to learn about things for himself. He has no one really to rely on when Jim is captured. Huck questions whether or not he should just turn Jim in or save him. By making this moral decision, he grows…

    • 1126 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is struggling with morals and whether or not to go against everything that he has been taught. “I was sorry to hear Jim say that, it as such a lowering of him. My conscience got to stirring me up hotter than ever, until at last I says to it” (Ch.16). “I felt easy and happy and light as a feather right off. All my troubles was gone.” Huck was struggling about if he should turn Jim in or not, he had the opportunities to but, he could never bring…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Huck learns a variety lessons from the various figures in his childhood, some good and some bad. From his Pap, he learns how to fend for himself and to reject formal society, but he also learns about racism, alcoholism and has to suffer years of abuse. From the Widow and Miss Watson Huck learns about generosity and kindness but also about religious indoctrination and the boundaries of what deemed is acceptable in society. From Jim, Huck learns about love and compassion, trust and honesty as well as the difference between right and wrong. Floating down the Mississippi River Huck learns to challenge social norms and constructs when he decides to help Jim to freedom. The contrasting characters of Pap and The Widow mirror their contrasting beliefs systems. And yet with the help of Jim, one of the only constant characters in the novel huck learns the truth about the world. Huck’s new world image is tested when the King and the Duke, two “rapscallions”, sell Jim to Mr. and Mrs. Felps. Once again attempting to use his own judgment, but erring on the side of his upbringing Huck decides that Jim would be…

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Huck Finn Moral Analysis

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Huck is a boy of adventure and sporadic outbursts. Always deciding what is right for himself, ignoring the advice of his elders. Throughout the entire story he has moral dilemmas, He has to decide to what and whom he feels loyal: follow religion, or follow his gut instincts? Obey his father, or obey the Widow? Listen to Jim, even though he’s a runaway slave? He can almost never assign himself to one group or one belief, constantly hopping from place to place, never truly deciding where his loyalties lie. No wonder Huck takes these questions seriously: no matter how suspicious he is about religion, he's a good Southern boy at heart, and he's been paying attention in Sunday School. Wrong actions earn you a one-way, express ticket to hell, the "bad place".…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Moral breakdown is a phenomenon in which a major degradation or a complete loss of moral values takes place within a particular society. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “To educate a person in the mind but not in morals is to educate a menace in society.” Morals are the basis by which people live in a positive manner because morals typically mean that people are compassionate to our fellow beings. When people have morals we know right from wrong. It's important to have morals with a smart mind so that they understand the consequences of their actions. In the novel Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain describes that Huck Finn has moral degradation or no morals between lying, murder and greed.…

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Because every man is not perfect, Huck does choose wrong over right in some situations. One such circumstance is demonstrated when Huck states, "Well, then, says I, what's the use of learning to do right, when it's troublesome to do right and ain't no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same? I was struck. I couldn't answer that. So I reckoned I wouldn't bother no more about it, but after this always do whichever come handiest at the time" (104). This shows that Huck is not able to resolve and determine a right decision in a mature manner if conflict and struggle are pushed his way, rather he would take the easy way out. Another example of Huck showing immaturity is demonstrated when Huck states, "I see what he was up to; but I never said nothing, of course" (173). This shows lack of commitment because Huck sees something wrong, but then he does nothing about it so as not to get…

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Huck Finn theme essay

    • 1239 Words
    • 4 Pages

    According to Jane Rule, “Morality is a test of our conformity rather than our integrity.” The main character of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, struggles with the conflict between doing what society believes is right, and doing what he thinks is right. Raised in the South, Huck was brought up to believe only what he was told by the people around him. But as he endured his own experiences and personal conflicts, he opened his ears to his own conscience rather than the outside voices feeding him his beliefs. Twain uses Huck’s journey to overcome societal pressure and his efforts to formulate his own idea of morality, to exemplify the importance of autonomy rather than conformity. The dangers of succumbing to the standards of society prevents us from doing what we know is right and instead makes us sheep rather than individuals.…

    • 1239 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays