Examples Of Hungsroman In Huckleberry Finn

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain tells the story of Huckleberry Finn, a young boy used to living on his own and having a good time. Huck lives with the Widow Douglas after coming into six thousand dollars after an adventure with Tom Sawyer. At the Widow Douglas’s he learns about getting “civilized.” Huck’s father is an abusive drunk, and he wants Huck’s newfound money. Pap Finn kidnaps Huck and takes him up the Mississippi River in order to get Huck’s money. Huck fakes his death to get away from his father and heads up the Mississippi to a place called Jackson’s Island, where he meets Jim, a runaway slave who used to belong to the Widow Douglas. And so the adventure begins. Bildungsroman is a type of storytelling in which
This can create moral conflict in individuals that choose to not subscribe to a certain moral doctrine of the times. In Huckleberry Finn’s time, the standard society set was that it was right to own slaves, that they were nothing more than property and wouldn’t be able to handle living on their own. No matter if a person thought it was wrong or right, it was the law of the land. In “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” Jim tells Huck that he ran away. After Jim tells Huck not to tell, Huck responds with this, “I said I wouldn’t, and I’ll stick to it… People would call me a low down Ab’litionist and despise me for keeping mum – but don’t make no difference,” (Twain 242). In the time period Huck was living in, this was a dangerous secret to keep. This was the time period where the Fugitive Slave Act was enacted, where “authorities in the North were required to assist southern slave catchers and return runaway slaves to their owners,” (Goldfield 374). However, this shows that Huck is willing to keep Jim’s secret safe for now, even if he does not want to free slaves as a whole. Nevertheless, Huck is faced with the opportunity to turn Jim in back to Miss Watson. Huck gets out a piece of paper and writes the location of Jim. But, after much thought, Huck decides instead to not send the letter. He decides that he would go to hell rather
Huck begins the story as one person, and ends it as a completely different person with new thoughts. Huck is faced with different issues like finding his identity, whether or not he should follow society’s rules, even if they’re wrong, exhibiting moral change by developing emotional attachment in relationships, and taking a stance on freeing slaves. Huck doesn’t completely change his mind on freeing slaves, but makes an exception for his friend, Jim. Huckleberry Finn changes his mind and changes his character throughout this story due to new experiences and meeting new