Goodness In The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain
As said by Dennis Pragner, “Goodness is about character - integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people” (Pragner). If the definition of “good” is similar to that of Pragner, Huckleberry Finn finds his way to morality throughout the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. This book is set in pre-civil war time. Young Huck Finn escapes the confinements of society when he runs away from first, Miss Watson and Widow Douglas and then his father, Pap. At the beginning of his journey, he meets up with Miss Watson’s runaway slave, Jim. They become travel companions and, eventually, the best of friends. After many crazy adventures and a lot of adversity,
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At the beginning of the novel, Huck didn’t care very much about hurting others. In fact, he would do whatever he wanted without regard for other’s feelings. Over time, Huck’s conscience and heart began to become more prominent in his decision making. For example, amid Huck’s and Jim’s trip down the river, they get separated in thick fog. When they come back together, Huck tries to play a prank on Jim by telling him they were never even separate. After worrying about Huck for so long, Jim becomes confused and eventually, upset with Huck for messing with him. Huck thinks about what he has done and reacts accordingly. The novel reads, “It was fifteen minutes before I [Huck] could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger- but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards, 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” (Twain 102). Later in the novel, Huck is at Tom’s Aunt Sally’s house. He and Tom had planned a great liberation and escape for Jim (who had been taken back into slavery), but there was a lot of commotion, and Tom got shot in the leg and didn’t come home for a couple days. Aunt Sally became very worried and told Huck that she did not want him to go out looking for Tom because she did not want them both to get lost. Huck is so upset that he worried a woman he cared about and who treated him so well that he refuses to disobey her. After seeing her worry and stress Huck Finn said, “And I wished I could do something for her, but I couldn’t, only to swear that I wouldn’t never do nothing to grieve her any more” (Twain 327). From both previous examples, Huck’s Southeastern dialect from St. Petersburg, Missouri is evident. This shows his lack of education, yet fullness of heart. Although he had it rough growing up, only looking out for himself and disregarding the
At the beginning of the novel, Huck didn’t care very much about hurting others. In fact, he would do whatever he wanted without regard for other’s feelings. Over time, Huck’s conscience and heart began to become more prominent in his decision making. For example, amid Huck’s and Jim’s trip down the river, they get separated in thick fog. When they come back together, Huck tries to play a prank on Jim by telling him they were never even separate. After worrying about Huck for so long, Jim becomes confused and eventually, upset with Huck for messing with him. Huck thinks about what he has done and reacts accordingly. The novel reads, “It was fifteen minutes before I [Huck] could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger- but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards, 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” (Twain 102). Later in the novel, Huck is at Tom’s Aunt Sally’s house. He and Tom had planned a great liberation and escape for Jim (who had been taken back into slavery), but there was a lot of commotion, and Tom got shot in the leg and didn’t come home for a couple days. Aunt Sally became very worried and told Huck that she did not want him to go out looking for Tom because she did not want them both to get lost. Huck is so upset that he worried a woman he cared about and who treated him so well that he refuses to disobey her. After seeing her worry and stress Huck Finn said, “And I wished I could do something for her, but I couldn’t, only to swear that I wouldn’t never do nothing to grieve her any more” (Twain 327). From both previous examples, Huck’s Southeastern dialect from St. Petersburg, Missouri is evident. This shows his lack of education, yet fullness of heart. Although he had it rough growing up, only looking out for himself and disregarding the