Although his attitude towards his father is more effectively characterized as resentment and hatred rather than fear, Huck still acknowledges his father’s ability to wreak havoc on his life; this is evidenced through the precautions he takes before his father’s arrival to transfer his fortune into Judge Thatcher’s ownership. Evidently, this animosity is not one-sided, as Huck’s father also harbors deep resentment towards him because of his wealth and higher level of education. The only emotion missing from their unconventional relationship is actual love, which contrasts the common saying that a parent’s love is unconditional. The absence of affection raises questions as to what might have been the source of such enmity between the two, and whether that has any relation to the death of Huck’s …show more content…
As this is one of the first times in which he disregards his own interests in order to help somebody else, it indicates that he is maturing and learning to respond to his conscience rather than ignore it. Furthermore, Huck’s ability to deduce this further shows that he is maturing. For example, when deciding how he should go about exposing the duke and dauphin’s scheme, he demonstrates a surprising amount of shrewdness; using the logic that her inability to dissemble her emotions would raise suspicions, he decides against revealing the truth to Mary