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. An example of social injustice first appears in chapter one as Miss Watson, Huck’s Guardian, constantly corrects him for his behavior, “‘Don’t gap and stretch like that, Huckleberry – why don’t you try to behave?’”(Page 14). Huck believes since he does not bother anyone for their behavior, no one should bother him for his. Miss Watson also wants to teach Huck about heaven, “she was going to live so as to go to the good place. Well, I couldn’t see no advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn’t try for it”(Page 14). Huck decides he does not want to go to heaven simply because Miss Watson is going there. This social injustice leads Huck to discover more injustice’s of the era. The biggest social injustice in the novel as well as in the era is slavery. Early in the novel we see Huck as racist towards Jim, but Huck plays a trick on Jim and the outcome of the joke leads Huck to change his attitude towards African Americans, “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterward, 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”(Page 91). After this point in Huck’s life he treats Jim like how he would want to be treated, he respects and cares about him. Late in the novel we see that Jim means a lot to Huck and saves his life while risking his own. Twain shows his true feelings about the mob mentality in his time. When the mob gathers at Mr. Sherburns house we hear the full voice of Twain’s thoughts on the hypocrisy of a cowardice society, “the pitifulest thing out is a mob; that’s what an army is – a mob; they don’t fight with courage that’s born in them, but with courage that’s borrowed from their mass, and their officers”(Page 144). Twain uses the colonel to show the public has nothing better to do than take up arms against a man just so they can catch a little action in town before returning to their boring lives. Society can have a huge impact on an individual’s moral growth. Huck's conscience is put to the test during different experiences with other characters, and Huck finds his conscience to be immoral and based on ignorance. Twain shows that sometimes one must break away from society and what the world views as correct and just. An example is when Huck decides to save the slave Jim instead of turning him in which is morally wrong in society. Twain, through Huck, gives one the chance to see all the things in the world as they really are. Not so that one judges the world but so one can stand up for what is right.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
And at its attendance, Huck 's one last dim vestige of pride of status, his sense of his position as a white man, wholly vanishes (Trilling.1950, p.35-38)." "It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and I wasn 't sorry for it afterwards either (Twain, p.95)." in this one act, Huck has become a heroic character. "When, in the urging of affection, Huck discards the moral code he has always taken for granted and resolves to help Jim in his escape from slavery. The intensity of his struggle over the act suggests how deeply he is involved in the society, which he rejects (Trilling.1950,…
- 1473 Words
- 6 Pages
Powerful Essays -
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an important novel that shows how the two worlds of Huck and Jim collide to bring out the problems of racism and slavery before the civil war. Huck was a young, naive boy who is oblivious to the outside world. Jim was a slave with a big heart who looked at the world in a whole different perspective. Throughout the journey together Huck and Jim’s relationship was shaken by the cold reality of racism and slavery, thus slowly opening Huck's eyes to the world around him and creating a new foundation for friendship. When Jim and Huck go on their journey outside of St.Petersburg, Missouri a whole new world was opened up to them, they saw the country like never before.…
- 912 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
During the pre-civil war era, southern America was prevalent with slavery and racism towards African Americans. As a result, young children would be exposed to the racism and generate hate directed towards the slaves. This ideology heavily influenced the protagonist, Huck, in the novel even though his natural instinct told him that the slave hunters and owners were in the wrong for their intentions towards a slave named Jim. Huck constantly second guesses himself; hence, he is unsure of what to do in most situations until he is put on the spot, then thinking impulsively, he makes the better decision. Many times in the novel, the setting has a large negative influence on Huck through the law, the way of life, and the opinions of the other characters…
- 1241 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Use of this extremely racist character juxtaposes Huck’s ideas of slavery and and emphasis to the great extent of racism during this time. The systematic racism that is universally accepted by everyone in the community, Huck sees as immoral and as an ideology that is designed to hold back and oppress a whole race, so he tries to change this by intervening and acting as a Marxist instrument to remove this widely accepted oppressive…
- 1477 Words
- 6 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Huck is always going against society and cannot live by its rules. Society told him it was wrong to help a runaway slave, but when he paddled out to go turn Jim in he just couldn't let himself. He decided that he didn't care what society thought was right, and that staying true to Jim was the best thing to do. "I knowed very well I had done wrong, and I see it warn't no use for me to try to learn to do right Then I thought for a minute, and says to myself hold n; s'pose you'd a' done right and give Jim up, would've you felt better than what you…
- 941 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Huck was raised in a society where slaves were not treated like actual human beings, and throughout the story, Huck starts to see that Jim actually has…
- 671 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Heart plays an important role in everyday life, but for most, mind powers over heart. In a corrupted society it’s hard for a young voice to stand out over all the rest, but for Huck, his one voice was heard. Huck puts his heart before his mind when it comes to making decisions and essentially, it is the foundation of Huck and Jim’s relationship. Huckleberry Finn shows that a pure heart can overcome a deformed conscience when the individual goes against society’s beliefs and allows his conscience to reform over time. “A discriminating irreverence the creator and the protector of human liberty” (Twain).…
- 809 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Is it fair to deprive students from historical realities in a piece of classic literature, simply because some content is inappropriate? The question of whether or not the novel “Huck Finn,” by Mark Twain should be banned in schools strikes a lot of controversy. I believe the answer to this question is no, it should not be banned. One of the most controversial elements in this novel is Twain’s use of derogatory terms directed towards slaves. Some people feel that the use of the “N” word is offensive, and that students should not be exposed to this. However, Mark Twain’s word choice comes from terms used in a historical time period, and it should not be denied or forgotten. What is important, is that this time period is long over, thus, students should be able to keep this in mind and read “Huck Finn” for its moral purposes. Although some ideas involving race are considered controversial, I believe these can be easily look passed, due to the educational benefit of the novel. “Huck Finn,” By Mark Twain, should be continued to be taught in schools due to its important moral lessons, the way it teaches kids to form perspective, and its educational purpose of teaching kids about a historical time period that they can learn and progress from. It should be taught in schools to be used as a classic piece of literature that students can truly learn from.…
- 1648 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
As people, we are expected to be civilized throughout our society, but we dont always act upon what we know is expected. In The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, Twain comments on society by using thematic advancement. Twain shows the hypocrisy of civilized society, and shows us as readers that not everyone is perfect. As evidenced by Huck Finn.....…
- 304 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Authors often express their views on any given subject through their works, and Mark Twain is no exception. One may read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and believe it is simply a novel about a young boys childhood; however, a deeper analysis of the text reveals many of Mark Twain’s expressions about important moral and social issues. Perhaps one of the most prominent being the frailty of human justice and the hypocrisy we as a people foster in our societies. Throughout the novel, Huck meets people who appear to be good, civilized people, but always end up having a hypocritical fault about them. Though not every instance is a grave matter, Twain’s writing shows that societies in Huck’s world are based upon corrupted laws and principles that defy basic logic. Twain’s writing leaves the reader with an understanding that cowardice, illogical choices, and selfish as well as hypocritical people mark these societies.…
- 1471 Words
- 6 Pages
Powerful Essays -
As the novel begins Huck is just like any other white southerner. He views the black slaves as nothing more than a mindless piece of property. This comes from him being raised in the racist environment of the south. Early in their journey, Huck sees Jim as an unintelligent waste. “I see it warn’t no use wasting words – you can’t learn a nigger to argue. So I quit” (Hawthorne 72). In this scene, Huck is arguing with Jim, but he has given up believing that Jim is too dumb to see the point and it was a waste of his time. Due to Huck’s upbringing in the south, his racist attitude obstructs him from realizing Jim is an intelligent arguer. Having grown up with such belief, Huck thinks that no slave can outwit a white person. Thus, Huck views Jim as much inferior to himself. Huck later describes Jim’s children as, “Children that belonged to a man I didn’t even know; a man that had done no harm to me” (Hawthorne 79). This statement from Huck does not just pertain to children, but to all African American…
- 1478 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
In Mark Twain’s novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck Finn, a Southern wild boy who struggles to be either socially right or morally wrong, goes on an adventure with Tom Sawyer, his best friend. Huck is adopted by Widow Douglas, a widow woman who wants to civilize Huck. Huck later escapes Pap, his abusive father, by faking his own death in order to run away from a society that tries repeatedly to tame his free spirit. As Huck runs away, he runs into various characters like Jim, the run away slave who he helps to become free in Ohio, the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons, two wealthy families who feud over an ancient quarrel, and Colonel Sherburn, a brace Southern war hero. Through the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons, Colonel Sherburn’s senseless killing, and Huck’s search for morality, Twain demonstrates the idea that it’s never been so uncivilized to be “sivilized.”…
- 1243 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
In Mark Twain's novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain develops the plot into Huck and Jim's adventures allowing him to weave in his criticism of society. The two main characters, Huck and Jim, 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. Jim a slave, is not even considered as a real person, but as property. As they run from civilization and are on the river, they ponder the social injustices forced upon them when they are on land. <br><br>These social injustices are even more evident when Huck and Jim have to make landfall, and this provides Twain with the chance to satirize the socially correct injustices that Huck and Jim encounter on land. The satire that Twain uses to expose the hypocrisy, racism, greed and injustice of society develops along with the adventures that Huck and Jim have. The ugly reflection of society we see should make us question the world we live in, and only the journey down the river provides us with that chance.<br><br>Throughout the book we see the hypocrisy of society. The first character we come across with that trait is Miss Watson. Miss Watson constantly corrects Huck for his unacceptable behavior, but Huck doesn't understand why, "That is just the way with some people. They get down on a thing when they don't know nothing about it" (2). Later when Miss Watson tries to teach Huck about Heaven, he decides against trying to go there, "...she was going to live so as to go the good place. Well, I couldn't see no advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn't try for it." (3) The comments made by Huck clearly show Miss Watson as a hypocrite, scolding Huck for wanting to smoke and then using snuff herself and firmly believing that she would be in heaven. <br><br>When Huck encounters the Grangerfords and Shepardsons, Huck describes…
- 1393 Words
- 6 Pages
Powerful Essays -
By the end of the novel it becomes clear to the reader that Jim is the one decent adult who is actually looking out for Huck, yet all the white people are ignorant to that fact and look at the color of his skin as a way to judge his worth as a human being. This is a clear indication of ignorance present in the society that surrounds Huck finn. “It's a dead man. Yes indeedy; naked, too. He's ben shot in de back. I reck'n he's ben dead two er three days. Come in, Huck, but doan' look at his face—it's too gashly”(Twain 45). Spoiler alert: the dead man ends up being Pap, Huck’s racist, ignorant, abusive, alcoholic father. Jim knew the dead man was Huck’s dad, and chose to act naive by using his normal superstitions to avoid Huck being scarred for life by seeing his own father’s dead body. Society looked at black people as evil and lower than them, but the odds of someone else protecting Huck from seeing his father’s corpse the way that Jim did would be highly unlikely. Despite Jim being the only adult who actually cares about Huck, he would still not be looked at the same way a white man would just because of the racist ideas that have already been considered the norm, which is blatantly ignorant. Twain uses this theme to make readers in that time period understand that the stereotypes they’ve created for black people in their head may be the opposite of the morals a…
- 1337 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
Huckleberry Finn, also known as Huck, is a young boy who lives in Mississippi with two women, Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, and their slave, Jim. He’s about 12-years-old and loves adventure. Huck has recently come into some money from his adventures with his friend Tom Sawyer, in which they found some stolen gold in a cave. Huck’s father, Pap Finn, is a dead-beat, abusive drunk who only appears to try to get Huck’s money by kidnapping until Pap meets Huck’s untimely death. The Widow Douglas and Miss Watson try to make Huck into a proper boy. Huck was once a free boy who could dress and do as he pleased, and after he escapes his father, he soon encounters this more refined way of life.…
- 483 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays