Huckleberry Finn Ethical Analysis
Rachael Bicer
Mr. Palmer
Honors English 11
9 August 2015
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 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. A society must be pretty far off the mark if a young boy can see how things are wrong when civilized white men cannot. As a poor, illiterate boy, Huck doubts the morals and principles of the society that views him as an outsider and does not protect him from father’s abuse. This uneasiness about society and his developing bond with Jim leads …show more content…
This faulty logic shows up early in the book, when the judge in town permits Pap to keep custody of Huck over the widow. The judge privileges Pap’s “rights” to his child as his birth father over Huck’s wellbeing. This unstable justice that Huck frequently come across lies at the core of society’s difficulties: appalling acts go without punishment, however frivolous crimes, such as drunkenly yelling name-calling, lead to executions. Sherburn’s dialogue to the crowd that has come to murder him truthfully summarizes the way in which this society behaves and rushes to such an unreasonable
Mr. Palmer
Honors English 11
9 August 2015
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 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. A society must be pretty far off the mark if a young boy can see how things are wrong when civilized white men cannot. As a poor, illiterate boy, Huck doubts the morals and principles of the society that views him as an outsider and does not protect him from father’s abuse. This uneasiness about society and his developing bond with Jim leads …show more content…
This faulty logic shows up early in the book, when the judge in town permits Pap to keep custody of Huck over the widow. The judge privileges Pap’s “rights” to his child as his birth father over Huck’s wellbeing. This unstable justice that Huck frequently come across lies at the core of society’s difficulties: appalling acts go without punishment, however frivolous crimes, such as drunkenly yelling name-calling, lead to executions. Sherburn’s dialogue to the crowd that has come to murder him truthfully summarizes the way in which this society behaves and rushes to such an unreasonable