Individuality In Huckleberry Finn

Are choices ours to make?

Are the decisions you make truly your own or are your very thoughts tainted by an outside influence? In today’s world, with increased susceptibility to others’ ideas, external pressures are continually shaping our opinions. Whether it is from our parents, teachers, or friends, the obligation to conform to others’ beliefs is a constant burden. In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck Finn, a morally conflicted character, constantly experiences intense internal struggle as his innate instinct to conform directly clashes with his developing sense of individuality. Throughout the novel, the balance of these two inner forces are gradually questioned, challenged, and then ultimately restored upon Huck’s
reintegration into society. Although Huck demonstrates moments of freethinking, when he is faced with the pivotal opportunity to defy the ingrained urge to comply with societal expectations, he relapses, indicating his lack of progression and inability to break with society By illustrating Huck’s inability to escape societal influences, Twain suggests a broader theme: it is easier for human beings to follow the will of a group, rather than think and stand up for their individual beliefs.
Although Huck demonstrates moments of initial questioning of societal rules he never acts upon them. Rather, he is always compliantly conforming due to the deep-rooted influence of society on his beliefs, morals and decisions. From the very beginning of the novel, Huck Finn reveals two aspects of himself, one part that wishes to be free and doing as he pleases, and the other that follows instinct to do the socially acceptable thing. With the coexistence of these two aspects, Huck experiences confusion, that at the beginning, results in primary doubt followed by subsequent conformity. We see that Huck is in fact at odds with the society that he is currently living in, but is too hesitant to actually challenge the different attributes of southern culture he has grown up with. When the story opens Huck is living with the Widow Douglas and her sister Miss Watson, who both attempt to sway Huck to embrace the ‘proper’ part of society.
Huck doesn’t like that they are attempting to “sivilize him” but unwillingly accepts it (12 Twain). They constantly attempt to place constraints on Huck, such as dressing him in proper clothes, making him attend school, and forcing him to embrace the Christian religion. However, everything that ‘should’ be valued in typical southern white society, Huck questions. It is clear that Huck does not think highly of the civilization and views it mostly as a pointless exercise and a form of entrapment, yet he doesn’t leave or defy it, he simply endures. He doesn’t appreciate them, yet acquiesces to the rules all the same. For example, when Miss Watson pushes Huck to wear normal clothes he says, “She put me in them new clothes again and I couldn’t do nothing but sweat and sweat, and feel all cramped up” (12). The widow evidently influences Huck’s thoughts and opinions. He wears the clothes, living with the constant uncomfortable feeling rather than defy the societal expectations he subconsciously values. Throughout the opening few chapters, a pattern emerges between Huck and the two women. Huck continually internally doubts the societal practices they are attempting to force upon him, but he prays, reads, and follows the rules obediently. As Huck embraces his inborn instinct to conform, it becomes more and more feasible for him to comply with the life that the widow and Miss Watson are forcing on him. At one point Huck actually comes to appreciate school saying, “At first I hated the school but by and by I got so I could stand it. The longer I went to school the easier it got to be…I was getting sort of used to the widow’s ways too” (25). Huck’s partial individuality comes from his living on the margins of society. However, when Huck is fully integrated with the social order by the two women, his innate urge to conform is brought out and he acquiesces to it. The internal conflict is minimized to an extent and he accepts things that the widow values almost without hesitancy.
Despite the fact that Huck is more comfortable each day under the women’s roof, one character, Tom, has always been a consistently powerful impact on Huck’s judgment.
Similarly to the Widow and Miss Watson, Tom represents yet another societal influence acting on Huck. However, Tom’s influence on Huck is to act ‘by the books’ as ‘those have done before him’. Tom is primarily driven by his curiosity and lust for adventure, a quality that Huck greatly looks up to. He will do practically anything if it parallels something he has seen or read in literature. His opinion is especially highlighted when he is talking to the boys in the cave about ransoming people, “I don’t know. But that’s what they do. I’ve seen it in books; and so of course that’s what we’ve got to do” (19). Huck’s interaction with Tom echoes his relationship with the widow. Huck does harbor initial questioning when given the choice to participate in his schemes but eventually follows because Huck feels this draw to comply with Tom. For instance, When Huck and Tom sneak out together in the middle of the night; they are almost caught by Jim, so Tom advocates playing a trick on him. Huck knows that it’s wrong to do so, however, he agrees saying, “I didn’t want him to try I said Jim might wake up and come. But tom wanted to resk it; so we slid in there and god three candles” (18). Through this quote the dynamic between Huck and Tom is revealed, and subsequently the relationship between Huck and society. Tom represents
a strong societal pull on Huck that compels him to act by means of tradition and habit rather than by individual thinking. Huck is almost able to escape the widow, as he says on the first page, “I couldn’t stand it no longer I lit out…I was free and satisfied” (11). However, throughout the book he is never able to escape Tom. Huck goes back to the widow’s home, sacrificing feeling ‘free and satisfied’ in favor of complying with Tom’s wishes to, “start a band of robbers” (11). Evidently, the ‘tradition’ aspect of society has a greater hold over Huck than the ‘proper’ aspect of society. However, both are still ingrained parts of Huck’s character, so he adheres to both to a degree.
Yet, as Huck leaves the influence of peers and societal constraints, he begins to develop a greater sense of individuality, challenging the ingrained societal beliefs that have long affected his judgment. Huck’s physical and emotional distance from mainstream society makes him skeptical of the world around him, subsequently fostering his sense of intellectual independence. When Huck does escape society he seems to finally be able to dispel his innate instinct to conform to an extent. The first encounter between Huck’s loyalty to society and his developing ability to exercise free thinking, occurs when Jim and Huck encounter the sinking steamboat: Sir Walter Scott. Sir Walter Scott represents the deteriorating feudal southern system, one that Huck is implicitly drawn to. Huck is enticed by the aspect of adventure that he associates with the steamboat, one that stems from Tom’s influence over him. When trying to convince Jim to go aboard with him he says, “Do you reckon Tom Sawyer would ever go by this thing? He’d call it an adventure…I wish Tom Sawyer was here” (77). Huck, at this point is evidently still acting by the influence of his friend despite the large distance between them. He follows these childish Tom Sawyer-like impulses for adventure due to this innate desire to act in compliance with the aforementioned ‘tradition’ aspect of society. Huck even references ‘the books’ when trying to persuade Jim to come saying, “why you’d think it was Christopher C’lumbus discovering Kingdom Come” (77). Through this quote we see that Huck is trying to emulate Tom and imitate the adventures of ‘the books.’ It is interesting why Huck is drawn to this evidently volatile situation particularly when he does find out that there are real murderers aboard. He doesn’t even seem to register Jim’s reluctance and his “powerful sick” (78) feeling about the boat. The farther he gets, the more determined he is to see this adventure through. He references Tom for a second time once Jim actually leaves the boat saying, “ I was just abiling with curiosity…Tom Sawyer wouldn’t back out now, and so I wont either” (78). Huck is willing to possibly put himself and Jim in danger if it means he could be in Tom’s good graces (even if it is an imaginary version of him.) Huck cannot shake this ‘curiosity’ he feels about the ship, and subsequently this white feudal society. He does not even understand it himself, yet when he discovers that these men are possible criminals and murderers he still does not turn back until the last possible second. In this first confrontation between Huck’s morals and society’s influence over him, society is triumphant with his individuality paling in comparison. Evidently, at this stage Huck’s actions are still being governed by a sense of adventure and his need to ‘act by the books’, a value instilled into him by Tom. Although Huck’s separation from society is fostering his development of freethinking, at this point in time Huck’s actions are still being driven by his subconscious need to act in submission to societal constraints.
Additionally, Huck’s internal conflict over what to tell the white men are yet another reincarnation of his ongoing tug of war between his morals and society’s hold over him. While on the river, Huck comes upon some men in a boat who want to search his raft for escaped slaves. This set of scenes is the first to clearly reveal an equal clash between Huck’s growing morality and the loyalty to the white society that he can’t seem to shake. In response to the raft’s nearing of Cairo, Jim’s ticket to freedom, Huck considers what Jim’s liberty would mean to him. The more he ponders it, the more his conscience resists the prospect saying to himself, “you knowed he was running for his freedom, and you culd ‘a’ paddled ashore and told somebody’ (98). In respect to this one binding societal rule, Huck’s friendship with Jim doesn’t seem to stand a chance. At this point, Huck relapses so far back into the arms of society he even tries to use the thought of Miss Watson, a figure he initially doubted, to guide his decision. He references Miss Watson in his internal conversation saying, “What had poor Miss Watson done to you that you could see her nigger go off right under your eyes and never say one single word?” (99). Miss Watson’s efforts to force Huck to conform seems to have held a greater influence over him than we initially thought. He looks to her to figure out what he should do, should he hurt her by helping Jim get free or betray proper social norms and follow his morals. It seems that Huck had made up his mind to turn in Jim until Jim says to Huck, “you’s de bes’ fren’ Jim’s ever had…you’s de only frien’ ole Jim’s got now” (100). Through this exchange we see that Jim’s legitimate care for Huck does have a greater influence on him than he would like to admit to the reader as he considers Jim exceedingly inferior to himself. However, Jim’s unwavering loyalty and trust resonates with Huck swaying him to act on behalf of his newfound friend. Huck ultimately decides to lie to the white men for a reason that he himself isn’t able to place. When thinking to himself why he did it he says, “Whats the use of you learning to do right when is troublesome to do right and no trouble to do wrong…After this always do whichever come handiest at the time” (102). He justifies his decision to the reader by saying that it was ‘easier’ to lie than turn Jim in. However, it is clear that that was not the case as he previously stated his conscience was, “stirring me up hotter than ever,” (99). Neither choice was easy yet he protected Jim rather than give in to society’s hold over him. Perhaps without even knowing it, Huck has been treating Jim like a person, an equal on all accounts thus contributing to his decision to help him. This encounter with the white men represents a pivotal, defining victory for Huck’s growing sense of individuality. Thus this scene demonstrates that when Huck physically escapes society he is able to dispel his innate instinct to conform.
Jim’s capture finally convinces Huck to break with the racist white society he’s known all his life and embrace the moral resistance that has been gradually developing. He dispels all the guidelines he’s been educated by encourage him to let Jim stay in captivity and turn him in to Miss Watson. He does give into these preliminary instincts writing a letter to Miss Watson, essentially giving up on Jim. However, Huck feels a deep sense of loss when he truly contemplates Jim’s absence saying, “But it warn’t no use- old Jim was gone…Then I set down and cried; I couldn’t help it.” (222). Throughout the long journey Huck and Jim have embarked upon, Huck has befriended Jim and come to care too much about him to deny Jim’s existence and humanity as he did initially in the beginning of the book. His internal struggle is especially outlined when he is debating whether to tear up the letter to the widow exposing Jim, he says “ I was a-trembling, because I’d got to decide, forever, betwixt two things and I knowed it.” (225). At this point Huck was torn by a decision between the lesser of two evils, one option is to defy social and religious belief systems that he has been taught, and the other is to betray the one person who truly cares about him. Huck’s final decision to rescue Jim is triggered after experiencing a realization that Jim has been the only person in his life that has truly cared for him, something that no one else has yet to do for Huck. In deciding to “go to hell” (225), he pursues the option to save Jim and go to hell due to his progressing sense of morality and individuality, which both finally prevail over the ingrained influence of his peers as well as southern white society. However touching Huck’s loyalty appears to be, his empathy for Jim is short lived as it is completely obliterated upon Huck’s reintegration into society.
Moreover, when Huck is finally inducted back into society, he exercises initial resistance to traditional values, but eventually abandons his acquired individuality in favor of an intrinsic instinct to conform. When Huck first sees Tom, he does not seek Tom’s validation for his actions. He is well aware society will perceive him as reckless and will snub him, yet he doesn’t seem to care as he did at the beginning. When discussing the problem with his best friend, he says, "I know what you'll say. You'll say it is a dirty low down business but what if it is? I'm low down" (237). This interaction between Huck and Tom is the first time that we have seen Huck directly stand up to Tom, and thus to the aspect of society that has been such a burden for him to let go. This confrontation between the two boys represents Huck’s shaking sense of individuality squaring off directly with societal ‘tradition.’ Through this quote Huck is almost bracing himself for the repercussions of contradicting ‘the books’ and ‘tradition’ both aspects affiliated with Tom. After witnessing such evil throughout the book due to this ‘tradition,’ Huck is finally willing to voice the reservations that he has had had about Tom’s character and society that he wasn’t able to articulate at the beginning. However, Tom’s consent to save Jim throws Huck off guard, subsequently forcing Huck back in compliance with Tom and society. Huck even acquiesces to follow Tom’s ludicrous plan to save Jim, abandoning his own rational approach saying, “Tom told me what his plan was, and I see in a minute it was worth fifteen of mine for style, and would make Jim just as free a man as mine would, and maybe get us all killed besides” (244). As a reader this quotation is almost cringe-worthy. After all the progress Huck had accomplished throughout the course of the novel, especially concerning Jim, at the last possible moment Huck comes full circle in terms of his relationship with society. Huck once again embraces this innate instinct to go along with Tom and his crazy schemes abandoning his own sense of morality in the process. Tom knows that Jim is free, yet he manipulates Huck’s devotion to Jim for his own devices. Huck is unable to see Tom for what he genuinely is and what he truly stands for. Huck doesn’t even realize what he’s doing, so the ideas from the ‘books’ and from Tom begin to overpower his own reason. Similarly to Huck’s relationship with school at the beginning, the more he goes along with Tom the more it becomes easy to dismiss his conscience telling him not to. Huck even concludes that a conscience is useless saying, “But that’s always the way; it don’t make no difference whether you do right or wrong a person’s conscience aint got no sense and just goes for him anyway” (242). The disappointing element to Huck’s decision is that in this instance, he is taking the easy route rather than the moral route the reader hopes that he will pursue after all his progress concerning his individuality. The only shred of individuality that we do see in the end chapters of the novel is on the last page when he shows resistance to the prospect of being ‘sivilized’ by Aunt Sally saying, “I got to light out for the territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I cant stand it, I been there before” (395). Through this quote, we don’t know if Huck will be dragged back once again by Tom Sawyer, or if he will leave everything behind. After witnessing Huck’s progression throughout the novel, the reader hopes that Huck will be able to overcome society’s hold over him once again. It is evident that Huck still harbors the ability to challenge that innate sense of civilization, tradition, and conformity that have exercised such an influence his life thus far. He seems set on starting over in the territories and abandoning this proposed reestablishment into civilized society. However, Twain leaves this ending open to interpretation whether or not Huck will finally overcome the societal influence that has dictated his actions ever since the beginning of the novel.
Despite Huck’s continued defiance of societal beliefs throughout his journey, ultimately his developing individuality breaks down upon his reintegration into society. Throughout the novel, Huck has battled to suppress the intrinsic instincts to conform to societal beliefs. His quest for moral independence even led him to aid a runaway slave and stand up to conman, yet in the face of his best friend he falters and subsequently relapses to behavior demonstrated at the very beginning of the novel. We see that Huck is able to break from the views of society and cultivate his own beliefs on the river, however, he is fated to once again conform, as he is never truly able to dispose of his innate urge to conform. Once he is re-introduced into the overwhelming atmosphere of society, his resolve and his belief system crumbles under outside pressure. However, this impulse to act in compliance with societal expectations is not exclusive to the novel. The examination of Huck’s journey evokes the question: What would you be like if you were the one who was removed from society, what would change about you? With the removal of outside influence our lives would most likely experience a complete turnaround. This is due to the fact that every day life is plagued by conformity because our beliefs, thoughts, and opinions are shaped and influenced by those around us. Honestly, how can we be sure our actions are driven by our own decisions? Society certainly has a greater pull on an individual than anyone cares to admit; the real question is how much our lives do we truly dictate and what is left to the control of society?