Preview

Manipulative And Deceitful In The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
511 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Manipulative And Deceitful In The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn
Deceiving Huckleberry Finn | An Essay

Were all slaves manipulative and deceitful in the 1800s? In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the character of Jim is manipulative and deceitful because he lies about Huckleberry’s father’s death, runs away from Mrs. Watson, and asks Huckleberry to help him escape slavery, even if it may mean injury or even death for Huck and his friends. Firstly, Jim is manipulative and deceitful because he lies about Huckleberry’s father’s death. “Come in, Huck, but doan’ look at his face - it’s too gashly.” (p.p. 50). This action by Jim, preventing Finn from seeing the identity of the deceased person (who is actually Huckleberry’s father Pap), changes the entire outcome of the book. “De man ain’t

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Constantly feeling pressured to give Jim up and return him to his owner, Miss Watson, Huck writes a letter to his previous owner, making sure to include Jim’s location. However, the guilt he would experience for surrendering his friend causes him to tear it up, as he would rather “sin” than destroy Jim’s freedom. The protagonist was shown to experience an ethical predicament, in which he would have to decide whether to stay true to his friend, or to the whitewashed opinions created by the culture surrounding him. In the course of the novel, Huckleberry is fighting an internal conflict on how he views Jim and other characters of African descent. These beliefs and opinions formed by Huck are tested at this stage in the story, allowing him to decide between what is legally right, and what is morally right. His ability to withhold these unforgivable actions allows the reader to see how greatly Huck’s character has matured throughout the novel. As the nineteenth century progressed, it was very difficult for a slave to become a free man or woman. Many slaves became free through manumission, the voluntary emancipation of a slave by their owner (United States History, n.pag). If Huck were to turn Jim in, it would completely extinguish his likelihood of obtaining the status of a free man at any point of his life. Furthermore, the author shows the reader how…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This story is about a boy who pretty much has a front row seat to witness the horrible things that we see being broadcasted on the news today; such as racism. Huck knows that the racists situations that he is witnessing around him are wrong in the eyes of society, but in his heart he knows what's right, which is why he chose to help Jim. Throughout the adventure , Huck struggles with the thoughts of turning Jim in, not because he knows it's the right thing to do but because he knows what could be the consequences for himself and Jim. The only thing that is holding Huck back from turning Jim in is their friendship and what he feels in his heart.…

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Mark Twain’s book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck Finn was a troubled kid who grew up and matured in several ways. Huck ran away and had to learn how to make it on his own, and as he went on that journey of going from boyhood to adulthood he learned so much about doing the right thing.…

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Censorship in Huck Finn

    • 1676 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a young boy named Huckleberry Finn runs away from his life and travels down the Mississippi River with his friend Jim, a runaway slave. The story follows Huck 's moral growth and maturity throughout his many adventures and experiences. The major turning point of the book is when Huck realizes that Jim cares about him, and that he cares about Jim in return. As a child, Huck is taught that Jim isn 't a person because of his skin color and that he does not deserve respect, but Huck discovers that Jim is a person and deserves more respect than most people Huckleberry met on his journeys. He comes to this decision because Jim cares for him and treats Huck better than his own father. Huck says “All right, then, I 'll go to hell.” when he decides to go against the racist teachings of his childhood and help Jim get his freedom (Twain 216-217). The book was written to show what life was like in the 1840s and successfully revealed the way people viewed each other and people of other races. In the beginning of the story, Huck treats Jim poorly because he is taught that…

    • 1676 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Huck Finn Racist?

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages

    was merely part of the vernacular of Southern culture during the 1800's not a cacophonous wordand not strictly a racist term. It further illustrates that twain recognized the evils of racism.As shown in the drunken charter of pap. Huck Finn was abused by his father allthroughout his childhood. He lived in constant fear of his surroundings (occasionally even beingincarcerated in a shed for days) and didn't lead an exactly normal life. When he finally decides toget out of his predicament and stages his own death, he meets up with Jim on Jackson's island.When Huck first meets Jim on the Island he makes a monumental decision, not to turn Jim in.Two opposing forces, the force of society and the force of his personal conscience confront him.He is forced to decide whether turning Jim in is the right thing to do. The law tells him that hemust betray his friend, but his conscience tells him to question this law. He chooses, as he doesmany other times in the book, to continue helping Jim to obtain his freedom despite the fact thatit seems immoral to him. Many times, throughout the novel, Huck comes very close torationalizing Jim's slavery. However, he is never able to see a reason why this man, who has become one of his only friends, should be a slave. Through this internal struggle, Twainexpresses his opinions of the absurdity of slavery and the importance of following one's personalconscience before the laws of society. By the end of the novel, Huck and the reader have come tounderstand that Jim is not someone's property and an inferior man, but an equal. Which is ironic because in the beginning of the book Huck thought blacks were almost stupid-like “(p. 6) Niggers is always talking about witches in the dark…Jim was ruined” But, in the end Huck realizes he could never betray his friend, Jim, who has risked his life for Huck and who has become the closest friend Huck ever had and will ever have.Another time Twain demonstrates the immorality of slavery is during…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hucks Moral DilemmaMark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the story, taking place prior to the Civil War, of a young boy, Huck Finn, who fakes his own death and runs away from home in order to escape his abusive father, Pap. Accompanying Huck on his adventure down the Mississippi River is Jim, a runaway slave. In the beginning, Jim is depicted as a stereotypical and naïve slave, and Huck and Jims relationship, at times, loosely resembles a master-slave relationship; though Huck is not truly Jims master, he tries to act in a superior manner toward Jim, likely because society has taught him to act this way. As the story progresses, however, Huck and Jims relationship appears to change and Huck struggles with an internal battle of what is right: his conscience, which is controlled by the values of society, or what he feels in his heart. Hucks heart wins this battle a few times during his adventure, and Huck and Jims relationship continues to grow; however, because Huck is only an impressionable young boy, it is impossible for him to completely turn against the values of society. Though Twain appears, himself, to be intentionally racist, he uses Hucks character, and his interactions with society, in an ironic manner to negatively critique the racist culture of the old South, and to show how poorly blacks were treated. His purpose in writing this novel was to comment on how little had changed, even after the Civil War.…

    • 1685 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Huckleberry Finn Criticism

    • 1018 Words
    • 5 Pages

    To Huck, for a majority of the novel, Jim was seen as Mrs. Watson’s property and Jim was incapable of emotions and it would be fine if he was sold away from his family. It was not until the last half of the novel did Huck see humanity in Jim. Huck recalled that Jim “was thinking about his wife and his children, away up yonder, and he was low and homesick; because he hadn't ever been away from home before in his life; and I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their'n. It don't seem natural, but I reckon it's so. He was often moaning and mourning that way nights, when he judged I was asleep, and saying, "Po' little '! po' little Johnny! it's mighty hard; I spec' I ain't ever gwyne to see you no mo', no mo'!" He was a mighty good nigger, Jim was” (Twain 152). Twain hoped that his would provide seeds for an equality movement between African-American and the white Southerners. Twain wanted peace after years of fighting, so by adding human qualities to Jim and creating a strong relationship between Huck and Jim, the peace would possibly come through The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.…

    • 1018 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lies In Huckleberry Finn

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Lying is an everyday part of life that is used positively and negatively, but the use of either has strong moral consequence. In Mark Twains classic, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, many examples of lies are used for the protection of characters and for the greed evil men. In the case of Huck, the mental toll of lying took a lot out of him, and would shape the course of the adventures that lied ahead.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gloria, Zhang Mr. Pierotti American Literature E3 - Huckleberry Finn 5. Why does Twain seem to have a double standard of deception? Why do we approve of Huck's lies but disapprove others? We treat something or someone very differently with the same situation. That's my understanding of the phrase "double standard."…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Huckleberry Finn: Racism

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In Mark Twains' The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the main character Huck, makes two very important decisions. The first one is how he treats Jim when he first meets him at Jackson's Island and the second is to tear up the letter to Miss Watson because he cares deeply for Jim. When Huck first runs away from Pap he goes to Jackson's Island and thinks that he is the only person there. He soon finds out that this is not true, and that "Miss Watsons Jim"1 , is taking crap there as well. Many people would hate to be alone on an island with a "nigger"2 , but Huck is happy to have someone to talk with. At first Jim thinks he sees Hucks ghost and is scared. Huck gets Jims feelings by changing the subject and saying "It's good daylight, le's get breakfast"3 , showing that Huck is not only real but he does not mind that Jim is black. Jim feels that Huck might tell on him for running away, but he then decides that it will be okay to tell him why he ran away from Miss Watson. Jim keeps asking Huck if he is going to tell anyone about his running away, and Huck say's "People would call me a low down abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum but that don't make no difference I aint gonna tell"4 . Hucks response truly shows that his ignorance has no showing over his kindness. When taken into consideration good decisions are much more important in the long run than being the smartest person. After traveling with Jim for quite some time Huck begins to feel bad about harboring a runaway slave. He decides to write a letter to Miss Watson explaining the whole story, because Jim had been sold and he does not know where he is. Huck was indeed confused about what he should do so he dropped he dropped to his knees and began to pray. He felt by helping Jim he was committing a sin, but he later realized "you can't pray a lie"5 . Huck saying this shows that he feels what he has done for Jim is not wrong; instead what others had done to Jim is wrong. Still not sure of what to do about the…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Huckleberry Finn Analysis

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Is your life perfect? Probably not we all have our demons we all have our faults but that is what unifies us. We are on a journey to become a better person all the time. Just like in the novels Underground to Canada by Barbara Smucker and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Therefore the journey by both protagonists in the novels The adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Underground to Canada differ, the style of writting used in both texts are complete opposites. They share similairties such as the setting used for both books and the fact both novels end on a positive note. Both authors succeded in conveying the readers attention to the central themes of the books: perserverance, moral awakening and finding your freedom. In this…

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, racism is a key theme. Throughout the novel, Twain reveals to society the evilness of mistreating another person simply because they have a different skin color. Twain masterfully shows the effects of racism on the character of Jim, a black slave and sometime companion of Huck during his journeys, by allowing the reader to feel what Jim feels when he is being mistreated. He accomplishes this empathetic move between Jim and the reader by giving accounts of Jim's mistreatment as witnessed by Huck.…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Moral breakdown is a phenomenon in which a major degradation or a complete loss of moral values takes place within a particular society. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “To educate a person in the mind but not in morals is to educate a menace in society.” Morals are the basis by which people live in a positive manner because morals typically mean that people are compassionate to our fellow beings. When people have morals we know right from wrong. It's important to have morals with a smart mind so that they understand the consequences of their actions. In the novel Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain describes that Huck Finn has moral degradation or no morals between lying, murder and greed.…

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Huck Finn

    • 1632 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Old South’s way of life deformed the consciences of the people living there, convincing them of the humanity of slavery. Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn tells the story of Huck Finn, a young redneck boy, who finds friendship in a runaway slave named Jim, despite his own racist background. Though Huck and Jim bond throughout their journey, Huck struggles to overcome the way he was raised and see Jim as a person capable of feelings and emotions. Throughout his journey down the Mississippi, Huck is faced with challenges where he must decide Jim’s fate, but as his bond with Jim grows stronger, he begins to unlearn the racist views he was taught. He begins to mature and follow his heart when he apologizes to Jim, decides not to turn him in, and when he finally has the epiphany that he would rather rot in Hell than turn in his best friend.…

    • 1632 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Mark Twain’s controversial Adventures of Huckleberry Finn follows a young boy, Huckleberry Finn, and a slave, Jim, who escape their town in Missouri and begin a journey together down the Mississippi River. The novel is set in 1830’s America, when slavery was present in many states. The book’s central theme of racism creates a strong divide between critics, many of whom argue whether Twain’s work is a satire of white society in pre-Civil War times, or whether there is racism in the novel that undermines and damages the image of black society. One such critic, Carmen Subryan, analyzes Twain’s past and his other works, revealing that Twain was a “man who travelled so far from his Southern roots” to the point where he came to the “realization not…

    • 1693 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays