Moral Development Of Huckleberry Finn
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain allows his characters, especially the main protagonist Huck, to think for themselves and grow as individuals rather than as a society. Despite the fact that Huck’s maturity and independence deteriorates during the Phelps’ episode, he does grow and flourish from his mistakes, which makes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn a novel of bildungsroman. Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain uses the development and growth of Huck Finn’s morals to convey how the adventures that Huck embarks on become a learning process to maturity by teaching him to be independent, civilized, and understand the evil surrounding racism and slavery.
Throughout the novel, Huck Finn has trouble truly understanding …show more content…
When Huck says, “Then we got out, and I was in a sweat to get away; but nothing would do Tom but he must crawl to where Jim was, on his hands and knees. I waited, and it seemed a good while, everything was so still and lonesome” (Twain 8), it reinforces the fact that Huck Finn still has a sense of innocence about the issues of racism and slavery. Because of his actions, Huck can be viewed as a bystander with the treatment of slaves, particularly Jim, because he only observes and does not try to assist Tom, or stand up for Jim by trying to stop Tom. Huck’s mannerisms bring up the question of whether or not Huck’s innocence keeps him from fully comprehending the meaning of racism/slavery, or Huck just does not care about the issue. Huck was raised in a slave owning society which reinforces why he does not defend Jim and accepts the common belief that black people are less intelligent and inferior than white people: “he [Jim] was right; he was almost always right; he had an uncommon level head for a [black man]” (Twain 81). Huck seems astonished that Jim has such a “level
Throughout the novel, Huck Finn has trouble truly understanding …show more content…
When Huck says, “Then we got out, and I was in a sweat to get away; but nothing would do Tom but he must crawl to where Jim was, on his hands and knees. I waited, and it seemed a good while, everything was so still and lonesome” (Twain 8), it reinforces the fact that Huck Finn still has a sense of innocence about the issues of racism and slavery. Because of his actions, Huck can be viewed as a bystander with the treatment of slaves, particularly Jim, because he only observes and does not try to assist Tom, or stand up for Jim by trying to stop Tom. Huck’s mannerisms bring up the question of whether or not Huck’s innocence keeps him from fully comprehending the meaning of racism/slavery, or Huck just does not care about the issue. Huck was raised in a slave owning society which reinforces why he does not defend Jim and accepts the common belief that black people are less intelligent and inferior than white people: “he [Jim] was right; he was almost always right; he had an uncommon level head for a [black man]” (Twain 81). Huck seems astonished that Jim has such a “level