Peer Pressure In Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Huckle

Peer Pressure

Through Huck’s many adventures, his sense of morality plays a large role in the decisions he makes as well as the relationships he builds with others. Huck’s decisions and actions have the ability to change the lives of those around him; his sense of morality influences his choices, thus leading him to many difficult situations with others. By the time that Huck decides that he is going to follow his heart and save Jim instead of turning him in, his moral development is at an increase, as opposed to his morality in the beginning of the novel. Though his intentions for saving Jim are not completely genuine, he makes the upstanding decision to save Jim and exemplifies his change of heart. Huck displays his nonconformity to
Huck at times shows his morality by making the “right” decisions in many circumstances, but when following Tom in Tom’s plans, Huck caves into Tom’s devious, immoral, adventure seeking ideas that causes trouble for the Phelps as well as himself. Huck possesses a desire to follow his heart to help Jim as he leaves for Silas Phelps’ farm, and the basis of that wish to be moral persists and influences a few of his actions in dealing with the Phelps: “Laws knows I wanted to go, bad enough, to see about Tom, and all was intending to go, but after that, I wouldn’t a went, not for kingdoms” (350). Huck’s basis of morality still exists even through Tom’s influence. Huck chooses the right decision to stay and keep Aunt Sally from becoming even more sorrowful. Though he knows that Tom is waiting for him, Huck stays not for the benefit of himself, but for Aunt Sally, because he sympathizes for her. Huck’s moral development progresses when not in the presence of Tom’s manipulative words, but when he is around Tom’s influence, Huck gives into falling under the impression of Tom’s ideals and ridiculous, immoral schemes. Huck considers Tom an authoritative, knowledgeable figure and follows Tom in many of Tom’s unreasonable, unethical acts regardless of the negative circumstances Huck knows will undergo: “’Now you’re talking!’ I says; ‘Your head gets leveler and leveler all the time, Tom Sawyer,’ I says. ‘Picks is the thing, moral or no moral; and as for me, I don’t care shucks for the morality of it nohow” (307). Tom finds it very important that they make Jim’s escape from bondage an adventure, hence Tom and Huck must steal, life, and cheat to make their somewhat simple situation adventuresome. Huck steals the Phelps’s family’s picks, and disregards the fact that what he is doing is immoral because he is lost in the