Examples Of Sivilized In Huckleberry Finn

People often struggle to reconcile their consciences with societal expectations. Mark Twain follows this struggle in his fictional novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through a bildungsroman of a young boy. Twain uses this innocent facade to hide a deeper criticism of society’s ideal of what is “sivilized” in order to rip away the mask of perfection and reveal humanity’s true flaws. As a child, Huckleberry Finn sees the constraints of society just like any other child his age: stifling and pointless. His time spent living with the Widow Douglas seems to confirm his opinions on society. He complains, “The Widow Douglas…allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living… considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her

To him, living in society means he is forced to conform against his inner desires of freedom in the outdoors. He feels suffocated when 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” (Twain 1). The clothes become a heavy reminder of the constant pressures of the town weighing on him. Wherever he goes, he must wear the burden of needing to satisfy society. This is an unwelcome load for a child to carry, and Huck decides that people’s expectations are simply unrealistic and unnecessary. It especially bothers him that they do not try to understand other people’s perspectives. He observes, “They get down on a thing when they don’t know nothing about it” (Twain 2). The town harps on “sivilized” manners, but the people do not even understand his ways. In an effort to avoid conforming, Huck comes to his own conclusions. Likewise, critic Bennett Kravits observes that Huck hopes to avoid conflict “[by] setting out to construct a new world--one in which he will become an active self-fashioner rather than [a] passive participant…” (Kravits). Huck feels that it is wrong for society to pressure him to change when they do not understand his motives. If he refuses to

Huck becomes fearful when he realizes his father is not dead, and explains, “I judged the old man would turn up again by-and-by, though I wished he wouldn’t” (Twain 12). Huck, a mere child, recognizes the danger surrounding him. Yet, society does nothing to aid him, as he points out, “…so he said courts musn’t interfere and separate families if they could help it; said he’d druther not take a child away from its father” (Twain 21). The court fails him, leaving him to his father. In this, Huck is forced to come face-to-face with the fact that much of society is all talk and no action. Although everyone in town is bent on squeezing him into their expectations, almost none of them do anything to save him from his father. The town preaches love and good deeds, and refuses to act upon these teachings. Society is shown in its truest form: a shamble of corruption and hypocrisy hidden under unrealistic ideals. However, Huck is a child, and does not dwell on this event. He soon slips back into the freedom of nature, and describes his new situation as “…kind of lazy and jolly, laying off comfortable all day…” (Twain 24). In the wild, he feels