Free Huck Finn Essays: Under Natural Law

Huck Finn sailed down the Mississippi and left the life, people, and ideals that he grew up with. Despite what Huck was taught, his moral compass points in different directions as he faces challenges with Jim. Jim is depicted as dumb and serves as comedic relief. However, after Huck was orphaned, Jim became a father figure and best-friend to Huck. With this new role, Twain showed that enslaved African-Americans were people who felt emotions and pain like everyone. As the novel progressed, Huck cared more for Jim, and he eventually learned that the idea of slavery was wrong and misleading when determining who was and was not a human being.

Natural law is based on personal observation and personal experience with a certain controversial topic

In the book, natural law’s view on religion was expressed through Huck’s opinions on providence. When Mrs. Watson, Huck continually expresses how religion and providence are useless but if it shows up, so be it, as shown when Huck magically stumbled upon Tom Sawyer’s distant family (237), or when a hunk of bread conveniently made its way down the river and found him (233). Huck didn’t know if he believed in God, but he sure believed in Hell (226). So, under natural law, religion could be seen as the belief in morality and a place for the good and then for the bad, yet the words bad and good are not able to be clearly defined as they are. In reference to religion, social law demanded everyone to go to church simply because it was the normal. When Huck was with Mrs. Watson, he explained how everyone had to pray before every meal and before bed each night, even if the prayers were not answered the next day, month, or even year (19). Mrs. Watson also taught Huck about heaven and hell because under social law’s view on religion, those were the only options, despite each person lacking the knowledge of what differentiated social moral actions and natural moral actions (11). Social law’s emphasis on going to church was evident when the duke and king showed up to a town but it was empty because everyone was in church. So, the duke, the king, and Huck went to the church

These different views caused a rather sticky legal system for Huck and Pap as the biological father struggled to get custody of Huck. However, the legal system was acting under social and not natural law, therefore the new judge “was going to make a man of [pap]” and “talked to [pap] about temperance” (31). The legal system tried every possible idea to keep Huck and Pap together despite the fact that Mrs. Watson was the better guardian. The judge's legal actions portray social law’s emphasis on keeping a father and son together even if this idea risked the child’s well being. However, despite social law’s ideas, real father figures emerge with natural law ideals like Jim. As seen in the book, natural law defined a father figure who cared for the individual at hand and excluded the thought that only blood can be family. According to natural law, Huck’s real father was Jim. Jim cared for Huck like he was his own and viewed him as his best friend. Jim cared for Huck more than his own father did. He watched and allowed Huck to sleep more (227). He was also worried like a father for Huck when they got seperated by the fog on the river (98). Jim even showed Huck how to be smart on the island when he showed him that in the cave they could hide “all the traps [and canoe], and [they] could rush there if anyone was to find [him and Jim] on the island” (58). Jim taught Huck survival