How Did Huck Finn Change Throughout The Novel

Abhiram Nettem ELA

12/06/16 Huck Finn Literary Analysis

Throughout The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Jim and Huck’s relationship develops throughout the the novel. Before the adventures had begun, Huck saw Jim as a mere slave . Huck had a poor relationship with his father, a low drunkard, and because of that, Huck didn’t have much of an adult figure in his life. He runs away from his father to Jackson Island. There he finds Jim and the adventures begin. They travel south together on a raft they found. Huck grew closer to Jim, understanding him more as a person than property.. Huckleberry didn’t have much experience being with older men, moreover a black man. Huck was a mere kid, yet Jim was a mere black.

Throughout Huck’s many wild adventures, Mark Twain makes Huck's character develop and learn. Towards the beginning, he is similar to any common boy of that time period: young and unknowing. Near the end of the novel, Huck is respectively more mature than when the adventures had just begun. “I slid out quite and throwed the snakes clear away amongst the bushes; for I warn't going to let Jim find out it was all my fault, not if I could help it (Twain, pg 107).” This quote from the novel was said by Huck after he placed a dead snake by Jim while Jim was napping. Huck had forgotten that a dead snake’s mate always finds the dead snake. The mate bit Jim but Huck was unable to admit what he had done. This shows that he is immature and still young, unlike how he was at the end of the story. “I said I wouldn't, and I'll stick to it. Honest Injun, I will. People will call me a low down abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum- but that don't make no difference. I ain't a going to tell.” This quote is Huck telling Jim that he will not tell anyone Jim’s secret, which is that he ran away because he heard his slave owner say that she was considering selling him for 800 dollars. He promises that he will keep a black man’s secret, something that is against most white people’s morals in that time period; especially when the secret concerns a slave’s runaway information. This quote shows how Huck matures even in the beginning of the story. He is learning about life and correct morals and he keeps a secret that most white people wouldn’t even consider keeping. In that time period, it is very common for a white person to have racial displeasure against a black person. That was the way people such as Huckleberry were raised. However, we now know that that behavior is wrong. Huck was able to learn that which is one of the most important ideas in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. “All right, then, I’ll go to hell”—and tore up