How Does Huck Learned In A Lesson Before Dying

The first thing anyone ever does is learn. We learn to talk walk write and read. Intrinsic to the way we learn is to learn from other people and to mimic their actions and ideas. But just because something is taught doesn’t mean it’s right, as shown in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, and A Lesson before Dying by Gaines. The adventures of Huckleberry finn Twain shows the theme by contrasting Hucks actions with the ideals imprinted on him by Tom and Pap. In A lesson before Dying Gaines shows it by demonstrating how people are taught racism by characters like Superintendent Joseph and Matthew Antoine, and how that racism is defied by Jefferson at the end of the novel.

Huck is raised by his racist Pap and his outside contact is from the emotionally callous Tom Sawyer, who try to push their incorrect beliefs onto Huck. Tom Sawyer is not a kind boy, he starts a gang and Huck wants to join. In order for Huck to join Toms childish gang Tom

(Twain, 59) This is distinguished from when Tom made Huck sign the cruel oath just so Huck could be in Toms gang, because clearly Tom shows remorse at even hurting someone else, much less killing a friend so Tom rejects Hucks ideals. Hucks Pap is a racist. A raging racist who when he found a black professor could vote in ohio he “Swore to never vote Again”