ipl-logo

Huck Finn And The Conscience Analysis

566 Words3 Pages

Mark Twain is one of the famous realists and satirists in the American literature. He is the author of numerous short stories, novels, pamphlets, and articles. One of the most famous works of Mark Twain is "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."
This novel captures the life of the American society in the 1940’s of the XIX century. The events in this story have not crank deep into conflict that led the country through two decades of civil war, but despite of the visible world it reflects many of the problems of American society. The issues of the novel "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is not limited to the issue of slavery in African-American population, it is much deeper and more varied. The attention is drawn to the fact that Mark Twain in …show more content…

During 1940’s covering for a slave was considered as a big crime. In carrying out the dream of freedom and happiness, Huck Finn (protagonist) helps Jim (African American slave) to escape. But in the same time Huck is hiding from his drunken father, and too strict order of life in the house of the widow Douglas.
Conscience “tells” Huck to turn in the slave, because Jim is legal property of Miss Watson; and helping him to escape is no better than a thief. But in the soul of Huck's conscience “wakes up” the other conscience, the one that he did not know before, which is deeper than any prejudice. Huck “hears” the voice of universal conscience. It is so imperious and strong, that he cannot resist. Huck wants to turn Jim in, but he cannot. He is ready to consider himself as a thief, a criminal, a lost man, but he is not able to transcend the deep, true conscience.
The choice that is made in the sixteenth chapter can be considered as a real feat. Huck knows what price he will pay for harboring black. Now that he and Jim slipped Cairo, their way lies farther to the South , to the most severe slave states. Their position is almost hopeless, because if they will get caught not only Jim , but Huck himself will expect a quite sad

Show More
Related
935 Words | 4 Pages

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an American classic, it was the starting point for all great American Literature. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been awarded all of these honorable titles because of its abnormal and controversial plot line. During the time period when the book was written, it was unacceptable to view African- American’s as anything other than slaves. They were viewed as inferior to whites and were treated like property, they had no rights. The main character of the book, Huck, disagrees and disobeys these norms and pushes the boundaries of society when he becomes friends with a slave from his childhood; Jim.

Read More
2304 Words | 10 Pages

When one reads The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, themes involving morality and conscience become heavily prevalent. The protagonist, Huckleberry Finn, portrays a manifest dynamic character. His actions and statements ranging from the outset of the novel through its ending show Huck’s development of a more concise sense of morality and conscience prevailing over the societal influences of “right and wrong”. In the nineteenth century American South, the inescapable system of slavery and social hierarchy would have discouraged an interracial bond. Yet Huck, while escaping his abusive father, chooses to befriend Jim, the runaway slave whom he encounters, and shares a pivotal stage in his life with his newfound companion, whereby contradicting

Read More
160 Words | 1 Pages

Living in the 1800s was a very confusing time for a thirteen-year-old American white boy named Huckleberry Finn. African people were faced with inhuman acts of slavery, prejudice, and discrimination. Choosing between what was right and wrong was a challenge, especially for Huckleberry Finn. Huck’s peers tried to corrupt him into believing that slavery was the norm and black people were to be shunned. Mrs. Watson, for example, was Huck’s adoptive mother whom consistently told Huck to not associate with people of the African culture.

Read More
639 Words | 3 Pages

So, when Huck picks up Jim, a recently escaped slave, and heads up the Mississippi River, he gets nervous when Jim begins to talk about how he will soon be free and plans to buy, or even steal, his wife and children. This was during a time where Huck would be committing a crime by helping a slave escape. He has a difficult time deciding to be loyal to his friend and let Jim continue up the rest of the way up north so that he can be freed, or to turn Jim in as an escaped slave. Huck fears getting in trouble, but he also is very torn because of the relationship that he now has with Jim. Huck’s askew sense of sympathy and morality are conflicting each other.

Read More
321 Words | 2 Pages

Although the right thing for Huck to do would be to turn Jim in, he began to think about the results that would most likely follow if he did turn him in. For example, in the novel, Huck said “And at

Read More
715 Words | 3 Pages

Every person encompasses their own unique opinion. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck Finn possesses a conscience that makes him one of the most important and recognizable figures in American literature. However, Claudia Durst Johnson, a critic, believes that because of Huck’s actions the novel “is one of the most radical and darkly bitter books in the American canon. It represents the breaking of federal law as moral. It recommends disobedience and defiance on the part of young people.”

Read More
884 Words | 4 Pages

Born and raised in the pre-Civil War south, all Huckleberry Finn knows is what he has been surrounded with, which is the idea that whites are the superior race. Mark Twain speaks through the experiences of Huck and exposes the character’s

Read More
977 Words | 4 Pages

Huck feels blameworthy for not turning Jim in after he heard Jim talking about stealing his family from their owner by hiring an abolitionist. He feels like it is wrong to steal slaves from people who are

Read More
466 Words | 2 Pages

This transition is the result of the extended period of time that the two spend together, which allows Huck to look past the differences that he has been taught to observe for his entire life and view Jim for what he is; a fellow man. By the end of this passage, Huck’s resolve to do right by Jim is so strong that he is willing to suffer eternal damnation rather than betray Jim. Perhaps Huck’s most important statement in this passage is “Alright then, I’ll go to hell”; here he decides he’s willing to go to hell for eternity rather than causing Jim to return to his life as a slave. At first Huck just thought of Jim the property of another person, a good to be bought and sold regardless of any evidence that he was a human being. As they travel together, this viewpoint is gradually weakened by examples of Jim’s humanity, culminating in a model shift that goes against everything Huck has been taught about the societal status of a

Read More
1085 Words | 5 Pages

Huck had to make a various amount of lies and decisions to keep Jim safe. In the light of conscience and morality, “Huck’s inner conflict is not the conflict of a conscience. A representative of a conventional morality, with sympathy (or of the heart) as a force of nature. ”1 As for an example of morality decisions, as the pair slid up into the bank of the river, Huck runs into a couple of slave hunters.

Read More
2368 Words | 10 Pages

The ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’, written by Mark Twain, follows the narrative of the young protagonist, Huckleberry Finn. While the novel takes off describing the wild adventures of Huck Finn, the novel progresses to reveal more mature themes. Before beginning the novel, readers are greeted with a warning from the author; “NOTICE: Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot” (Twain, 1). At the risk of being banished, readers may uncover two prominent themes: racism and slavery, and Huck’s evolving morality. While reading the novel, one may catch a glimpse into the society of the south where slavery

Read More
574 Words | 3 Pages

No matter how advanced people in a society believe to be in comparison to what has come before -- flaws are always present in a society, particularly in the Antebellum South. Not surprisingly, the use of satire figures in literature is intended to shed light on a writer 's’ opinions regarding a corrupt society. The use of such ridicule characters is perfectly epitomized in Mark Twain’s, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In this composition, Twain exposes the shortcomings and faults of society through certain aspects of society during . Known as one of the Great American Novels, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a satirical novel about a young boy trying to make sense of the confusing world he lives in.

Read More
471 Words | 2 Pages

• The approach to the determination of the value of the individual proposed by Oliver Wendell Holmes was based on a philosophical concept of individual worth. Holmes believed that each person had their own intrinsic value and that it was important to understand and consider the individual circumstances in each case in order to fully appreciate their value. He argued that each person should be treated as an individual, regardless of their social class or status, and that the value of a person should never be judged by the prevailing standards of the day. His approach was based on the idea that each person had a unique value and that it was important to recognize this value in order to ensure that justice was done. •

Read More
1141 Words | 5 Pages

Although there are numerous instances where Huck’s moral growth can be seen, the individuals around such as Jim, will influence his moral growth greatly. Jim, a runaway slave, is the most influential individual when it comes to Huck’s moral development. During the beginning of the novel, Huck’s morals are primarily based on what he has learned from Miss Watson. Huck begins to become wary of such ideals that Miss Watson has imposed on him, and decided all he wanted “…was a change” (Twain 10).

Read More
1083 Words | 5 Pages

Specifically, through the controversy of slavery at the time, Huck learns how to listen to his intuition and conscience. His slight hesitation escaping with Jim makes him question the authenticity of his morality. He says, “I begun to get it through my head that he was most free--and who was to blame for it? Why, me … But you knowed he was running for his freedom, and you could ‘a’ paddled ashore and told somebody”

Read More

More about Huck Finn And The Conscience Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document