Huck Finn Society And Conformity

One of the toughest things in life is being able to be yourself when everyone else is pushing you to be exactly like them. The idea of conformity, or the process of adapting to the typical standards of society is one discussed many times in literary texts by authors. It can be viewed as a positive idea at the time, but ultimately can lead to the corruption of society as a whole. This is seen through the classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Huck is a young boy trying to determine whether or not he should be his own person or stick to the ways of society. Over time he learns to form his own opinions and realizes how immoral these people truly are. This topic is also displayed in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

While some may say that their messages are different, they are actually quite similar because they are both expose biased education and religion, disrespect of slaves, and the greed of society.
It can be argued that these messages differ greatly, they are very alike since they reveal corrupt education and religion. Through his excerpts Douglass tells of when he was first trying to learn how to read and write. When his master at the time, Mr. Auld, discovered of the mistress teaching Frederick how to read he said, “Now if you teach that n****r how to read there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave” (Douglass 14). The reader can infer from this that slaves were deemed not fit for education by society. Had he learned to read and received a full education he would be sold or left on the streets. Slaves were not meant to have an education since it would allow them to discover the wrongs of the world, think for themselves, and write themselves to freedom. Twain is very strategic in his presentation of the main character in the novel, Huck Finn himself. At the beginning of the story

When Douglass describes the effects of slavery on Mistress Hugh he says, “Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities. Under its influence, the tender heart became stone” (Douglass 16). The mistress was once a caring and considerate person but after owning a slave and seeing how her husband treated Douglass, she too began to mimic his brutal ways. This shows even the purest of people are turned evil by witnessing how slaves were treated. Greed and the desire to follow the ways of others caused cruelty of others. In Huck Finn when the men are tricked by the king and duke with their Royal Nonesuch show, they say, “We are sold-mighty badly sold. But we don’t want to be the laughing-stock of this whole town” (Twain 114). After this the townsmen decide to encourage others to attend the show as well. This displays the greed of society and how they did not wish to look foolish so they made everyone else get ripped off as well. Also in the novel Huck shows up to town disguised as a runaway apprentice he encounters a woman in town. She takes him in and pities him, offering him food and a place to stay that night. Her actions show kindness, but then she speaks of Jim, the runaway slave and how she wishes to catch him for the cash reward. Twain is depicting how immoral people of society are, and oblivious to the fact that