Huckleberry Finn Character Analysis

Identically, the dragon in Grendel who clads a giant beast-like form whom Grendel describes “No use of a growl, a whoop, a roar, in presence of that beast! Vast, red-golden, huge tail coiled, limbs sprawled over his treasure-hoard, eyes not firey [sic] but cold as the memory of family deaths” (Gardner 57). Even Grendel shivers when he goes face to face with dragon; indeed, the dragon will shock people with his monstrous look. In addition, the dragon forms himself a philosophy, which contrasts the human world, “certain basic truth that ultimately nothing matter (Merrill 167). All day long, the dragon lies on a pile of gold where he finds his most comfort. He is out of reach from the outside world and no human is intrepid enough to visit the

In The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, Twain depicts Huck as a border character because he is unfit in neither the civilized nor uncivilized world. Author Bell claims, “The widow and Pap belong on the same side of divide from Huck, through extremes of respectable and the disrespectable.” Although Huck is white, the civilized society treats him as the lowest for not having a family and being uneducated and poor. Due to the transitioning after Widow Douglas adopts him, Huck struggles finding a way to adjust to the new environment. For example, the widow always forces him to practice Christianity and to read the Bible. In return, he retorts, “She let out that Moses had been dead considerable long time, so I didn’t care no more, because I don’t take stock in dead people “(Twain 2). This shows Huck is a realist compared to white society and gives no interest in practicing religious beliefs; thereby, it is harder for Huck to connect to civilized people who have a strong religious faith. Furthermore, Tom Sawyer, Huck’s best friend, who grows up in the civilized world is a foil to Huck’s character. Tom constantly makes Huck feel dumb for not knowing what the “book say” and almost kicks Huck out of his gang for not having a family. Therefore, Huck always feels lonesome and bored; he even wishes he could die. It demonstrates Huck as an outsider when he keeps receiving

For instance, Huck became friends with Jim, a former slave, which suggests Huck does not fit in the normal spectrum of civilized society. As time goes by, he gradually allows his conscience to make the decision for his action. The prevailing culture has taught Huck: slaves are not your friend; you should not apologize to a slave; a slave should know his place; people should not steal; and laws should never be broken. However, overcoming many obstacles with Jim, Huck noticed what he had been taught contradicts what he learn through the adventure. The moment, when Huck declares “All right, then I’ll go to hell.”(Twain 235) he determines to go against the society’s law. Initially, Huck wonders whether it right to free Miss Watson’s slave; he feel sorry toward her when she has not done any harm to him. Yet, he damns himself to go to “hell” to set Jim free, which author Cox claims “he has forsaken the world of pleasure to make a moral choice” (qtd.in Kolb). This proves Huck no longer treats Jim in an owner-slave relationship; but rather a friend. Huck feels slavery as is unjust and Jim is a human not an object to be owned by anyone else. As the author Henry Nash Smith comments, this action is “the emotional climax of the story” that Mark Twain creates, to show the reader Huck’s “capacity for love” that he is willing to “sacrifice himself for Jim”. At first, Huck