Huckleberry Finn struggles with issues including guilt, fear, and morality in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. There are two different sides to Huck; one that is easily influenced by the racist Tom Sawyer and one that is constantly battling his conscience, revealing that he knows what he is supposed to think and ultimately deciding what he truly thinks. Throughout the novel, Huck learns to follow his newly formed conscience and not conform to societal norms.
Huck was raised in a society that devalued the humanity of slaves but chooses to view Jim as somewhat of an equal as they spend more and more time together. Huck’s conscience gradually begins to change and upon which he realizes he respects Jim as an intellectual individual, even going as far as to say “I know'd he was white inside” (276) showing he’s choosing to neglect the fact that he is supposed to belittle Jim for being a slave and instead, treats him with respect. Huck knows that “it was awful words and awful thoughts” but “never thought more about reforming” (74) because he learns to disregard set stereotypes based around slaves. Huck befriends
…show more content…
He pretends to be people like Tom Sawyer to Aunt Sally, George Peters to Mrs. Loftus, and George Jackson to the Grangerfords to survive life on the river. Huck also takes after Tom’s ability to generate elaborate stories and creates fake families to insert himself into. Throughout the novel Huck thinks about Tom Sawyer and even attempts to mimic his sense of adventure: "Do you reckon Tom Sawyer would ever go by this thing? …He'd call it an adventure—that's what he'd call it” (67), "I reckoned Tom Sawyer couldn't 'a' done it no neater himself" (195). Huck admirers Tom until he sees the way Tom treats Jim when they are trying to help Jim escape. Huck’s new conscience helps him see that the way Tom treats Jim is not okay and that Jim is more of a true friend to him than Tom