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 …show more content…
This becomes clear when Huck struggles to pray after being conflicted as to whether or not he should call upon Miss Watson to free Jim from the Duke and King, which he believed would risk Jim’s life. Originally, Huck acted as if Jim wasn’t a runaway slave and prayed for his friend to be saved. Eventually, he realized that he had to honest with God, and that “You can’t pray a lie” (Twain 213). Huckleberry discerns through the use of his conscience that he has to be open with the deity from whom he seeks help. Huck has now been honest with himself and accepted his morality, as well as religion, which he had never wholeheartedly embraced. Afterward, Huck said, “I felt good and washed clean of sin for the first time I had ever felt so in my life” (Twain 213). This is a defining moment for Huck because he spends a considerable amount of his time deliberating his choices and striving to do the right thing. Through his use of his conscience and recent sense of morality, Huck learns that he must be of good intentions and honest when in prayer; though this rule applies to most