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Huckleberry Finn Vs Salvation Research Paper

828 Words4 Pages

Hannah Whittaker
12-8-22
Huck vs Salvation Essay
Mss Merkel Religion in society Religion has dated back to the 15th-5th century BCE, including Hinduism, Judaism and Buddhism. Globally, religion is recognized as “the belief in and worship of a superhuman power or powers especially a God or Gods.” In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses his characters to portray religion in a negative way. Mark Twain exposes the evil in society by mocking the institute of religion depicted in Langston Hughes’ poem, Salvation, and his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Through his experiences, the main character, Huck Finn discovers that religion doesn’t serve …show more content…

“Miss Watson she took me in the closet and prayed, but nothing come of it. She told me to pray every day, and whatever I asked for I would get it. But it warn't so. I tried it. Once I got a fish-line, but no hooks. It warn't any good to me without hooks. I tried for the hooks three or four times, but somehow I couldn't make it work. By and by, one day, I asked Miss Watson to try for me, but she said I was a fool. She never told me why, and I couldn't make it out no way.”(3.1) Huck believes that it is boring and not worth his time because there was no payoff for him. Mrs. Watson wants him to be civilized but he has other plans. She believes that teaching him religion and praying everyday will turn him into a civilized man. Mrs Watson attempts to explain to Huck that there are benefits to praying. She uses extreme ways to try to get him to believe in Christianity. “Then she told me all about the bad place, and I said I wished I was there. She got mad then, but I didn’t mean no harm. All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change, I wasn't particular. She said it was wicked to say what I said; said she wouldn’t say it for the whole world; she was going to live so as to go to the good place. Well, I couldn’t see any advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn’t try for it.” (4) Huck purposely rejects religion and anyone …show more content…

He is not interested in religion that is practiced in a church, but believes in things that he fears or doesn’t understand. “Pretty soon a spider went crawling up my shoulder, and I flipped it off and it lit in the candle; and before I could budge it was all shriveled up. I didn’t need anybody to tell me that that was an awful bad sign and would fetch me some bad luck, so I was scared and most shook the clothes off of me. Huck was more scared of the spider incident then he was of Mrs Watson telling him that he was going to hell. To him the spider conveyed bad luck and he had had enough of that. When Huck meets Jim, his belief in superstitions is reinforced. Huck is different in the realization of religion. Jim believes in spirituality, superstition and signs. Huck believes in Jim’s theories. Huck has never believed in something so strongly. Huck had grown up in a society that believed in control and he still wasn't able to escape that

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I was glad about that, because I wanted him and me to be together”(3). Huck does not want to go to the “good place” because Miss Watson is there but would go to the “bad place” because Tom is going to be there. Exaggeration is being used here. It is is putting a choice where there usually isn’t one. Although there is a true path to follow in this religion, people tend to interpret and reinterpret it until the point to where they get the standards of religion to standards that they can deal with/what they want them to be.

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Miss Watson had been nagging about Huck’s actions, telling him “don’t do this” and “don’t do that”. Later, she started telling him that he is going to go to Hell for stretching, and he promptly replied “I wished I was there”. This sent Miss Watson into a tirade “ Now she had got a start and she went on and told

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Huck’s initial thought, to treat people equally, is countered by society’s need for separation. Huck promises to keep Jim's secret after he learns of his escape from Miss Watson. “Well I did. I said I wouldn’t, and I’ll stick to it. Honest injun, I will.

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At the beginning of the story Huck has to endure the cruel and harsh environment that surrounds his entire life in order to transform into an archetypal hero.  Huck is faced with the challenge of his abusive and alcoholic father who is not pleased with Huck’s choices “You're educated,

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Huck feels that it is wrong for society to pressure him to change when they do not understand his motives. If he refuses to

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Watson does which could be symbolic towards how Mark Twain feels about religion. This goes with the quote earlier from Twain about how he doesn’t put much stock into his god Moreover there's more that shows Twain's viewpoints is when Huck states "Then she would tell me about the bad place, and I would say how I wished I was there." (Twain 2) this furthermore goes along with the idea that Huck is a symbol of Mark Twain with Huck's sarcasm towards Mrs. Watson who he doesn’t like whatsoever. With Twain's obvious displease of organized religion, it shows how he could've attacked towards the idea of religion Similarly later in the novel when we meet the con-men known as the King and Duke they persuade a town that is very religious to "help them convert Huck and Jim" who they say are pirates.

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Miss Watson, a religious and superstitious woman, attempted to “civilize” Huck while under her care through nagging and explaining her reasoning for why or why not. “Miss Watson would say, ‘Don’t put your feet up there, Huckleberry;’ and ‘Don’t scrunch up like that Huckleberry- set up straight;’ and pretty soon she would say, ‘Don’t gap and stretch like that, Huckleberry- why don’t you try to behave?’ (3)”. Huck spent much of his time thinking of Miss Watson’s stories of religious-based places and people, as well as her superstitions. “Now she had got a start, and she went on and told me all about the good place.

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In this selected passage Huck decides he is not going to send the letter he wrote to Miss Watson with the intention of turning Jim in. Huck initially writes the letter because he is thinking about God and his state of sin, as he believes he is committing a sin by stealing another person’s property. He never sends the letter because he realized how much he trusts Jim and doesn’t see him as his property, but rather as a best friend. Previously he has stayed with Jim because it was easy, but this scene marks the time when he is able to stay by Jim’s side even when he believes it will come at a great personal cost.

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Often we stop and realize we are being ignorant. We close ourself off. Society has taught us to be our own worst enemy. Huck catches himself, and choses to make a mature option. He looks at the world, which teaches one thing but acts in difftent ways.

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Through Huck’s fluctuating beliefs he shows how often humanity exhibits hypocrisy without even realizing it. When Miss Watson had taken Huck in she had wanted him to become more respectable, she wanted to make sure he knew what was right and

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Huck accepts he might languish perdition by God over his infringement of the heavenly regulations. In any case, he additionally accepts that man-made regulations are untrustworthy and shameless. He is trapped in a

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Throughout their journey, Huck is aware that Jim has escaped but does not know whether or not to turn him into the authorities. Huck’s mentality about society matures and he realizes his need to protect Jim from dangers. As the novel progresses, Huck begins to realize the flaws in society. Huck ultimately chooses to follow his own

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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).

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“Young Goodman Brown” Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” seems like a very dark and mysterious piece. It is not as easy to read but from just reading the first few paragraphs, one can foresee a troubling ending for the story. Goodman Brown’s wife, Faith requested from him: “put off your journey until sunrise” (p. 304). She said that she is troubled when she is alone and it seems that there is something that bothers her that night of all the nights.

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Naturally, as his bond with Jim cultivates, Huck unknowingly treats him as a human. Through Huck’s sensibility, he states, “It didn’t take me long to make up my mind that these liars warn’t no kings nor dukes at all … I hadn’t no objections, ‘long as it would keep peace in the family; and it warn’t no use to tell Jim, so I didn’t tell him” (Twain 125). Correspondingly, Huck gains a consideration for Jim and his personal feelings, which he expresses nonchalantly through motley aspects of their journey.

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