Moral Reconciliation In Huckleberry Finn

For a novel to truly be great, many critics believe there needs to be a moral reconciliation, or spiritual reassessment, that supports the overall theme. An example of such novel might be The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. As the novel progresses, Huck achieves a moral reconciliation, specifically shown in the improvement of the relationship between Huck and an African American slave named Jim. Through this reconciliation, Twain demonstrates a level of ignorance found in racism.

TS. Towards the beginning of the novel, Huck has similar beliefs to his father mostly due to how impressionable he is at his young age. His father was able to enforce his belief that colored people were inferior to him. By how Huck describes Jim when

After witnessing Buck and his family being chased as if animals and by people who acted like animals, Huck ran away looking for Jim. When he heard Jim’s voice, he exclaimed that “nothing ever sounded so good before. [He] run along the bank a piece and got aboard, and Jim he grabbed [him] and hugged [him], he was so glad to see [Huck]” (116). Comparing this to how his father acts towards Huck would show how Jim is more fatherly than Huck’s actual father, it’ll demonstrate how the color of someone's skin has no influence on the emotions or parental actions. After being away for a while, Huck’s father explained that “I’ll take you down a peg before I get done with you. You’re educated, too, they say - can read and write. You think you’re better’n your father, now, don’t you, because he can’t? I’ll take it out on you. Who told you you might meddle with such hifalut’n foolishness, hey?” (19). While Jim is happy to see Huck and hugs him, his actual father abuses him and tries to oppress him through a lack of education. A father should be supportive and caring and, in a way, that’s what Jim does - he cares for him as if Huck is his own - whereas Huck’s father tries to fill his head with ignorant beliefs. Huck’s father is preventing him from really growing in his opinions or just in general, his father should be encouraging him to have a better life than he did but he isn’t. Huck doesn’t really realize how messed up his home life is, it shows the conscience isn’t what it should

His father enforced theses ideas when he was younger through oppression and aggression. The improvement in Huck and Jim’s relationship demonstrates a moral reconciliation, it’s Huck beginning to overcome the superior feeling he had before. Twain is then able to show the ignorance in racism. An educated professor shouldn’t vote due to his skin color but many don’t have a problem with someone who may be too drunk to even get there voting. A skin color prevents or implies so much, such as: they don’t have emotions, shouldn’t be or can’t be educated, are animals, are property, are not humans - all of which don’t hold any water with the only reason for these beliefs being the color of their skin. The moral reconciliation of Huck demonstrated the faults in racism through