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Morality In Mark Twain's Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

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Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, published in 1884, is a story following a young Huck Finn as he undertakes challenging adventures which frame his life. Through his adventures, Huck Finn displays immoral characteristics based on years of stealing, trickery, and ridicule of religion. His denial to accept religious idealism leads him to make unconscientious and overall selfish decisions. In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain follows Huck Finn through his adventures on a journey down the Mississippi River and reveals his opinions of religion as well as his sense of morality.
Huck Finn does not value or understand religion. He considers it to be pointless and a waste of time. In chapter 3, Huck mentions that Ms. Watson and the widow attempt to teach him how …show more content…

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines morals as “the principles of right and wrong in behavior.” Since Huck is not particularly influenced by religious beliefs, his ideas of moral behavior are a tad different. In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain shows Huck grow as a character from the start where he faked his own death, to the end where he decides to not turn in Jim. Huck considers Jim to be a friend, and the story reveals how Huck holds this friendship higher than other moral actions. Jim is a complicated subject for Huck because on one hand, he “steals” Jim from the widow, supports a runaway slave, and harbors a fugitive. However, on the other hand, he protects Jim from the “runaway capturers,” listens to his advice, and apologizes when he feels bad about hurting Jim’s feelings. When Huck decides not to turn in Jim, he instead tricks the “runaway capturers” into giving him money to help his Pap with smallpox. These men are “right down sorry” (96) for Huck and give him 40 dollars to help his “sick dad.” This whole encounter, however, is for Jim’s benefit because Huck cares more about Jim’s safety than obeying moral

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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

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Thought out a person's childhood, they experience events that transform them to become who they are later in the life. People have to deal with the decision of what right and what's wrong. At a young age, Huck chooses to run away from his home because he was raised by a father who was an alcoholic and means towards Huck. He really did not care for him. Huck knows this is wrong, but does it anyway, he decides to help a slave name Jim escape and try to help him reunite with his family again, by doing this he knows he is going to get in trouble if he gets caught.

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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a novel written by Mark Twain, is often referred to as a great American novel (Goodreads) due to it’s presence of the culture of the United States prior to the Civil War. Not only does this piece of literature demonstrate the mentality of the American society in the midst of slavery, but it also uses the symbolism of Jackson’s Island and the Mississippi river, one of the world’s largest river systems, to emphasize Twain’s message about morality and religion. Although perhaps not initially apparent, Twain tries to convince readers that civilization masks morality and that hypocrisy often lies within religion through Huck and Jim’s journey down the Mississippi River and their various encounters with other characters

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In this quote, Huck believes that by not turning Jim in, he will be punished not only by society but also by God. This quote shows why many Catholic institutions have also banned Huckleberry Finn--because Twain aligns religion with supporting slavery. This quote also shows Twain essentially mocking Southern values by showing how it was considered a sin by society to be kind to black people. Not to reiterate this point endlessly, but Twain did this consciously because it accurately represents the sentiments present during this time: Catholicism was used as a means to justify

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Huck, therefore, sees Jim as his friend and ignores society’s expectations to treat him less than human. After tearing up the letter he writes to Miss Watson, Huck “... studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself: ‘All right, then, I’ll go to hell’” (214). Huck realizes that Jim is in need of assistance so he decides to do what is morally correct, which is to help Jim escape.

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He thinks, “Well, I tried the best I could to kinder soften it up somehow for myself, by saying I was brung up wicked, and so I waren’t so much to blame, but something inside of me kept saying, ‘There was the Sunday School, you could a gone to it; and if you’d a done it they’d a learnt you, there, that people that acts as I’d been acting about that nigger goes to everlasting fire’” (Twain 222). Michael J. Hoffman notes that Huck realizes that if he went to church, he would have had the social code ingrained in him. As a result, he would not have had to make hard moral choices (turning in Jim).

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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a classic novel that takes the reader on a series of thrilling adventures full of life threatening situations, racism, and slavery. The author Mark Twain, uses the novel to highlight the flaws in society by creating a character like Huck, whose personal sense of morals and justice are more noble than those of the very people trying to civilize him. Throughout this captivating novel Huck endures his fair share of trouble and morally challenging decision but he always comes out on top by following his heart and doing what he feels to be right.

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Morality is defined as the principles for which people treat one another, respect for justice, and the welfare and rights of others. Moral development is gained from major experiences that can change viewpoints on life or cause people to make a difficult choice in a tough situation. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, one of Mark Twain’s major themes evident in the book is the moral development of Huck FInn, the main character. In the beginning of the book, Huck’s lack of morals and uncultured personality is a product of living with his abusive, demoralized father.

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In this Southern society hypocrisy lies underneath religion and reputation, Huck and Tom just happened to point it out. When Miss Watson was explaining to Huck all about hell and how it was so bad he told her that he “wished {he} was there” (twain 10) she was so shocked and devastated because how horrible it was. This just shows hypocrisy because Miss Watson is explaining all about the bad place, that only the worst people go there and how terrible it is meanwhile she is enslaving innocent people. Huck also reveals hypocrisy when Miss Watson was telling him all about the need for prayer and how important it is in society and he asks why should he believe it and all she could say was that “its in the books” (Twain 17).

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Huck has been burned with the idea that he is to blame for Jim’s escape. Huck ultimately feels guilty because he knows he has not done wrong but he has no reason not to believe what society thinks because he was only taught one way. Huck imagines an alternate scenario, thinking “s’pose [he]’d’ a’ done right and give Jim up, would [he] felt better... No…[he'd] feel bad” (91). Huck is aware that the right decision based on society is to give up Jim.

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Huck was taught by The Widow and Miss Watson to embrace religion and thank his good Lord, while Pap scolded Huck for participating in such activities mostly because doing so made Huck better than his own father. Huck wasn’t very religious in the first place although when Pap visited Huck at the Widow’s house he said “First you know you'll get religion, too. I never see such a son. ”(Twain.24) Huck enjoyed spiting his father and after he said this, even though Huck didn’t always agree with religion he started to acknowledge it more and speak of it’s teachings more, specifically how he didn’t comply to them. The biggest case of Huck going against his religion is him helping Jim, a runaway slave.

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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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(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

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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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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was wrote by Mark Twain in February, 1885, 20 years after the Civil War. However, the setting of the book takes place before the civil war in various locations as Huckleberry Finn, a boy about 10 years old, tries to race up the Mississippi river to escort Jim, a runaway slave, to freedom. Over the course of Huck and Jim’s adventures, they both become reliant on each other, as Huck develops what he feels is a moral obligation to see Jim to freedom, and Jim comes to respect and nearly worship Jim because of his efforts to free Jim. Throughout the book, the cultural attitudes and imposition of cultural norms at the time are very evident, and when reading it is plain to see that The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn’s

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