Religion In Huckleberry Finn

Morgan Guyton comments that “In Huck’s case, God spoke to him” and Huckleberry Finn’s actions “ contradicted not only the standards of morality in his society but how the Bible itself was being interpreted around him to support slavery” (Guyton). This goes on to prove that Christianity has less to do with moral action and more with status. Christians are less likely to face consequences in their actions, simply because everyone else is doing it. This is evident in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, a story about a boy, Huckleberry Finn who escapes from his abusive and alcoholic father. While on the run he befriends a runaway slave, Jim and they start their search for freedom. More importantly, religion is prevalent throughout

For instance,when Tom sawyer and his gang are discussing meeting times, Ben Rogers suggests meeting on sundays, the response is critical “... but all the boys said it would be wicked to do it on Sunday and that settled the thing” (Twain 10). The use of “wicked” illustrates the disgust and disbelief of anyone wanting to skip church. It is ironic that meeting on Sunday is a sin when the previous conversation discussed the illegal activities they wanted to partake in. This depicts a time where everyone is conditioned to think a certain way. In addition, Huckleberry describes a church service he attends as chaotic, “You couldn’t make out what the preacher said any more, on account of the shouting and crying… they sung and shouted and flung themselves down on the straw, just crazy and wild” (131). Christians, especially at the time, were the epitome of righteousness. Twain depicts Christians as unhinged in order to question the position of power that Christians hold in society. Twain is commenting on how it is hypocritical for Christians to act in a such a manner when they criticize blacks for being “savages”. Christians in the 19th century were allowed to act however they liked and faced almost no

For instance, Aunt Sally accuses Huckleberry of stealing items that have gone missing, Huckleberry defends himself by saying, “ ‘I was a-studying over my text in Acts Seventeenth before breakfast, and I reckon I put it in there, not noticing, meaning to put my testament in…” (253). Huckleberry is essentially using Aunt Sally’s weakness against her, she is a firm believer of Christ and is under the illusion that Christians can do no harm. The fact that Aunt Sally believed Huckleberry without being more suspicious emphasizes how Christians have the misconception that all Christians are trustworthy. They find people who are religious to be superior to those without religion, which is ironic because Aunt Sally is the one falling for a poorly constructed lie that Huckleberry made. In addition, the King lies about being a pirate who converted to Christianity, the members of the church are sympathetic. When the King starts crying it starts a chain of events, “And then he busted into tears, and so did everybody. Then somebody sings out, ‘Take up a collection for him’... well, a half dozen made up a jump to do it” (132). Even after stating that he was a “pirate”, the Christians still believe that he is now a good person because he says he is. This is an example of mob mentality that is prevalent in the Christian community. Their religious belief is overshadowed by the need to