Why Is Huck Finn Bad

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In the novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn is Tom’s companion in virtually all of his adventures. Huckleberry Finn is described as “lawless and vulgar and bad” by the adults of the village. Contrary to what the adults believe, Huckleberry Finn is loyal, fair, and unable to control his circumstances. Firstly, “bad” should not be synonym to Huckleberry Finn’s name because Huck is loyal to those who are kind to him. Huck has displayed loyalty several times throughout the novel. He exhibited loyalty to Tom by keeping his oath to stay mum about who the true murderer of Dr.Robinson is, until Tom voices his thought that confessing what they had witnessed to the sheriff was the just thing to do. Huck showed loyalty to Muff by providing …show more content…

He has a natural sense of right and wrong. For example, he understands that treating people with disrespect and unloyalty is wrong, and keeping promises and staying true to his word is right. He consistently stays true to his friends, because he believes that that’s the right thing to do. Furthermore, Huckleberry Finn felt guilty when Muff Potter would thank him, which shows that Huck is not completely lawless and has his own set of morals. Huckleberry can also sense when someone is not a good person. For example, despite not attending church or school, Huck could sense that Injun Joe was a bad person based upon his actions. Therefore, Huckleberry Finn should not be considered “lawless”. In spite of these reasons, some readers may believe that the description “lawless and vulgar and bad” fits Huck because he steals and loafs around. In reality, Huck is unable to control his circumstances, which justifies why he must act lawless occasionally. He must steal, because if he does not then he does not get to eat because he has no parents to provide food for him. He also has no choice other than to sleep on doorsteps and in hogsheads because he has no real home to go home to. Therefore, Huckleberry Finn is not truly