Huck throughout the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn faces a battle between his sound heart and his conscience, that has been deformed by society’s “stereotyped social patterns” (Martin 105), as he makes his journey away from society. As his journey continues this inner battle becomes more evident and Huck’s sound heart overcomes society’s views despite many situations where his conscience starts to take over. One of the first situations where this battle comes up is in chapter 15. As Huck and Jim are traveling down the river a thick fog comes in and causes them to become separated. The next day Huck finds Jim asleep on the raft. After waking Jim up Huck convinces him that he was dreaming about them getting separated. Jim eventually
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Huck is now starting to feel the “pressure[s] of society,” (Martin 106). He realizes that he is harming Miss Watson by helping Jim escape. He feels guilty for this and asks himself “what had poor Miss Watson done to you that you could see her nigger go off right under your eyes and never say one single word? What did the poor old woman do to you that you could treat her so mean?” (Twain 87). After realizing all the trouble he is causing, he is “driven by his conscience” to betray Jim (Martin 108). He soon gets that opportunity when he encounters two men who question him about who is on the raft. The men then ask if the other man is “white or black,” (89) Huck replies that he is white. When the men decide to go and see for themselves Huck stops them by implying that his “pap” has smallpox. When he gets back on the raft he was feeling “bad and low because [he] knowed very well [he] had done wrong,” (91). Huck feels bad for what he has done, but he realizes that if he had done the opposite he would feel “just the same way [he] do now” (91). This shows how Huck’s sound heart kicks in and protects Jim, because deep down he knows that protecting him was the morally right thing to do. This scene is a major part of Huck’s life because he is starting to break away from society’s “stereotyped social patterns”(Martin 105) that have deformed his
Huck is now starting to feel the “pressure[s] of society,” (Martin 106). He realizes that he is harming Miss Watson by helping Jim escape. He feels guilty for this and asks himself “what had poor Miss Watson done to you that you could see her nigger go off right under your eyes and never say one single word? What did the poor old woman do to you that you could treat her so mean?” (Twain 87). After realizing all the trouble he is causing, he is “driven by his conscience” to betray Jim (Martin 108). He soon gets that opportunity when he encounters two men who question him about who is on the raft. The men then ask if the other man is “white or black,” (89) Huck replies that he is white. When the men decide to go and see for themselves Huck stops them by implying that his “pap” has smallpox. When he gets back on the raft he was feeling “bad and low because [he] knowed very well [he] had done wrong,” (91). Huck feels bad for what he has done, but he realizes that if he had done the opposite he would feel “just the same way [he] do now” (91). This shows how Huck’s sound heart kicks in and protects Jim, because deep down he knows that protecting him was the morally right thing to do. This scene is a major part of Huck’s life because he is starting to break away from society’s “stereotyped social patterns”(Martin 105) that have deformed his