"Adolescence is when the very worst and best impulses in the human soul struggle against each other for possession” according to the psychologist G. Stanley Hall, the founder of adolescent psychology. Adolescence is defined by Hall as a time when younger individuals experience emotional and behavioral confusion, prior to establishing stability and reaching adulthood. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain serve as examples of bildungsromans, where the protagonists lack the ideal, care-free childhood filled with innocence; Huck faces an alcoholic father, and Jane encounters cruelty from her aunt. Both characters confront contradictory desires influenced by society as well as their consciences, leading
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Huck encounters moral confusion as Miss Watson and the widow Douglas, portrayed by Huck as pious, morally good women, comply with the corruption of their society by owning slaves. Huck continuously mentions Miss Watson as Jim’s “rightful owner”, and Jim is “her nigger” (Twain 124). Once Jim and Huck near Cairo where Jim will finally be free, Huck feels pangs of guilt for aiding Jim on his quest for freedom as he says, “I begun to get it through my head that he was most free—and who was to blame for it? Why, me.” (Twain 129). Huck is conforming to the Southern white society’s belief that slaves are monetary value rather than human beings. “Miss Watson’s claim on Huck is a genuine one, and without principles of abstraction Huck is faced with an ethical dilemma- he cannot satisfy both figures” (Bollinger 6). In Huck’s eyes, Jim is Miss Watson’s property, and by aiding Jim in his escape, Huck has done something morally wrong. On the other hand, Huck recognizes his ties to Jim, as Jim has established himself as a surrogate father and friend. Huck even acknowledges the guilt he would feel if he turned Jim in as he asks himself, “s’pose you’d done right and give Jim up; would you felt better than what you do now? No, says I, I’d feel bad” (Twain 127). Huck’s conflicted moral stance is most vividly manifested in his conversation with Jim regarding stealing. Huck remains undecided between following Pap’s philosophy that “it warn’t no harm to borrow things, if you was meaning to pay them back, sometime” or the widow’s no tolerance policy for stealing. Huck combats the antagonistic views with an immoral medium of deciding “to drop crabapples and p’simmons” off the list of things they steal, but still stealing everything else (Twain 80). As Bollinger says in her critical analysis, “They plan to keep stealing, but they want
Huck encounters moral confusion as Miss Watson and the widow Douglas, portrayed by Huck as pious, morally good women, comply with the corruption of their society by owning slaves. Huck continuously mentions Miss Watson as Jim’s “rightful owner”, and Jim is “her nigger” (Twain 124). Once Jim and Huck near Cairo where Jim will finally be free, Huck feels pangs of guilt for aiding Jim on his quest for freedom as he says, “I begun to get it through my head that he was most free—and who was to blame for it? Why, me.” (Twain 129). Huck is conforming to the Southern white society’s belief that slaves are monetary value rather than human beings. “Miss Watson’s claim on Huck is a genuine one, and without principles of abstraction Huck is faced with an ethical dilemma- he cannot satisfy both figures” (Bollinger 6). In Huck’s eyes, Jim is Miss Watson’s property, and by aiding Jim in his escape, Huck has done something morally wrong. On the other hand, Huck recognizes his ties to Jim, as Jim has established himself as a surrogate father and friend. Huck even acknowledges the guilt he would feel if he turned Jim in as he asks himself, “s’pose you’d done right and give Jim up; would you felt better than what you do now? No, says I, I’d feel bad” (Twain 127). Huck’s conflicted moral stance is most vividly manifested in his conversation with Jim regarding stealing. Huck remains undecided between following Pap’s philosophy that “it warn’t no harm to borrow things, if you was meaning to pay them back, sometime” or the widow’s no tolerance policy for stealing. Huck combats the antagonistic views with an immoral medium of deciding “to drop crabapples and p’simmons” off the list of things they steal, but still stealing everything else (Twain 80). As Bollinger says in her critical analysis, “They plan to keep stealing, but they want