Examples Of Epiphany In Huckleberry Finn

In the late 1800’s, Mark Twain wrote a book about a young boy who realizes many qualities about himself and the rest of the world while traveling down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave. Twain’s book, “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” is a Bildungsroman - a coming-of-age story - in which the main character, Huck, represents the naif. The naif had multiple epiphanies during all of his exploits in which he encountered many problems from the places he visits. These epiphanies were often caused by Huck’s new experiences and thus built his moral conscience, beliefs, and emotional understanding of himself and others, which lead to his journey into adulthood. In the book “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” one of the main epiphanies Huck has …show more content…
While Jim and Huck are traveling alone, they spot another raft that is filled with white people searching for five runaway slaves. Huck goes to them alone in the canoe, and they ask if Jim is a slave or a runaway slave. Huck tries to tell the truth, but eventually lies and says Jim is white. After the other men sail away, Huck is upset with himself because he lied, but then he states, “Then I thought a minute, and says to myself, hold on,-- s’pose you’d a done right and give Jim up; would you felt better than what you do know? No, says I, I’d feel bad-- I’d feel just that same way I do now” (90-92). If he would have turned Jim in, he would feel exactly the same way as he did in that moment. He realizes that lying is sometimes better than telling the truth, and it will sometimes have a better end result for himself and others. Later in the book, Huck realizes that sometimes telling the truth is more beneficial than anything else. Huck tells Mary Jane, the daughter of a dead Peter Wilks, that the men who claim to be her uncles are actually two con men. Huck states, “I says to myself, I reckon a body that ups and tells the truth when he is in a tight place, is taking considerable many resks… and yet here’s a case where I’m blest if it don’t look to me like the truth is better, and actuly safer, …show more content…
When Huck first finds Jim on Jackson Island and they are there for a night, they spend time together. Huck walks back into their cavern and sees a snake, which he kills, and believes it would be funny to place the dead snake at the foot of Jim’s blanket. He eventually forgets about it, and when they go back into the cavern, the snake’s mate is there, who bites Jim in the foot. Huck panics, and does whatever he can to help Jim, including throwing the dead snakes out. He later states, “I made up my mind I wouldn’t ever take aholt of a snake-skin again with my hands, now that I see what had come of it” (53). This shows that Huck realizes he was wrong with something he thought would be completely harmless. It also supports the fact that Huck is becoming a somewhat better person, because he decided to help Jim and do as he said, even though he thought of him only as a slave at this point. This would benefit both Jim and Huck, with Huck treating Jim better and not playing cruel tricks on him. Another point in “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” where Huck realizes that he is wrong is when he plays another prank on Jim, this time with fog. Huck leaves the boat they are traveling on together and comes back while Jim is sleeping. When he awakens, he finds Huck in front of him and celebrates when he sees that Huck is well and alive. Huck then attempts to