tribulations (Kohlberg and Kramer, Continuities and discontinuities in childhood and adult moral development). We are bared to this way of thinking when it comes to the adults in Huck’s life. Miss Watson is very strict and forces Huck to present himself in a way that other children and adults are poised to be, “Huckleberry… don’t gap and stretch like that… Huckleberry, sit up straight” (15). Miss Watson also pushes religion upon Huck and this causes Huck to disown her style of upbringing. Although Huck was in a way raised to know what was expected of him, his behavior and presentation of himself, he developed in a much different way then most of the children in his environment. Huck was basically forced to raise himself. Although he had Jim,
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We see his struggles in the beginning of the novel and his peak of finding that he is in a world filled with hate and bigotry. If we were led to believe that Huck would rather avoid all confrontation and stay in his decaying life style, then Huck would have never grown up and we would have read about a dreary story of a boy who struggles to find himself but never actually strives to fill the need in his life and inner self. But Mark Twain presented us with a different beginning and ending. We were exposed to a young man who defied all social barriers for his friend Jim. Exposing himself to immediate danger and extremely tough situations, Huck develops into the character that Twain intended him to be. Huck finds himself within an immoral society where freedom comes at a cost, in Huck’s case, his father Pap. There is no freedom in a society that creates barriers. Huck’s conflicts with society bring him into his own created society with Jim. Basing their relationship off of trust is the conventional aspect of Huck’s moral growth. Through love and freedom, Huck finally moves into the post conventional state of growth. His experiences during the novel challenge his morals and question his conscience. But through all of those experiences, Huck never loses his ultimate goal. Huck needed Tom’s dysfunction and the racism of society to establish his stand and moral beliefs. “If I never learnt nothing else out of pap, I learnt that the best way to get along with this kind of people is to let them have their own way” (117). As degrading as this quote may be, Huck established himself through people such as these and only through them; he was able to turn out quite okay for a low down
We see his struggles in the beginning of the novel and his peak of finding that he is in a world filled with hate and bigotry. If we were led to believe that Huck would rather avoid all confrontation and stay in his decaying life style, then Huck would have never grown up and we would have read about a dreary story of a boy who struggles to find himself but never actually strives to fill the need in his life and inner self. But Mark Twain presented us with a different beginning and ending. We were exposed to a young man who defied all social barriers for his friend Jim. Exposing himself to immediate danger and extremely tough situations, Huck develops into the character that Twain intended him to be. Huck finds himself within an immoral society where freedom comes at a cost, in Huck’s case, his father Pap. There is no freedom in a society that creates barriers. Huck’s conflicts with society bring him into his own created society with Jim. Basing their relationship off of trust is the conventional aspect of Huck’s moral growth. Through love and freedom, Huck finally moves into the post conventional state of growth. His experiences during the novel challenge his morals and question his conscience. But through all of those experiences, Huck never loses his ultimate goal. Huck needed Tom’s dysfunction and the racism of society to establish his stand and moral beliefs. “If I never learnt nothing else out of pap, I learnt that the best way to get along with this kind of people is to let them have their own way” (117). As degrading as this quote may be, Huck established himself through people such as these and only through them; he was able to turn out quite okay for a low down