Throughout the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck’s character changes and develops significantly. At the start of the novel, Huck lives with Widow Douglas and her sister Miss Watson. The two impose strict, religious rules upon him meanwhile Huck has to decide his own morals and values. He starts out unwilling to fully accept Widow Douglas and Miss Watson’s teachings. This is evident when Huck refuses to pray, not only because he believes that praying doesn't really work, but because he does not believe in Miss Watson’s words, to help others before worrying about yourself. Huck concludes that following Miss Watson’s words of wisdom will never provide any benefit to himself, so he ignores them. Furthermore, he can
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Though as their journey progresses, Huck starts to form compassion. In chapter 10, Huck shows an extreme amount of immaturity when he plays a joke on Jim by placing a dead rattlesnake by Jim’s bed. The snake’s mate appears and bites Jim. Instead of taking responsibility and confessing to his actions, Huck blames the superstition that touching rattlesnake skin will bring about bad luck. Additionally in chapter 15, Huck plays a sick joke on Jim, tricking Jim into believing that he was dreaming about being separated from Huck on the river. Huck even takes it to the extent of asking Jim about this fake dream, all the while knowing that he is the one who planted the dream into his head. This situation portrays Huck’s immaturity and callousness towards Jim, which is most likely a byproduct of societal racism and definitely immaturity. In opposition, Huck’s first real moment of compassion appears at this moment too. Even after Jim realizes that Huck was feeding him lies, Jim reveals that he was extremely glad Huck was still alive. This overpowers Huck with guilt, so much that Huck surpases all racial boundaries put onto him by society and apologizes to Jim, something that was completely unheard of in that day in age. Huck takes responsibility of his actions and realizes that he needs to create a …show more content…
This is mainly due to the fact that Jim is a part of his life now. As a result, Huck has not only himself, but Jim to look out for also. Throughout chapters 19 through 31, Huck and Jim are stuck with two con-men, the Duke and the Dauphin. The Duke and the Dauphin go through riverside towns and decieve people out of their money. Huck is faced with a moral dilemma when it comes to the two con-men and decides to keep from telling Jim that the Duke and Dauphin are not actually a duke nor a dauphin. Although Huck realizes that the Duke and Dauphin tricks are immoral, he does not exploit the two con men for Jim’s sake since he knows that the Duke and Dauphin will expose Jim as a runaway slave if he or Jim does anything to upset them or disrupt their conning. This shows Huck’s compassion, understanding, and respect for Jim. Further in the novel, Huck faces the moral dilemma of whether or not to tell Miss Watson that Jim had run away. He starts to write a letter to Miss Watson, but proceeds to tear up the note. Huck reflects back on their time together and realizes their friendship and its importance in his life. This is an extreme development in Huck’s character as it shows that Huck is willing to ignore all societal boundaries, follow his heart, and fully accept his friendship with Jim. In addition, Huck has developed tremendously from his beginnings. At the beginning of the novel, Huck proves he is
Though as their journey progresses, Huck starts to form compassion. In chapter 10, Huck shows an extreme amount of immaturity when he plays a joke on Jim by placing a dead rattlesnake by Jim’s bed. The snake’s mate appears and bites Jim. Instead of taking responsibility and confessing to his actions, Huck blames the superstition that touching rattlesnake skin will bring about bad luck. Additionally in chapter 15, Huck plays a sick joke on Jim, tricking Jim into believing that he was dreaming about being separated from Huck on the river. Huck even takes it to the extent of asking Jim about this fake dream, all the while knowing that he is the one who planted the dream into his head. This situation portrays Huck’s immaturity and callousness towards Jim, which is most likely a byproduct of societal racism and definitely immaturity. In opposition, Huck’s first real moment of compassion appears at this moment too. Even after Jim realizes that Huck was feeding him lies, Jim reveals that he was extremely glad Huck was still alive. This overpowers Huck with guilt, so much that Huck surpases all racial boundaries put onto him by society and apologizes to Jim, something that was completely unheard of in that day in age. Huck takes responsibility of his actions and realizes that he needs to create a …show more content…
This is mainly due to the fact that Jim is a part of his life now. As a result, Huck has not only himself, but Jim to look out for also. Throughout chapters 19 through 31, Huck and Jim are stuck with two con-men, the Duke and the Dauphin. The Duke and the Dauphin go through riverside towns and decieve people out of their money. Huck is faced with a moral dilemma when it comes to the two con-men and decides to keep from telling Jim that the Duke and Dauphin are not actually a duke nor a dauphin. Although Huck realizes that the Duke and Dauphin tricks are immoral, he does not exploit the two con men for Jim’s sake since he knows that the Duke and Dauphin will expose Jim as a runaway slave if he or Jim does anything to upset them or disrupt their conning. This shows Huck’s compassion, understanding, and respect for Jim. Further in the novel, Huck faces the moral dilemma of whether or not to tell Miss Watson that Jim had run away. He starts to write a letter to Miss Watson, but proceeds to tear up the note. Huck reflects back on their time together and realizes their friendship and its importance in his life. This is an extreme development in Huck’s character as it shows that Huck is willing to ignore all societal boundaries, follow his heart, and fully accept his friendship with Jim. In addition, Huck has developed tremendously from his beginnings. At the beginning of the novel, Huck proves he is