Why Is Huck Finn An Effective Narrator

Samuel Clemens, otherwise known by his pen name Mark Twain, wrote the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn narrated by a lower class, some-what educated, young, white boy named Huckleberry Finn. Huckleberry, or “Huck” for short, came from a very sad background with a deceased mother, a drunkard father who barely looks out for him, and a poor boy’s life. He is partly raised by Miss Watson and the Widow Douglas, who attempt to teach him sophistication, manners, and try to send him to school. They try to give Huck a good life. Huck has not properly been taught the social values at this time period, such as accepting and supporting slavery whole-heartedly, making him much more open to the fact that slaves should be treated like people. Huck …show more content…
Huck has a very realistic view of the world and is not judgemental. For example, throughout the novel he realizes that Jim is a human and should be treated like one. Huck begins to appreciate Jim’s companionship along his journey and realizes that he is not just Miss Watson’s property. Huck feels that it is morally correct to help Jim run away and try to reunite with his family whom he has been separated from. His opinions about slavery would be considered morally correct in a modern time, but would be a shock to a white society during this period. Although he still struggles about preconceptions about slavery that his community has attempted to teach him, he realizes how people should be treated. This realization he has also makes Huck an admirable hero. Especially when Huck and Jim met a group of slave-hunters and Huck lied to them for Jim’s sake. It shows how much he has grown throughout the novel and how he has learned valuable …show more content…
Jim is very intelligent and compassionate towards Huck throughout the story. He is almost like the father figure that Huck never had. Jim comforts Huck when they find out that the dead body was Huck’s biological father, Pap. Jim cares for Huck on their adventure and cooks for him, shelters him, and is just a nice companion for him. Jim also lives his life scared and afraid because he doesn’t wish to be captured and brought back into slavery. Jim also doesn’t want to anger anyone who has the knowledge of his runaway status, because they might turn him in as well. He is at the mercy of everyone in this book, even Huckleberry Finn. I think it would be very interesting to read this novel from the perspective of Jim because he has such a different view on life than Huckleberry Finn does. Jim is also more mature than Huck considering that he is just a boy and Jim is a man. Huckleberry Finn and his companion, Jim, travel down the river in their raft, which always seems like a safe haven for the two. Even though Jim is older and wiser, there are many things he cannot do because of his runaway status, that Huck can. Huck could rejoin society at any point in this story, considering he was a white, poor, boy, and a good liar. Huck could have told an intricate lie to make some townsfolk pity him and let him stay with them. But, Huck always ended up returning the safe haven