In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain represents to the reader the development of an adolescent Huck, who is undoubtedly a young person to be admired. We see Huck develop in character, attitude and maturity as he travels down the Mississippi River.
This is represented through Huck's search for freedom from “sivilisation” and through his personal observations of a corrupt and immoral society. Most importantly, his caring attitudes and honesty prove that he is a great person. Huck Finn is a dynamic character that develops during the course of the novel. Huck’s journey down the inconsistent peace of the river undoubtedly enabled him to broaden his horizons of understanding.
He makes his own rules and formulates his own judgments on certain things although it may contradict what society has already fed him. Huck’s moral development began at a very young age and although a bumpy ride, it was because of these bumps that enabled him to succeed.
As the novel begins, Huck is presented as a boy that does not have any education about the world that he lives in. By searching for freedom from “sivilisation”, Huck has learned to act on the bases of his instincts and rely on his intelligence to overcome obstacles instead of enduring the ways of society. Huck can sometimes be a miscreant, but he is honest with himself and his feelings.
It is this honesty that helps him make difficult decisions that often contradict the views of society. However, it is Huck’s realistic and naive view of society that makes him to be honest and see things for what they truly are. One example of this is when Huck helps Jim to freedom. His acceptance of Jim as a person instead of a property marks the beginning of his maturity.
Although he does not view his action as honorable, but the reader can infer that it is. Huck was bought up in a world where slavery was normal so when he becomes more and more of a friend to a runaway slave, he feels guilty for his role in Jim’s escape so he condemns himself as a traitor and a villain for acting and aiding Jim knowing that he was doing something society would have scorned. In the novel, he says,
I couldn’t get it out of my conscience, no how nor no way. It got to troubling me so I couldn’t rest; I got to feeling so mean and miserable I most wished I was dead (Twain, 88).
At this point Huck takes a huge step in moral development while thinking about turning Jim in to please Ms. Douglas but then changing his mind. At this stage, he is indeed extremely confused as he is battling his conscience fiercely, pacing back and forth.
He remembers all the good Ms. Watson wished for him but the important thing to note from this event is that he says he would feel bad if he did hand Jim in. “Then I thought a minute and says to myself, hold on – s’pose you’d a done a right and give Jim up; would you felt better than what you do now? No, says I, I’d feel bad (Twain, 69).”
According to Henry Nash Smith (1962), Huck is outraged by the King's hypocrisy (368). Huck is a person of his own free will and is troubled by doubts and conflicting impulses. (368). In order to show his disgust towards the King, he jeopardizes his own well being and also the chances of freedom for Jim to help the orphan girls from the tricks of their fake uncles. Huck's decision to help the orphan girls is an example of him showing his compassion towards others while he is faced with problems of his own.
The most important event that Huck has to faced would be his choice of eternal damnation. According to Smith, Huck faces his biggest moral conflict in this event (369). After knowing the fact that the King has sold Jim to Silas Phelps as a runaway slave, he decided to do what is right and that is to write a letter to Miss. Watson so she can claim back Jim.
When Huck finishes writing the letter, he sees that he has done the right thing. Instead of being satisfied with his decision, he had flashbacks of him and Jim floating along the river in which they were having conversations with one another like friends. It was at this point that Huck made his most bravest decision in the whole novel.
Huck states “All right, then, I'll go to hell” (Twain, 214). He decided that no matter what the consequence will be because of his action, he believed that his friendship with Jim is of great importance than some paper so he accepts the truth and rips up the paper.
In conclusion, a person is a product of his or her society and environment. A person grows up learning skills and traits from the people around him. These traits influence and affect the person unconsciously for the rest of his life. As a result of his pursue for freedom, Huck becomes a strong character with primarily good attributes.
His development from an uneducated boy has progressed to a person that can make his own moral judgment based on his experience. When Huck has finally taken his first steps into maturity, he came to realize that sometime doing the right thing means not doing the right thing and in doing so he becomes a man. A man that is able to think of himself and make his own conscience decisions.
References
Henry Nash Smith. (1962). Mark Twain: The Development of a Writer. New York: Atheneum.
Twain, Mark. (1985). The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. U.S.A.: Perma-Bound Publishing.
