Society vs. Heart in Mark Twains Huckleberry Finn Essay

Society vs. Heart in Mark Twains Huckleberry Finn Ernest Hemmingway once described a novel by Mark Twain as, â€Å"†¦it is the ‘one book’ from which ‘all modern American literature’ came from† (Railton). This story of fiction, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a remarkable story about a young boy growing up in a society that influences and pressures people into doing the so-called â€Å"right thing.† It is not very difficult to witness the parallels between the society Huck has grown up in and the society that influences the choices of people living today. However, what is it that gives society the power to draw guidelines to define the norms, trends, and what is morally right and wrong in life? Is it always the best choice to listen†¦show more content†¦The Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, sisters who adopt Huck, have a slave by the name of Jim who, on the outside, appears to be both unintelligent and foolish, as by the impression received when Jim first speaks, â€Å"Who da h?† (Twain 6). In the beginning of the novel, Huck’s views on slavery had been skewed by society and by the civilized Miss Watson’s righteous and moral views. Huck finds it all fun and games when he and his comrade, Tom Sawyer, play a trick on Jim; Tom Sawyer and Huck remove Jim’s hat from his head and place it on the branch above him. When Jim wakes up, he believes he has been bewitched, adding to his dim-witted and brainless appearance. Only later on in the novel does Huck realize what Jim really means to him. On Huck and Jim’s journey to Cairo, Jim begins to speak about when he is free he will go and find his children and take them from the slave owner. This rubbed Huck the wrong way; his standards of Jim had been lowered because, from Huck’s point of view, why would Jim steal his children away from a man who has done nothing to him? Huck’s conscience began to come into play and he had made up his mind: He was going to turn Jim in when they reach shore. He was sure of it until Jim began to sweet talk Huck, telling him that Huck was the only white man that had ever kept a promise to him. This comment went directly to Huck’s heart; he could not possiblyShow MoreRelatedHuckleberry Finn : American Literature And Culture1622 Words   |  7 Pagesfor themselves, based on honorable values. Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer are the first kids depicted in American literature, and through them, Mark Twain develops the concept of kid, by having them participate in com ical manipulation and deception. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has two principal lies, imaginative lying and deceitful lying. 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