Morality in the Adventure of Huckleberry Finn

Morality in the Adventure of Huckleberry Finn

 Morality could be defined as what is right or wrong. However, at times, it is not easy to decide as to whether some actions are morally right or wrong. This could be because society has set its moral standards, and an individual has a different view of morality. This can result in conflicts as an individual tries to balance the two, which may be difficult. In Mark Twain’s’, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” Huck finds himself in a dilemma in deciding what is morally right as society has its expectations and himself has a different look of morality. This work will, therefore, will discuss the theme of morality as depicted in Mark Twain’s literal work.

The meaning of civilization in the view of society can be termed as absurd.  The novel describes how Huck was taken by a widow as her son, and she was to civilize him. Huck, however, describes his experience with the widow as rough since he was not allowed to wall out of the house. This curtailment of freedom made  Huck escape. Tom Sawyer hunted for Huck as he wanted him to join his band of robbers (Twain 1). Tom tells Huck he needed to stay with the widow so that he may be civilized so that he could join the band of robbers. The author uses satire to show societal beliefs are ridiculous since it considers robbery as civilization. The decision to stay with the widow and join robbers was societal conscience which was conflicting with his personal

beliefs.

The association between Huck and Jim brings about an understanding of morality. Huck and Jim discovered a dead man on a boat. Jim covers the body of the deceased to hide the undesirable sight from his friend Huck. This makes Huck compassionate about Jim as he realizes how human he is. As a result, Huck tries as much as he can to protect Jim. However, society does not allow slaves to be protected. This makes him feel that he is doing the wrong thing, and he should turn him in. As he thinks about  Miss Watson, he feels his action of hiding Jim was evil. His conscience questions him on what Miss Watson did to him to allow her nigger escape and fail to inform her (Twain 91). This makes him feel that taking Jim from Miss Watson could be hurting her. However, despite all this, he decides not to turn him in and continue helping him.

Huck investigates whether it is right to turn Jim in.  This makes him reject religion and societal morality. The failure of reporting Jim to Miss Watson shows that Huck was against slavery and society generally. Huck had decided to write an apology letter to Miss Watson so that he could be clean. But after moments of thinking, he tore up the paper and said he would go to hell (Twain 214). He goes against the societal obligation of following its beliefs and laws.  It is at this particular moment that Huck decides whether to follow society’s morals or his morals. He no longer has an interest in society’s values. According to his morals, he feels that Jim ought to be free and should not be a slave. Huck is also interested in his freedom. Freedom is vital for all individuals as they get to know their worth (Melnick 36). That is why he is doing things contrary to what society expects him to do.

Despite his attempt to protect Jim from slavery, he gets he sold for a price of forty dollars. This makes Huck think that the bad things he did will come to haunt him. He is scared his wickedness was being watched over from heaven, and he was going to suffer dearly. Loneliness sets in when Jim is sold. He realizes what friendship means in one’s life. He had experienced this loneliness when steamboat hit their raft. When they were together, Jim was a companion to him. This makes him recognize him as a friend and not property as the society portrayed slaves. This clearly shows that every person has value in society despite his/her origin. Thus, society needs to recognize all humans and treat them appropriately.

Huck rejects the teachings of Miss Watson. This shows that his conscience overcame societal conscience. The societal conscience made him feel that he was doing the wrong things (Melnick 41). Miss Watson would instil civilization by advancing pro-slavery conscience in him as well as robbery. Though this is what the society found to be good, it was not morally right. Hack finds this conscience contradictory to what he believes morality should mean. He, therefore, opts to go against society imposed conscience. The feelings Huck has for Jim is beyond societal moral law. He abandons the societal law to make sure his friendship with Jim continues as well as enjoy his freedom.

The novel also shows hypocrisy. Christians are depicted as kind and generous. However, this is contrary to most of their actions. This makes Christianity skeptical. Every good Christian did things that are contrary to what would be expected of him or her. For instance, Widow Douglas did not allow Huck to smoke. This could be in line with Christian teachings.  The widow took snuffs, yet he did not let Huck do so (Twain 2).  Grangerfords was another example of this hypocrisy. Huck describes the family as kind and nice. However, this family owns slaves and is in disagreement with Shepherdsons for something they cannot even remember. These families go to church with guns. The preacher talks about brotherly love when they have their guns in their laps (Twain 83). This clearly shows that society did not practice what it considered as morally right.

The novel also displays racism.  The white people are portrayed as superior, and the blacks had no place in society. In case something bad happens, it is blamed on the blacks. This made Huck lie in many instances to protect his ally, Jim. There is Huck’s fake death amidst Jim’s disappearance. People judged that it was Jim who did the act of killing Huck. They pledged three hundred dollars if Jim is caught (Twain 86). He hid his identity several times to protect Jim. Society advances on racism despite holding on to religious belief which advocates for brotherhood. This could be considered morally wrong.

In conclusion, morality is something that needs to evaluate keenly. For instance, what an individual or society sees as morally right could be very wrong. It is, therefore, important to consider humanity to come up with morally right laws. Also, for something to be considered morally right, all members need to practice. Hypocrisy will make people go against what society advocates if those who should be role models do not practice what they advocate. Humanity and war on racism can make people act morally.

Works Cited

Melnick, Arthur. Happiness, Morality, and Freedom. BRILL, 2014.

Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Atlântico P, 2013.