Morale Changes in Huck Finn

For the most part I enjoyed reading Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. The book, while being fictional shows a glimpse into life in the American south during the mid nineteenth century. Mark Twain does a very good job of telling the story and satirizing some of the issues of the period. One of the major subjects of the book of course tackles race and racism of the time, however, there are many other issues raised also. The one that struck me and that I have chosen to write about is the moral and character changes that Huck Finn goes through during his journey. In the beginning of the story Huck is a bit wild and very carefree. He does not want to concern himself with right and wrong and would rather play jokes and tricks on others, which he finds to be funny and entertaining.

Huck’s views on topics that society views as proper in the beginning of the book such as theology and slavery shows that he has a lack of concern for things of a serious nature. When he was being lectured to by Miss Watson about the good place and the bad place (Heaven and Hell) Huck decides he wants to go to the bad place first because he has no interest in singing and playing the harp forever and ever, and second because he would rather hang out with his friend Tom Sawyer. Huck asks Miss Watson, “I asked her if she reckoned Toms Sawyer would go there, and, she said, not by a considerable sight. I was glad about that, because I wanted him and me to be together.” (pg. 225) Another example of this is when Huck and Miss. Watson are talking about praying in chapter III. Miss. Watson is trying to get Huck to pray everyday, so Huck prays for material things, such as Fishing lines but laments when he gets only the lines and no hooks. Huck is completely uninterested when Miss. Watson tells him he should be praying for “spiritual gifts.” He decides that praying and all things for religion are not for him.

As the book continues, Twain uses Huck’s constant lying to show how he doesn’t much care for morals. An example of this is when Huck uses lies to get information from the woman in the cabin by dressing up as a girl. Huck gets so wrapped up in his bloated lies that he has to make more grandiose lies to cover up his slipups. By the middle of the story we are beginning to see some moral improvement from Huck. He begins to realize that Jim is much more human than he has believed in the past. He shows remorse after playing a mean practical joke on Jim and starts to feel conflicted about returning Jim to his Master or continuing to help him gain his freedom. After lying to Jim about dreaming about the events during the fog, Huck says in the book “It was 15 minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger-but I done in, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards, neither. I didn’t do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn’t done that one if I’d a knowed it would make him feel that way.”(pg. 272). This is much a much different reaction that Huck had at the beginning of the book when he and Tom played the joke on Jim while he was sleeping.

Throughout the book Huck continues to lie, however, as the character develops the lies take much more of a self-preservation twist. When Huck and Jim encounter the men on the river chasing the five run away slaves, Huck lies to the men that Jim is his father and has small pox to protect and keep them from discovering who he really is. He also lies to Jim about the King and the Dude. When