Huck Finn Essay

When Mark Twain published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1885, he created a revolution in American Literature. As Ernest Hemmingway put it, “all modern American Literature came one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn”. Huckleberry Finn is an acid satire of southern white society in the late nineteenth century. Twain attacks the social conventions of southern white society through the perspective of Huck Finn and his adventures with Jim. During his adventures, Huck learns though the choices that makes. Huck’s maturation and development illustrates Twain’s idea that one should rely upon one’s conscience for moral guidance instead of the conventions of society.

At the beginning of his adventures, Huck Finn is a naпve and uneducated boy. Because he has not been indoctrinated with the values of society, Huck arrives at the conclusion about many of his ideas by simple logical reasoning. When introduced to the concept of hell, Huck said he wanted to go to hell because Ms. Watson had told him that Tom Sawyer would be there and he wanted to be with Tom. While the thinking of most people is restricted by their inculcated social values, Huck’s innocence allows him to develop a unique sense of morality. Throughout his adventures, as he encounters new situations, he arrives at his decisions and conclusion via plain logical reasoning. When faced with a dilemma of whether to turn Jim in or help him escape to freedom, Huck once again turns to his conscience for guidiance.

In the view of southern society, Huck, by helping Jim escape, is depriving Ms. Watson of $800 worth of property. However, in his period of interacting with Jim, Huck decides that Jim is not property but a person and treats him like a person. Jim’s comment, "dah