Examples Of Lying In Huckleberry Finn

Lying in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Lying is one of the most prominent themes used in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and there are three primary ways that it is explored throughout the novel. First, the reader sympathizes with Huckleberry Finn’s lies because he is the narrator. Second, Huck justifies lying because he wants social acceptance. Finally, Jim’s lies, which in contrast to Huck’s, are a form of protecting his friend and make him the true hero of the novel. In Huckleberry Finn, lying is a self-serving act that everybody does. Despite the idea that many readers see Huck as a moral sinner, he ultimately lies for his own self-interest and protection.
The reader sympathizes with Huck because he is the narrator.

There are moments when Huck appears to value his relationship with Jim by being protective of him, but does this to save himself. Earlier in the novel when beginning their odyssey, Huck forces Jim to “lay down in the canoe and cover up with the quilt, because if he set up, people could tell he was a nigger a good ways off” (48). In this instance, Huck protects Jim’s identity so that anyone passing by will not catch them. However, he is literally putting Jim below him to assert authority. The difference between how the two protect each other is that Jim does it because he truly sees them as a team. The society which these characters live in has instilled in them that Huck and Jim can never be equals. Huck often disregards Jim as inferior when in fact, Jim is more heroic. Jim guides Huck as if he were one of his own children, whom he has been separated with. Upon entering a house on the water, Jim discovers Pap’s dead body and he tells Huck to “Come in… but doan’ look at his face – it’s too gashly”. Jim also guides Huck in moments of fear. When lost on the river amongst the fog, Jim makes a “whoop” sound so that Huck knows he is there. Jim looks out for Huck because he loves him as if he was one of his own