Examples Of The Court System In Huckleberry Finn

A Broken Court System
Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, shows many flaws in the way the court system operated, and view of parent’s rights and position of children in society. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the main character Huck was illustrated as an orphan. His mother was not present, nor was his father, Pap. His father was an alcoholic who was never there for Huck. In fact Huck did not even live with his father although they resided in the same town. It was not until Huck discovered a sum of treasure that Pap decided Huck was “worth his time” and tried to implement himself into Huck’s life. This scenario presented many problems with the court, Pap’s right (or lack of) to raise Huck, Huck’s personal feelings

The books shows readers that the court system presented in the book really did not care whether or not the parent (in this case Pap) was working to support that child, or the role they play in the child’s life. For example, Pap was an alcoholic, he had never been fatherly to Huck as he grew up, he didn’t have a job, and he didn’t even live with Huck. The judge really did not care about Huck’s safety at all when he granted full custody to Pap. The judge chose to do this just because he was Huck’s biological dad. The most important points the court failed to recognize is lack of evidence to show whether or not that the parents can take care of a child, safety of the home, compassion, bonding time given by the parent, and respect of the child. These factors truly need to be considered, although they were not and because they were not, it comes back to haunt the judge and court system. One night Pap sneaks out of the home given to him to say in to go drinking at the bar. When he returned home he was so drunk “he broke his arm in two places and nearly froze to death on the porch” (CITE). This was a betrayal to the judge, the court, and most importantly,

But, he also wanted to address the issue of parent’s rights to raise their child. The book shows great failure when it comes to giving a child to their parents just because they are an authority of them or their biological parent(s). For example, “the custody judge is unfortunately new to the town and refuses to separate Huck from his father Pap” (Cite). This was the wrong decision, readers fully understand that this choice could be putting Huck’s life in danger when he returns back home to Pap. Although it is true that Pap was his real father, there were a few things that Pap was lacking as a parent when it comes to taking care of his son. For instance, Pap could not provide financial stability, a good home, love, or even the basic necessities of survival, like food. Yet, the judge without any evidence granted Pap custody. When in reality a parent should at this point lose rights to raise their own child if they cannot provide these basic needs and more. In today’s society, when a parent loses their child for any reason, it is very hard for them to get them back because our court system has a step-by-step process that their parents have to take part in before they give a child back to their birth parents. In today’s world, all parents who lose their child have to go through some type of classes, have a steady job, and be able to provide