Juxtaposition In Huckleberry Finn

Huck tends to take steps back and forth throughout the journey; he takes a few steps forward and follows his heart but immediately after, he takes the steps right back and follows his conscience. While Huck’s “sound heart” tells him to treat Jim as a human being, his conscience is telling him to view Jim as his property. “I didn't answer prompt. I tried to, but the words wouldn't come. I tried for a second or two to brace up and out with it, but I wasn't man enough-- hadn’t the spunk of a rabbit.” (Twain 116) Just before, Huck thinks that these two men ask him if he has a runaway slave hidden on his raft. Huck was trying so hard to rat out on Jim, and do the moral thing by following his conscience but his heart catches up with him at the end and doesn't let him do

Huck considers telling off Jim to return him back to slavery. “Dah you goes, de ole true Huck; de on'y white genlman dat ever kep' his promise to ole Jim. Well, I just felt sick.”(Twain 67). This shows Jim responds by saying things to make Huck feel guilty. This is significant because it furthers their relationship by helping Huck realize he truly cares about Jim. Although Huck doesn’t notice this is a lie, he thinks it over and comes to view Jim as a friend.

Jim tells Huck he hit her for not listening to get to work, but he then finds out she has been recently made dea when she did not react to the door slamming shut from the wind. He realizes he hit her when she never even heard Jim to begin with. Jim was so distraught begging for forgiveness from the Lord and his daughter, because he would never forgive himself for his mistake. This shows Jim’s deep rooted connection with love of others and his humanity. Not only that, but Huck realizes he cares deeply for his family and is capable of emotions that otherwise racist ideologies have told him are not possible. Huck now believes that this cannot be the case since he sees Jim having strong familial ties with his own eyes. This example of Jim’s release of the minstrel mask makes Huck gain a higher opinion of him.

In the text, The Ethical Life, by Russ Shafer-Landau, it questions Jonathan Bennett’s morality and sympathy and how the two of them can come into conflict. Morality and sympathy are connected, but still very different. Throughout this chapter, Jonathan Bennett outlines many important points and factors that go into these connections and how they can overlap and conflict.

After Huck finds out that Jim is captive, Huck “set down and cried. [He] couldn’t help it” (210). After returning to the raft and not finding Jim there, Huck is overcome with emotion. The fear of Jim not being around causes Huck to realize how important Jim is to him. The friendship they developed on the river and through their adventure causes Huck to be more concerned for Jim’s safety than society’s need to keep Jim captive. Huck, therefore, sees Jim as his friend and ignores society’s expectations to treat him less than human. After tearing up the letter he writes to Miss Watson, Huck “... studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself: ‘All right, then, I’ll go to hell’” (214). Huck realizes that Jim is in need of assistance so he decides to do what is morally correct, which is to help Jim escape. Huck decides to act on his morals rather than be held captive by society; Huck believes that he has to act in the best interest of Jim and does not consider what society believes is acceptable behavior. By stating that he will “go to hell,” Huck reiterates what he promises Jim in the beginning- that he rather be a “low down abolitionist”; these statements combined supports his feelings to protect Jim from society. When Huck and Tom get back to the house, Huck states, “...it don’t make no difference whether you do right or wrong, a person’s conscience ain’t got no

Everyone wants a father figure, but the person who takes on the role of being a father is not always who is expected. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim, an African American slave, is a father figure to Huck, a young white boy. Jim acts as a father by protecting Huck from dangers and risks during their journey. Jim is also a father to Huck by teaching him lessons about right and wrong. Lastly, Jim is comparable to a father through the love that he expresses toward Huck. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain expresses how Jim is more of a father to Huck than Pap through Jim’s protection, lessons, and love.

Mark Twain emphasizes the theme that a person's morals are more powerful than the corrupt influence of society in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Based on how Huck Finn views the world and forms his opinions, he does not know the difference between right and wrong. In the novel, Huck escapes civilized society. He encounters a runaway slave, Jim, and together they travel hopes of freedom. But along the way, Huck and Jim come across troubles that have Huck questioning his motives. Throughout their journey, Huck is aware that Jim has escaped but does not know whether or not to turn him into the authorities. Huck’s mentality about society matures and he realizes his need to protect Jim from dangers. As the novel progresses, Huck begins to realize the flaws in society. Huck ultimately chooses to follow his own

Huck isn't the type of person you civilize, you can’t make him be someone he isn't willing to be. Every person who has entered his life has tried to create this image of Huck that wasn't realistic to him in any way, except Jim. Jim, Miss Watson’s runaway slave, has never expected Huck to be anybody but himself. Huck does mature as the time they spend together increases, Huck has never met stability in his life until Jim which is why he takes a liking to him.

Judging someone for their race, ethnicity, or skin color is never portrayed as the right thing to do. However, these are some of the main themes in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This was taken place before the Civil War, when slavery was still legal. When Huck Finn and Jim meet, even though Jim is a slave, they connect immediately. Their friendship grows stronger and stronger as the novel continues, it got to the point where Jim was not only a friend, but a father figure to Huck. There was a couple of times where Huck realized that what he was doing was not only wrong, but illegal, and wondered if he should do the right thing, but decided against it. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck sees Jim as a slave, friend, and a father

In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim bond closely to one another, regardless of the fact that they belong to different ethnic groups. Huck, a coming-of-age teenage boy, lives in the Southern antebellum society which favors slavery. At the beginning of the book, Twain claims that “Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; and persons attempting to find a plot will be shot” (Twain 2). Ironically, through his experiences with Jim, the uncivilized Huck gradually establishes his own moral beliefs, although sometimes struggling against the influence of society.

Huck has always seen Jim as a slave until they crossed paths while going down the river. The two develop a friendship and Huck starts to care about Jim and his well being. Although Huck views Jim as someone he cares about, he still sees him as a slave as well. “ I would do the right thing and the clean thing, and go and write that nigger’s owner and tell where he was,” ( Document E). Huck is in a continuous battle with his inner self when it comes to his views on Jim. Huck had multiple chances to turn Jim in or not to help him when he was in trouble, but he could never bring himself to turn his back on Jim. From the time they first saw each other on the river, Huck felt a certain loyalty toward Jim. They both agreed not to give away the other’s location, this agreement brought a loyalty between them. “ Well I did. I said I wouldn’t and I’ll stick to it… People would call me a low down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum- but that don’t make no difference,” (Document B). Huck always felt deep down that keeping Jim’s location a secret was wrong. Although Huck and Jim become best friends by the end of the novel, Huck does not stop viewing Jim as a slave. By the laws of the time Jim was a slave and Huck knew that , he just refused to treat him like

Jim, a runaway slave, is the most influential individual when it comes to Huck’s moral development. During the beginning of the novel, Huck’s morals are primarily based on what he has learned from Miss Watson. Huck begins to become wary of such ideals that Miss Watson has imposed on him, and decided all he wanted “…was a change” (Twain 10). As Huck escapes from society by running away he had the chance of running into Jim on Jackson Island. During this time Huck displays his moral growth after playing a trick on Jim. Huck displays his moral growth because after placing a snake skin under Jim’s blanket, which eventually causes Jim to be bitten by a snake, he

At the beginning of the novel, Huck thought that Jim was inferior because of his color. When Huck and Jim traveled together on the river, they bonded, and Huck saw things in a new light. Huck finally saw Jim as a person, not a slave. “I was trying to make my mouth say I would do the right thing and the clean thing, and go down write to that nigger’s owner and tell where he was; but deep down in me I knowed it was a lie-and He knowed it” (227). Huck finally saw Jim as more than just property and knew he couldn’t let Jim go back to the life of a slave. This was a major turning point in the book because Huck’s morals had finally transitioned to encompass his morals over those valued by society. Huck and Jim had left their old lives behind to gain the experience of a new, free one. Huck left his horrible and abusive Pap, and Jim left his life of slavery. Both of these characters had an opportunity to start a new life on the river which symbolized rebirth. Every time Huck and Jim drifted along the river, there were endless opportunities for them to be reborn in new societies and start new lives. Just as the river was endlessly flowing, Huck’s possibilities of changing were

Specifically, through the controversy of slavery at the time, Huck learns how to listen to his intuition and conscience. His slight hesitation escaping with Jim makes him question the authenticity of his morality. He says, “I begun to get it through my head that he was most free--and who was to blame for it? Why, me … But you knowed he was running for his freedom, and you could ‘a’ paddled ashore and told somebody” (Twain 87-88). At this stage in the novel, it is important to denote his ambivalence toward the situation. Though he helps Jim, he feels a sense of guilt for going against societal standards. Regardless, Huck has a myriad of opportunities to turn Jim in--and doesn’t. This verifies that Huck progresses in developing his maturity and poise. Naturally, as his bond with Jim cultivates, Huck unknowingly treats him as a human. Through Huck’s sensibility, he states, “It didn’t take me long to make up my mind that these liars warn’t no kings nor dukes at all … I hadn’t no objections, ‘long as it would keep peace in the family; and it warn’t no use to tell Jim, so I didn’t tell him” (Twain 125). Correspondingly, Huck gains a consideration for Jim and his personal feelings, which he expresses nonchalantly through motley aspects of their journey. This also shows how his aspects of racism are changing; he starts to believe people are people, no matter

When Huck supports Jim in his dream of being free and helping him accomplish his dream, Jim demonstrates his gratitude through praising him. As they impend toward Cairo, Jim is highly overwhelmed with the fact that he will soon be free all because of Huck. He believes that his freedom “...couldn't have ever been for Huck [and for that]... Jim wont ever forg[e]t [Huck]” (Twain 67). This exemplifies how grateful Jim really feels. He appreciates everything that Huck has done for him to help him be able to be a free man that without him, most likely, would have been impossible. Once again on Jim’s journey to freedom, two men stop their canoe and question Huck about whether or not a runaway is aboard the boat. Huck makes up a lie to cover up the Jim technically qualifies as a runaway. He “...saved Jim [,]by … [saying his “father”] had smallpox [,whom] was so grateful…” (Twain 161) for what he did for him . If Huck did not do this, Jim would have been captured and taken back to Miss.Watson; therefore, taken back into