Morality And Sympathy In Jonathan Bennett's The Ethical Life

Chp.31). As Huck and Jim navigate down the Mississippi River, sharing narrow escapes and miracles, their bond develops. Huck comes to love and respect Jim, but the notion of doing the “right” thing tells him to turn Jim in. From his bringing up, he believes he has a moral obligation to turn Jim in, because Jim is Miss Watson’s ‘property’. But, reminiscing of his Journey with Jim and “how good he always was”, Huck denies the moral code society placed upon him and decides he will do everything to go save Jim.

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.

This leads into the main internal conflict that Huck must face. He must chose whether to break federal law by running away with Jim, a slave, or to do what society believes what is right and return him back to his owner. In the end, Huck chooses to not turn Jim in and go on a journey with him, defying the laws of the country. Johnson says that this recommends disobedience and defiance on the part of young people, however it does the opposite. This shows that Huck’s moral values are more in tune with making the right choice than society’s.

To begin, Huck’s struggles within the deformed conscience of an entire society leads to his maturation. Throughout the book, Huck struggles within himself whether or not to follow his heart or to follow society’s deformed views. In one situation, Huck begins to feel guilty about helping a runaway slave, Jim, to freedom. Huck narrates, “My conscience got to stirring me up hotter than ever, until at last I says to it, ‘let up on me- it ain’t too late yet-

Huck has been burned with the idea that he is to blame for Jim’s escape. Huck ultimately feels guilty because he knows he has not done wrong but he has no reason not to believe what society thinks because he was only taught one way. Huck imagines an alternate scenario, thinking “s’pose [he]’d’ a’ done right and give Jim up, would [he] felt better... No…[he'd] feel bad” (91). Huck is aware that the right decision based on society is to give up Jim.

Sympathy for All Bram Stoker says, “Though sympathy alone can't alter facts, it can help to make them more bearable.” Sympathy is feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune. In Truman Capote's novel, he shows sympathy towards Nancy Clutter and Perry Smith. Truman Capote reveals many fantastic traits of Nancy to create sympathy for her when she is killed.

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’s feelings toward Jim changes from thinking he is just a slave, to a friend, and eventually more like a father-figure. There is more to this novel than just two boys floating along the Mississippi River. It addresses the seriousness of racism and abuse and talks about the importance of friends and family. Even though Huck and Jim come from different races, the time they have spent together really helps to surpass the discrimination happening and become not just friends,

This is the climax of the novel, in which many of the underlying themes are made clear. Huck’s morals overcome his fear for punishment, and he is determined to help Jim even if he has to go to hell for it. Furthermore, Jim is a runaway slave, and in the context of the story, helping a runaway slave, albeit one that was sold and has a new owner, would be almost traitorous to Huck’s community. Another revelation is that Huck has transcended the racial constructs of the time, recognizing Jim’s humanity and considering him someone worth rescuing at great personal risk. In this scene, Huck finally breaks the restraints of society, and indeed, his environment, by ignoring all societal and theological constructs and instead choosing what is right by his conscience.

All along his society and upbringings have told him that slavery is rift and stealing is wrong. Huck begins to love Jim because he taught him how to be a better human being, and they soon become inseparable. Huck finally views him or as a slave but equal to everyone else in

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”

In Chapter 16, when Huck sees Jim’s reaction to being near freedom, Huck describes his feeling as, “miserable”, “abusing”, “scorched”, and “die”. Although Jim is happy to face his future, Huck becomes burdened by societal beliefs and more importantly, his own moral values. For Huck, bestowing freedom to a slave is shameful and unethical; no different from one’s “property”. This also implies that Huck values the societies view more than his relationship with Jim. Later on, Huck’s view of the past changes as he separates his own conscience from the societal values.

First, the Kitty Genovese Article Reflection answers the essential question that empathy can create a stronger, more just society because if Kitty Genovese´s community had at least a little empathy, she would have never died and their society would be more united and they would have saved a person’s life. The Kitty Genovese story is about how a young woman was walking home after work, late at night, and she was stabbed to death while her neighbors just watched and listened to her cries for help. In the article reflection, I had to write about why her neighbors did not

Being raised in a time of prejudice and hate affected Huck and his mindset towards Jim. Although Huck was better than most people during his time, he still had lapses of judgement. While they were floating down the Mississippi River, Huck was debating whether or not he should return Jim to his owner. Although he ultimately decided against doing so, the fact that he even thought about it shows that he knows that Jim is someone else’s property. Huck also refers to him as “n-”, which proves his lack of respect for Jim.

However, he is kidnapped by his father who mistreats him and confines him to a cabin along the river (Twain, 34). This situation is the basis of their fugitive lifestyle as Huck reunites with Jim, who is also escaping from his captivity. The two get the opportunity to share with each other and their bond is made even stronger as they are faced with similar aspects of living life while on the run. Their journey along the Mississippi River, through Illinois, Kentucky and Arkansas are full of adventure as they travel seeking their refuge place. Jim aspires to reach another southern state that is free of slavery practices and hopes to someday buy freedom for the rest of his family.