The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is about a young boy, Huck, who was searching for freedom and adventure. With no stable relatives of his own, Huck is forced to live in the ultra-civilized home of Miss. Watson, who attempts to teach Huck the importance of being civilized. Just when Huck was finally getting used to the civilized life, Huck’s abusive father, Pap, shows up. Desperate to leave civilization and Pap, Huck runs away to an island. On the island Huck allied with Jim, a runaway slave. Despite numerous obstacles, Huck and Jim remain steadfast in their goal to get to the free states, where Jim can finally be free. Huck's attitude towards Jim changes as they experience many adventures together. First Huck thought that
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He was raised in a society that looked down on slaves as if they were property; objects that couldn't think for themselves, as opposed to actual humans with feelings and insights. Miss. Watson taught Huck that a slave is just property, and to help a slave is like stealing. This caused Huck to battle with his conscience throughout his whole journey, debating whether it was the moral thing to help Jim or not. When Aunt Sally found out about the explosion, she questioned if anyone got hurt. Huck answered that only a nigger was killed. Aunt Sally was relieved and answered, “its lucky, because sometimes people do get hurt” (167). Aunt Sally totally disregarded that a Black got killed as if the Black was just property. The fact that the message he got from society was that slaves are just property also caused him to feel superior to …show more content…
Maybe, Jim could even be Huck's friend. Jim was especially nice to Huck, treating him even as his own son. For example, when there was a dead man on the boat, Jim was protective over Huck saying, “come in, Huck, but doan look at his face – it’s too gashly”. (38) Jim avoids revealing the identity of the corpse to prevent Huck from a devastating situation, because he cares for Huck as a son. Portraying Jim as an individual who has emotions and can act on and understand the ability to love, is crucial to revealing that Jim is human. Huck is forced to question the facts that white society has taught him about slaves. Later, Huck learns to respect and care for Jim as a human being. Huck even states "I knowed he was white inside."(207) This shows the respect Huck had for Jim ruled over the disrespect society had for
He was raised in a society that looked down on slaves as if they were property; objects that couldn't think for themselves, as opposed to actual humans with feelings and insights. Miss. Watson taught Huck that a slave is just property, and to help a slave is like stealing. This caused Huck to battle with his conscience throughout his whole journey, debating whether it was the moral thing to help Jim or not. When Aunt Sally found out about the explosion, she questioned if anyone got hurt. Huck answered that only a nigger was killed. Aunt Sally was relieved and answered, “its lucky, because sometimes people do get hurt” (167). Aunt Sally totally disregarded that a Black got killed as if the Black was just property. The fact that the message he got from society was that slaves are just property also caused him to feel superior to …show more content…
Maybe, Jim could even be Huck's friend. Jim was especially nice to Huck, treating him even as his own son. For example, when there was a dead man on the boat, Jim was protective over Huck saying, “come in, Huck, but doan look at his face – it’s too gashly”. (38) Jim avoids revealing the identity of the corpse to prevent Huck from a devastating situation, because he cares for Huck as a son. Portraying Jim as an individual who has emotions and can act on and understand the ability to love, is crucial to revealing that Jim is human. Huck is forced to question the facts that white society has taught him about slaves. Later, Huck learns to respect and care for Jim as a human being. Huck even states "I knowed he was white inside."(207) This shows the respect Huck had for Jim ruled over the disrespect society had for