Puneeth Kodavatiganti
Mrs. Zack
English 10 Honors
26 October 2009
The Barrier Removed
“Fictional novels” tend to revolve around children who at first, exhibit maturity as a flaw, but eventually mature as a result from a series of events that put the individuals in positions where they are forced to make a decision or look beyond society’s prejudice. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, serves as a great example of the “fictional novel” as its protagonist, Huck Finn, develops a mature mentality through his travel down the Mississippi River. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered a non-humanitarian novel by many, but is truly a magnificent piece of work as Twain expresses his satirical views of prejudice and greediness on human nature through the characters and the plot itself. Huck at first is introduced to the reader as a picaroon who finds amusement in the downfall of others. But as he decides to help Jim, the black slave, escape slavery, his escapade with Jim reveals to him the many different aspects of life such as prejudice and slavery. His views and perspective on life and human nature alters into that of a more mature person. Although the series of events in Huck’s journey down the Mississippi River cause him to develop a mentally mature psyche, it is essentially not a passage into manhood as the maturity Huck undergoes is distinguishing right from wrong, understanding others feelings, and acting from his heart instead of society’s prejudice.
The Essay on Relationship Between Huck And Jim
The Relationship Between Huck and Jim By William Reculard In his novel Huckleberry Finn, the relationship between Huckleberry Finn and Jim evolves a great deal, especially during their journey on the raft. The two rely upon each other to survive and keep their mental up. The fact that Huck proves to be willing to sacrifice many things and ideals for Jim, involving honour, pride and even come near ...
Not only does Huck start to make precise decisions, he endures moral growth as he learns about understanding others and relationships through Jim. He is able to look at Jim as an equal to himself and white society rather than property. Towards the beginning of the novel, Huck and Tom spot Jim latent under a tree and want to tie him up to it, but decide not to because they are afraid of getting caught. “When we was ten foot off Tom whispered to me, and wanted to tie Jim to the tree for fun (9).” Because of the era in which Huck and Tom live, they are not able to look at African Americans as humans instead of possessions. Huck is not aware that Jim has feelings just like everyone else because he only decides not to pull prank in fear of getting trouble. In this scene, he is immature, but as he progresses on his journey, he starts to view Jim as “human”. Huck’s conscious starts to disturb him about turning Jim in because he believes it is the right thing to do. “Huck; you’s de bes’ fren’ Jim’s ever had… (83).” After Jim reveals his emotions to Huck, it causes Huck to halt and reconsider his actions. At the beginning of the novel, Huck wants to join Tom’s gang in panic of being lonely, but here he is able to develop a greater bond with Jim as he starts to view him as a friend.
Huck also learns a lot about relationships from Jim. Huck’s father, Pap, severely abused him and was in no way a real father to him. “I tell you, chile, I’spec it save’ ole Jim — ole Jim ain’t going to forgit you for dat, honey (86).” Jim is the first fatherly figure in Huck’s life because Jim is willing to sacrifice a great deal in order to protect Huck. Through his use of words such as “honey”, Jim is able to convey a lot about relationships to Huck. Towards the middle of the novel, Jim exposes to Huck his plan after he becomes free. “He was thinking about his wife and children… white folks does for their’n (142).” He realizes that black people are no different from white people and that black people also have feelings and emotions. He considers Jim as an equal to himself as he starts to contrast the similarities. Through Jim, Huck is able to understand others feelings and treat everybody equally.
The Research paper on Huckleberry Finn Huck Jim Ain
Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Essay, Research Paper The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Throughout the Mark Twain novel, The Adventures of HuckleBerry Finn, the author shows a simple view. His point of view is that of a cynic; he looks at society? s flaws and makes fun of them It is when they stop off at various towns along the river that various human character ...
Subsequently, Huck matures and starts to act from the heart instead of society’s prejudice as he deals with the evils of society; in this case, the Duke and Dauphin. During his travels with the two frauds, Huck is able to follow his beliefs without society’s laws and prejudice affecting his decision whatsoever. When the Duke and Dauphin decide to go to the Wilk’s residence as the two brother’s from England, Huck does what he feels right. “ I says to myself, this is another one that I’m letting him rob her of her money… I got to steal that money, somehow; and I got to steal it some way that they won’t suspicion that I done it (160).” This is one of the first instances in which Huck is not a bystander who allows wrong-doing. His conscious pushes him into disliking himself for allowing the frauds to con more people, so he decides to put an end to it. Instead of abiding with society, he is now able to follow his beliefs. From his encounter with the frauds, Huck is put through another fix as Jim is sold back into slavery and he is forced to decide on whether to save Jim or give up. “All right, then, I’ll go to hell…(195).” At first, Huck feels relieved and thinks that a huge weight has been removed from his shoulders, but the memories of Jim’s and his journey makes him realize that he has to do the right thing and rescue Jim.
Towards the beginning of the novel, Huck finds Mrs. Watson’s and the Widow Douglas’s views of heaven and hell as amusing, and grows interest on hell because he thinks of it as fun. At that point of the novel, he is not aware of other’s feeling and does not understand human nature. But as he interacts with other people, he starts to mature and does what he thinks is correct. His view on hell changes as he is willing to go to it for helping a friend, instead of “amusement” or stupidity. Huck is a dynamic character, for he matures a great deal in understanding people. This scene is considered the climax of the novel because Huck is forced to take a decision which can completely change the outcome of the novel. Later in the novel, Huck is able to find Jim after he is sold and experiences the sight of the tarred and feathered Duke and Dauphin being chased by a mob. “Well, it made me sick to see it; and I was sorry for them poor pitiful rascals, it seemed like I couldn’t ever feel any hardness against them any more in the world. It was a dreadful thing to see. Human beings can be awful cruel to one another (210).” Although the two frauds made Huck go through a lot of pain and suffering, he is still able to find space in his heart to forgive them. Twain exhibits his thoughts on human nature in this scene as he states that human beings are cruel to one another. This serves as a great example because society punishes people for cheating them, but here Huck is able to take a higher step and forgive the people who conned and scammed him. This is a major form of maturity as forgiving people is similar to understanding them. The evils of society help Huck mature and endure moral growth as he is forced to make life-changing decisions and withdraw from society and follow his heart.
The Term Paper on Huckleberry Fin Huck Finn Jim
... law, Hucks helping Jim signifies Huck making a conscience decision to rebel openly against society. In ... the same sympathy towards people as Huck does and contributes to Hucks moral development. Walker later ... for Hucks continuously maturing moral sense. Throughout the course of the novel, Hucks attitude towards Jim ... Hucks decision saying, This moment, when Huck says All right, then, Ill go to hell, ...
Consequently, Huck Finn journey down the Mississippi River cause him to develop a mentally mature psyche, it is essentially not a passage into manhood as the maturity Huck undergoes is distinguishing right from wrong, understanding others feelings, and acting from his heart instead of society’s prejudice. The river plays a major role in the “coming of age” in Huck as he is put through situations in which he has no protection, has to care for himself and Jim because no one else will, and it forces him to act independent by taking decisions from his beliefs instead of society’s. The river takes him out of his “comfort zone” as he no longer has greater individual guiding him from right and wrong; moral and immoral.
Works Cited
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2003.
