Huck Finn

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorHigh School, 11th grade February 2008

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In Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the protagonist, Huck Finn, continually struggles with his "deformed conscience", which is shaped by the morals of his society and his "sound heart", which tells him what is morally right. Throughout Huck and Jim's trip down the Mississippi River Huck consistently wrestles with the fact that he is helping a runaway slave. In helping Jim, Huck follows what his heart tells him is right and defies what his society has deemed as acceptable. Often times Huck feels guilty for being true to Jim because society had programmed him to think that slavery is an acceptable institution. Huck often questions what his heart says, but repeatedly decides to follow it and finds Jim to be anything but a piece of property. Jim proves to be Huck's true friend and is actually more human than many of the other characters the two encounter on their venture down the Mississippi River.

The characters of Huck Finn and Jim are very different but have certain qualities that enable them to become best friends and learn from each other. For example, Jim is a very superstitious person with a wild imagination making him more similar to Tom Sawyer, while Huck is very literal minded. At first Huck only regards Jim as an ignorant slave who is full of silly superstitions when, in reality, Jim's superstitious behavior is based on common sense. As Huck and Jim continue to travel down the Mississippi River Huck begins to recognize other admirable qualities in Jim and learns to appreciate him as a human being rather than a piece of property. Later in the novel is becomes apparent that Jim has common sense is unselfish, patient and very caring. One instance where Huck recognizes Jim's goodness is when Jim tells...