MARTURING OF HUCKLEBERRY FI N

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The societal sharing on Huckleberry Finn's life pronated his goodness over the evil activities of the idealisms in nineteenth century. Huck Finn was a naïve and mischievous fourteen-year-old boy with a sweet smile and a sloppy appearance. Huck had a passion for adventure apparent in his eyes and wide smile. Huck is the main character in the story; he is recognized for his honest and practical approaches to complicated situations that constantly surround him. Huck's views were not tainted with perverted teachings. What is seen and experienced on the Mississippi river were his judgments alone. The humor one experiences while reading this book comes to fruition because of his innocence, practical thinking, and his own interpretations of the adult world.

Due to Huck's lack of behavioral training, he questions what is socially acceptable and there is almost constant conflict as to what course of action he should to take. He always blames himself if the outcome is negative one.

A good example would be of the saying, Love thy neighbor, in congruence with the permitting of slavery. How can one do both simultaneously? The view of typical citizens is described in this quote "In Huck Finn a body of implied assumptions about poverty, human life and human behavior is acceptable without question by most of the regular people who live in the books fictional country" (Hoffman 32). The average Americans viewpoints at that time are transformed into an innocent child's ideas that are magnified as to represent a larger picture of what is in the end a realistic and important opinion of Americans at that time. Huck knew morality involved following the laws put in place, but Huck made these rules his own by using his feelings and instincts alone. Huck was honest and there was humor in his pranks and hoaxes. I feel this story continues to be popular due to its original style of writing, it's contents and its view's demonstrate the finer traits of Huck Finn no matter what happens later. He makes heroic efforts and sacrifices involving faith, loyalty and commitment. Although Huck is deceitful as with lying, cheating, and stealing, he uses this as a practical approach to chase the devil away.

"Huck's character needed to please people. He respected the rigid lifestyles of others, even though they were not palatable to himself "(Hoffman 37). The Widow Douglas and Miss Watson took Huck Finn inn to raise as their own. They stressed the importance of religion and manors to young Huck. Here is his opinion of the situation, "at first I hated the school, but by-and-by I got so I could stand it"¦ So the longer I went to school the easier it got to be"¦ The widow said I was coming along slow but sure, and doing very satisfactory, she said she waren't ashamed of me "(Twain 328). Throughout the story Huckleberry has an interesting way with language, he basically says whatever, wherever, and however he wants to. Perhaps this was one of the ways he was able to cope with the stress of everyday life in the nineteenth century as suggested by Lee Clark Mitchell. "The simplest way to maintain composure in the sort of world Huck describes is to acknowledge how fully language creates the self"(Mitchell 101).

Huck was beaten and abused by his father, especially when he drank. The boy did not have a proper male role model and was often disappointed by his father. Huck understood that his father would do anything in order to get more alcohol, and that his father was unreliable. "Like a good little Transcendentalist, Huck did not believe in the reality of evil, even when he saw proof of it. And he did see quite an abundance of proof in the course of his adventures, with his own father trying to murder him in a fit of delirium tremens" (Asselineau 104-5). Huck never condemned his father's radical rantings because these were the feelings of his society. Huck spoke up about the inhumanity of the times. Sloane points out that "Venal money-centeredness, savagery toward the Negro, and ignorance is woven together is the coarse scene. Its humor lacks overt violence, and after the melodrama of the rest of the novel, it seems a quiet time of little consequence in the plot even though the meaning is important "(Sloane 144). "Huck's factions are lies against time, against and impossible father, against society and history, but not against reason and nature "(Bloom 3). "The dynamic theme throughout Huckleberry Finn is the unresolved dialectic between the moral responsibility of the society of which he moves and against which he must function "(Hoffman 32). "The major theme is stated succinctly at the end of chapter thirty-three when Huck feels compassion for the feathered frauds. Human beings can be awful cruel to one another. This theme is the theme stated directly and is central to every aspect of the plot and characterization "(Rubenstien 58).

Huck's friend Jim meant quite a lot to him and Huck's determination to improve Jim's lot in life was quite covert. Huck is sure not to demonstrate his attempts to assist Jim due to his fear of what others might think and the controversial beliefs of society at that time. "To complicate matters further, Huck almost never makes a moral judgment. He is a magnificent observer, and it is a constant marvel how much he is able to notice and describe in his precise colloquial diction. But he never condemns any of the thinks the reader and Twain know to be morally reprehensible. In this sense Huck fulfills a Realist idea by being the detached observer who sees everything and lets the facts speak their own message" (Hoffman 33). Although Huck was not openly against racism the novel tries to undermine and discourage the racial hatred that was common at this time in history. He was apparently born free of original sin and, although he lived in a guilty society, he never shared its guilt. True, at first, since everyone around him took slavery for granted, he found it perfectly natural. He considered Jim a mere superstitious Negro, "a runaway slave," "Miss Watson's nigger," somebody's property, he was guilty of stealing, but, whereas to Tom Sawyer other persons were objects one could play with as toys, to Huck they were subjects with feelings of their own"(Asselineau 105). Huck realized that he rather go straight to hell than to betray Jim since it would only be the appropriate thing to do. Mark Twain should be given more credit for his obvious attempt to bring racial hatred to the public spotlight though his novel. Still today in our modern society we have people who do not realize that this is a book about freeing "Negro's". Some like the author John H. Wallace feel the novel is an abomination and should have never been written. He goes on to say, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain is the most grotesque example of raciest trash ever written"¦. Weather it's a classic or not, it should not be able to continue to cause our children embarrassment about their heritage"(Wallace 112). He even goes on to suggest that it should even be removed from schools and classrooms across the entire country. One must realize that this novel has broken racial barriers and helped people to realize the error of their ways.

Although Huck makes no active protest, one must remember that this is a novel of social change and maturing not only for Huck but also for anyone who takes the time to read this rich piece of art and history. "Through the opposition of River and Shore, the novel shows that Huck's finer qualities spontaneity, immediacy, and responsiveness are important moral equipment if ever we are to break free of outworn conventions and artifice. But the novel makes it equally clear that they are not sufficient provisions in the journey of maturity"(Fertel 95).