A child, when first born into this world, is totally objective and oblivious to all. A clean blank slab of a blackboard portrays his/her brain thus far. As time goes on, input is inscribed upon this blackboard. From there conclusions are drawn, inferences are made, and right and wrong are being defined. Society has everything to do with the course of this.
The main character of Mark Twains Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck, undergoes a total moral transformation upon having to make life defining decisions throughout his journey for a new life; from a simple boy living amongst society to a mature human who can think for himself about the rights and wrongs of humanity. Twain is trying to show the audience that society has the majority of influence upon the individual, and will cause the person to conform to the norms of that society.
Huck Finn is a great example of a disciple of society who learns to think individually and back to the fundamentals of mankind. Huck emerges into the novel with an inferiority complex caused by living a double standard life: with a drunken and abusive father and with two old ladies who would like to raise him properly. It is here that Huck is in absence of any direction. It is at this point where Huck is first seen without any concept of morality. Preceding the start of the novel, Miss Watson and the widow have been granted custody of Huck, an uncivilized boy who possesses no morals.
They talked it over, and they was going to rule me out, because they said every boy must have a family or something to kill, or else it wouldnt be fair and square for the others. Well, nobody could think of anything to do everybody was stumped, and set still. I was most ready to cry; but all at once I thought of a way, and so I offered them Miss Watsonthey could kill her (17-18). At this moment, Huck is at the peak of his immorality. A person with morals would not willingly sacrifice the life of someone else just in order to be part of a gang.
Hucks confusion with society, along with his idolism of Tom Sawyer, caused him to make such a statement. He wants to escape from his abusive father and overly-strict guardians, thus he turns to the immorality and childish way to get away from it all. Twain here can easily prove his view upon society in 1 easy step. He shows the proper/former side of society with Miss Watson and Widow Douglas. Here he presents the case with the views of society: racist, biased, and ethnocentric. In many instances Twain sarcastically will ridicule society for its immoral beliefs by exaggerating them in the book.
The word nigger may seem like the proper connotation in accordance to the dialect of the time, but the way they treated niggers and their attitudes toward them should not have been proper in any case. The insecure and perplexed Huck was willing to give up a human life in order to pursue his childish dreams and to escape the pressure induced by society. Twain points out how society could have hurt a boy with that example and also talks about one of many of societys problems. Huck begins his journey of moral progression after he escapes and decides to befriend Jim, the runaway slave.
He from here learns about the evils and skewed views of society; little by little, he learns to confront and decide for himself upon these situations. Huck encounters his first major dilemma when he comes across the wrecked steamboat and three criminals. When Jim and Huck take the skiff for themselves, leaving the three robbers stranded, Huck realizes that he has left them to die. Now was the first time that I begun to worry about the men I reckon I hadnt time to before. I begun to think how dreadful it was, even for murderers, to be in such a fix.
I says to myself, there aint no telling but I might come to be a murderer myself yet, and then how would I like it? (76). This is the first time that Huck questions the effects of what he has done on other people. After he realizes that he could now be considered a murderer, he does something for the better by getting a captain to go investigate the wreck in order to save the mens lives. Even though the men he would be saving are murderers and robbers, he can not justify being responsible for their death, and makes it a point to correct what he has done wrong. This is the first major step in Hucks moral progression.
At that point, he establishes a set of standards that considers leaving the men to die as immoral. Twains point here is that no matter what society looks down upon or shuns on, the ultimate and fundamental basis is that we are all human, and an act that is merciless should never be committed. He demonstrates this with the robbers, and later again profoundly in the Shepherdson/Grangerford dispute. In Buck Grangerfords rambling answers we hear Mark Twains view of a southern feuding family, and after Buck finishes his answer, we watch Hucks reaction to the true nature of the Grangerfords.
Buck details Twains opinion that a feud is not started or continued by thought. The reasons for the feud have been forgotten, and the Grangerfords do not hate, but in fact respect, their sworn enemies. They live their lives by tradition, and the fact that the feud is a tradition justifies its needless, pointless violence. From the dignified Colonel with “a few buck-shot in him”(121) to Buck, who is eager for the glory to be gained from shooting a Shepherdson in the back, the Grangerfords unquestioningly believe in de-valuing human life because it is a civilized tradition.
Huck begins to decide for himself now, that he is on the river and can think more freely without the confinements of society. Twain gradually introduces us into the concepts of a bad society and Hucks moral development. Throughout the book there is the recurring motif of Friend v. Society: a main moral decision that Huck is forced to make a few times in his journey, of whether to follow the guidelines set before him or his heart which tells him what logic should. This is the first time he makes a decision all on his own based on his own morality. Jims capture and consequences represent Hucks ultimate realization and rejection of society.
To encapsulate Hucks total moral progression through his decision to help Jim, Huck states, “All right then, Ill go to hell! ” (207). The logical consequences of Hucks action, rather than the lessons society has taught him, drive Huck. He decides that going to hell, if it means following his gut and not societys hypocritical and cruel principles, is a better option than going to everyone elses heaven. This moment of decision represents Hucks true break with the world around him. At this point, Huck decides to help Jim escape slavery once and for all.
By now his mind is truly made up, the statement You cant pray a lie (207) being the justification. Twain here utilizes the climax of the moment to conclude his most important points about society- in which it is cruel to itself, biased, and selfish. By using Huck as the breakthrough of the mold, Twain is able to get his point across to his readers, that society and what it represents is all wrong, because of the ethnocentric display on life by it. Huck has made up his mind once and for all, after thoroughly surveying both sides of an ideal-bound society and a free-going life.
Twain contrasts the two and glorifies the instinct-based life while degrading the society-bound lifestyle. Hucks moral progression can be traced throughout the book beginning from his total lack of morals to being able to make the right decisions on his own. It is only with the help of Jim as a moral guide that Huck is able to undergo this moral transformation to use his own judgment and truly progress. The situation that Huck is encountered with about choosing friend over society is the main dilemma that pushes Huck to establish his own standards of morality, rather than accepting those that society has set forth.
Jim acts as the centerpiece where Huck decides whether he should conform to society about the runaway slave or to use his head and follow what he believes are the basic rights of being humane. The metamorphosis Huck went through not only told a story, but, in Twains view, told the life story of his society and those problems. Problems that Huck confronted. Today, his acts and Mr. Twains ingenious are considered to have bettered the society. There you go, Mr. Twain, you got what you wanted. Society has been bettered thanks to you.
