Will Mullin
Per. G/H

                    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:
                         Huck’s Internal Battle
     

     The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written by Samuel L. Clemens, who is also

known by his pen name Mark Twain. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was Twain’s first book

relating to adventure stories for boys. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn stars Tom Sawyers

comrade, Huck. Huck is rough around the edges but a real good kid and softy at heart. Huck had

good morals despite all his lies and sometimes cruel jokes and tries to do the right thing.

Throughout the story Huckleberry Finn has an internal battle with racism and whether his morals

or those imposed upon him by society are the right to follow. Huck is a victim of his time and

influences.

     Huck is a rebel always defying and opposing authority throughout the book and his

constant need to break his restrictions and be truly free would be preferable. “She put me in new

clothes again, and I couldn’t do nothing… and feel all cramped up (12). Clothing are used to try

and civilize Huck but this makes him feel restricted and he would rather not conform to what

society believes correct. “I got to light out for the territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally

she is going to adopt me and sivilize me and I can’t stand it” (283). Huck feels that in order to

flee society he must move out west alone. “I been there before”(283). Huck’s quest to escape

civilizations grasp is an one going one. What is interesting is that he despises society yet society

admires him and he is the ideal “lone ranger”.

     In this point in time black’s were not viewed as equals by the whites and were some times

they were convinced that they were truely of a lower class which could explain Jim putting up

with Tom’s ridiculous plans for so long. “There’s ben a dozen a-helpin’ that nigger, ‘n’ I lay I’d

skin every last nigger on this place but I’d find out who done it, s’I; ‘n’ moreover, s’I....

A dozen says you!- forty couldn’t ‘a’ done everything...”(270). People of the town thought of the

slaves as good for nothing pieces of property and could never have thought up anything so

complex and intricate. But of course it had to be blacks because no white person could do such a

low thing. The man mentioned skinning them as if it were no big deals and it was normal. With

Huck growing up under such conditions it is a wonder he even so much as talked to Jim the way

he does. Huck is a victim to this period in time where racism and white supremacy are as

strongly believed in as God himself.

     Huck not only has to grow up in a world that believes in white supremacy but a

household that cares for him no more than any other black slave. His household consisted of him

and his Pap, a racist man with no heart for anything but drinking and getting drunk. I used to be

scared of him all the time, he tanned me so much”(27). Huck’s Father appeared to be a man of

little substance by the way Huck had described him, “...most fifty, and he looked it, hair was long

and tangled and greasy, and hung down... long, mixed-up whiskers. There warn’t no color in his

face, it was white; white to make a body sick.... make the flesh crawl...tree toad white...his

clothes - just rags”(27). The feeling of the whole description is not one someone would think a

fathers own son would give him but this is how Huck viewed his. I think that there was so much

dislike and hatred towards his father that Huck’s strong feelings may have caused him to stretch

or exaggerate the truth. His father not only beat him but discouraged school just as a slave owner

would to his blacks in order to make sure they do not get smarter than him. “ They say-can read

and write. You think you’re better’n your father... because he can’t?.. foolishness... who told you

you could?”(28). Huck did not enjoy school because it was another restriction however one has

to wonder wether it was his father and him saying how his mother and other siblings could not

till they died ‘and here you go swelling your self up’(28). Huck view on racism was brought upon

him by his upbringing.

     Though Huck naturally only knows that to discriminate against the blacks is the only

acceptable action, he does question wether it is morally the correct thing to do. Jim was Huck’s

very first true friend who supports, cares and loves him more than his family ever did. “Jim lit

out, and was a-coming for me with both arms spread, he was so full of joy...”(201). When Huck

made a run for it after the coffin was opened Jim had come as well and when called he came

running. Jim seems needy of Huck but Huck was in need of Jim as well to learn he could care for

someone so much as to defy his own upbringing and society for someone of a different race by

helping Jim try and capture his freedom.

     Huckleberry Finn and Jim despite their differences in color, age, race and ranking they

were very similar. Both Jim and Huck were caught in a situation they wanted to flee, both were

looked down upon and both were enslaved by society and its cruelties. Huck disliked his father

for not caring for him but also could not stand Aunt Polly for constantly trying to change who he

was to fit in, so he wanted to become independent and move west, “light out for the

territory”(283). Jim wanted to become free and independent of his owner and her confinement.

Huck was look down upon because of his clothes and speech, this however did come in handy

with the King and Duke because they felt he was too stupid to think to hide the gold. Jim was

looked down upon because of his race, color and being uneducated. Society prevents Huck from

being the man he wants and Jim from everything that could make him a human being rather than

a piece of property.


     
     Societies pressured views and opinions towards slavery is a heavy burden on Huck. It

demands him to make a mature decision that most adults would find hard to face between his

own morals or those of society. Huck often thinks to himself of how he views or treats slaves and

it has been back and forth.“I knowed he was white inside”(267). “It made me feel so

mean I could have almost kissed his foot”(90). As undecided Huck’s thoughts are his actions

show his morals are stronger than societies. Huck was pressured most by the Law of the Land

stating that all run away slaves must be turned in. His dilemma was to decide wether to follow or

he defy this legal restriction and go through with helping Jim. Huck often puzzled over this and

at one point started writing a letter which he ripped up because he had come to his senses and

was going to help Jim as friend and not turn him in for the color of his skin. Even after this Huck

still had the grief and