morality

morality

Morality Paragraph Huck’s morality is influenced by different characters and events throughout __Huckleberry Finn__. Being the juvenile that he is, Huck refuses to decide between living with his drunken father or the prim and proper Widow Douglas. He prefers to escape into his own world where he can make his own decisions as an independent, instead of living in a world ruled by authority figures. Often in the story, Huck is very ascetic, when he does not accept the way his life is. Instead, he runs away from his problems, and even the people who are trying to help him. The ideal to save money, “…because there ain’t no telling how soon you are going to need it,” has been instilled on Huck from the bad example set by his father. Also, Widow Douglas has influenced how Huck behaves in public through not cursing, and has taught him to follow the morals defined in the Bible. Huck becomes willing to admit his faults towards the end of the novel. This shows that Huck's moral evolves from that of a disobedient child, to a responsible and loyal young adult. Jim's morality is expressed by his constant thankfulness to Huck for helping to free him. The most moral character in __Huckleberry Finn__ is Jim because every action is governed by his desire to repay Huck for freeing him. He is also ignorant of the other characters' many faults, believing all white people know better than him. This helps him accept situations for how they appear, and he acts accordingly. Huck's relationship with Jim contrasts with his relationship with Tom because Huck looks up to Tom as a role model when he says "I hope this is the way that Tom Sawyer would do it" whereas he somewhat believes Tom is superior to Jim. Tom's morality serves as a partial guideline for Huck because Huck constantly considers how Tom would act in situations. For the most part, Pap's father sets a flawed example on how to behave. -Emma Bartges, Sydney Mitchell, Emma Rissman

Huck is influenced by several systems of morality. One of which is racism. the society that Huck lives in is a slave state, which means that most of society would be prejudiced toward colored people, like Jim. Huck is also torn through morality because he tries to honor the beliefs of both his father and Miss Watson, because of this Huck abandons both beliefs and forms his own, which has yet to be molded to the standards of society. In his adventure with Jim, Huck also adopts a few of Jim's superstitions and black beliefs, such as witches,and myths about snakes. Another character that influences Huck's morals is Tom Sawyer. In the beginning of the novel, when Huck is in a gang of boys, Tom and the other children further his independence by giving him a seperate influence than Miss Watson and his father. Tom Sawyer also gives Huck a few more things to think about near the end of the novel. Leading the escape attempt for Jim. By helping Jim escape, even if it took longer than Huck expected, Tom liberates Huck and reiterates a moral that Huck is very familiar with, freedom. As a drawback, Tom also makes it necessary to lie and steal to further their plot for escape. Huck doesn't resist these bad things and complies. Albeit near the end Miss.Watson's goodness and religion makes a brief appearance when Huck appears to repent for his wrongdoing in writing a letter to her, apoligizing. This is short-lived and Huck rips up this letter and curses himself for even thinking about feeling remorse. By far the most effective moral that Huck utilizes are the negative ones, as these are the ones that he sticks by. The life that Huck lives, traveling, gives him an excuse to lie and steal, as he must to survive. With Jim as his guide to humanity and life in general, Jim gives Huck perspective on most everything, making Jim the most moral character. Tom Sawyer is a character with extreme vagaries. His impulsiveness and eager willingness to do what is wrong gives Tom an unpredictable personality. Tom's morals are ones of "do-things-when-you-feel-like-it" and "you-can-do-wrong-just-don't-get-caught." With many characters of many exteremes in morals, Twain gives a large contrast between the morals Huck has and the morals he is theoretically supposed to have.Twain satirizes morality in that of creating a character that does not conform to the morals he is told to have.

Matt Dejnowski, John-Luke, William Kelly