Escape from Civilization: An Analysis of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain The novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is one of the central works of literature American. It tells the life of a low society white boy, named Huck, who finds himself running into his drunken and abusive father who comes back to town and takes him away. When Huck runs away, he meets a runaway slave, named Jim. At first they don't feel comfortable coming from different levels of society, but once they emerge together from numerous situations, such as losing two crooks on the river or freeing Jim after he is sold, the tension between them eases and they become good friends to the point that Huck helps Jim escape north to be free. This friendship consisted of loyalty and trust. They relied on each other and knew that the other would get out of difficult circumstances where it could be a matter of life and death. This novel traces the moral education of a boy whose best impulses overcome both self-interest and the negative forces of his culture. Mark Twain uses characterization, setting, and irony to emphasize his theme that when a person believes something is right and just, he should do what his morality believes rather than what normal society accepts as true . Many characters in this novel exemplify the way one treats someone the way they should be treated contrary to what society thinks. Huck is the main character of the novel. He is a protagonist who survives on his own wits. He is thoughtful, intelligent, and willing to come to his own conclusions even if they contradict society. Help Jim, a house slave, escape from his old owner to the north to be a free man. Even though he goes against what his society believes is wrong, he still feels it is the right thing to do. “Intuitive morality, which holds that humans are naturally capable of distinguishing between right and wrong, and utilitarian morality, which holds that observation of one's social environment and the pursuit of personal gratification shape moral behavior” suggested from History of European Morals by WEH Lecky. Mark Twain, the author of the novel, harbors skepticism regarding the value of civilized morality, which leads him to conclude that only in complete isolation can moral integrity be found.
tags