Huckleberry

’s Finn Dishonesty Essay, Research Paper

Although Huckleberry Finn seems to get into a lot of trouble, as he is dishonest at many times throughout the novel, his character seems to melt in the readers hand once his fine moral nature begins to unfold. That?s why honesty and good morals are the theme of my open mind. The game Huck plays drifts him into an occasion of rare moral crisis, where he must choose between violating the entire code of social, religious, conventional behavior which the world has taught him, and betraying the person who needs and loves him most and whom he loves most. He writes a letter which conscience prompts him to, advising Miss Watson that her slave, Jim, is in Mr. Phelp?s possession. After writing the letter he says: ?I felt good and all washed clean of sin for the first time I had ever so in my life, and I knowed I could pray now. But I didn?t do it straight off but laid the paper down and set there thinking-thinking how good it was all this happened so, and how near I come to being lost and going to hell.? After studying the letter he then said, ?All right, then, I?ll go to hell? and tore it up. One symbol that I used was money. Money plays a big part in everyone?s life. It seems as though every little act that we make is effected by money in a either a direct or distant way. One thing that affected Huck and may have contributed to his unhappiness that brought him over the edge to run away was lack of money. Early on Huck?s father and huck sell his fortune to Judge Thatched for a dollar. This lack of money may have put an even bigger strain on the father, causing him drink his sorrows away and act irrationally towards Huck. This brought on the constant beatings that Huck was forced to endure until he gained the courage to fake his death, and leave his pitiful life back at the mouth of the river. Money also played a part concerning those two swindling crooks, the King and Duke. The king and Duke tried to pass themselves off as being distant relatives. Their new identity would put them at hand with a large amount of cash. Ultimately their cover was revealed. Huck is able to escape unscathed, but the King and Duke weren?t as fortunate as tar and feathers awaited them. Another way that money entered the story dealt with Jim. The fact that there is a monetary reward having to do with the recapture of a runaway slave, definitely put Huck and his friend Jim at a disadvantage. Drinking, my other symbol, also plays a part as the story unravels. Drinking led Huck?s father to beat him. Living in an unhappy situation such as this gave Huck reason to start out on his own adventure. Drinking also led to the Duke?s easy admittance of hiding the money. In this situation, the drunkenness exhibited by both characters helped to put a hole in their cover up. While they were questioned and served a heavy punishment, it was really Huck who stole the money before all of their eyes. An important scene in my mind occurred at nightfall when huck took his first step onto the canoe. His heart was beating faster than it ever had before for he was unsure if he was making the right move. This moment was carefully planned out in advance. Huck, with the help of some hog?s blood, was able to fake his own death so that no one would be searching for him. With his body supposedly resting on the bottom of the river, Huck was able to take his first step in his adventurous journey. The first of three quotes comes when his father had abused him for the last time. Huck says to himself, ?I can fix it now so nobody won?t think of following me.? This sentence came after his father had told Huck that if he noticed a stranger walking his land he would have shot and killed him. This gave Huck the idea to fake his own death, for once he does that, he could start a new life. Immediately after, he starts preparing for a journey down the river by loading corn meal and other necessary goods into the hidden canoe. This plan would help everything run smoothly. ?Jim said bees won?t sting idiots; I didn?t believe that, because I had tried lots of times myself, and they wouldn?t sting me.? Immediately one would laugh at this quote and think it?s humorous, as I did at first. As I came to think about it, one might see it as sadly having a low self-esteem due to the abuse that Huck has taken his entire life. Should society be shunned in this case if those in one?s environment cause him to believe such a thing? This shows me that derogatory remarks and verbal abuse may haunt someone throughout their entire life. ?Aunt Sally, she?s going to adopt me and civilize me, and I can?t stand it. I been there before.? This quote has taught me that once you have had a taste of freedom in your life, it?s hard to come back to an organized, strict mannered way of life. I think all of us can relate to this message, especially when the time is early September. This book was exciting in the fact that it?s a story about a little boy living an adventure that is impossible to live in this day in age. Despite the local PTA going nuts, unless you have that boy?s carcass in a lab, his face would be on every milk carton from Florida to Washington. This story also shows how different the way of American life was around a hundred and fifty years ago. This book gives me the impression that everyone was all out for the all mighty dollar, and although many things haven?t changed, the idea of greed leading to self prosperity took precedence in life. Although this book makes America look like a bunch of racist, slave owning, uneducated fools, one must remember that this tale takes place in the South. Therefore it can not be assumed that all the people who lived in this great nation contained the same rotten values and morals. Although this book didn?t do much for the American image, there still remained one boy who?s heart seemed to be in the right place. His name was Huckleberry Finn.

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