Huckleberry Finn is the titular character and protagonist of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain. Huckleberry Finn is a young boy who runs away from home to live on his own, and he has many adventures along the way. He is also a very brave and determined boy, as well as being kind-hearted and loyal to his friends.
He is seen at the beginning of the story as a young, unruly child who needs to be taught how to act like everyone else in society. So Widow Douglas and Miss Watson take him in, trying to teach him what they know. But then his father kidnaps him away from all that boring conformity, only to mistreat Huck worse than before.
Huck’s father, Pap Finn, is a drunken beggar who lives off of the charity of others and Hucks small inheritance. He does not work, choosing instead to spend his time drinking whiskey and mistreating his son. Huck’s father is representative of the lowest class in society and is ignorant, bigoted, and violent. In contrast, Miss Watson represents the middle class, while Widow Douglas represents the upper class.
Even though he has been taught by Miss Watson and Widow Douglas about religion and proper manners, Huck still feels out of place in society. He is not content with the constraints that society imposes on him and yearns for the freedom of the open road. When he gets the chance to escape from his father and Miss Watson’s attempts to civilize him, Huck seizes it. He fakes his own death and sets off down the Mississippi River on a raft with Jim, a runaway slave.
Huck is a complex character who doesn’t fit easily into any one category. He is both civilized and uncivilized, educated and uneducated, religious and irreligious. His actions throughout the novel are sometimes guided by conventional morality, but just as often they are not. Huck is an individualist who Follows his own conscience, rather than blindly following societal conventions. This makes him an admirable figure, someone to be emulated, despite his many flaws.
Still considered an outsider by many, the reader begins to see him in a more positive light when he escape from his father’s jail by faking his own death. When Huck and Jim, Miss Watson’s runaway slave, meet after both have run away from society, Huck views Jim as property. Even though that is his initial reaction upon meeting Jim, he decides to help him anyway. At this point in the story, we begin to see development in Huck’s character and gain more respect for him as young adult .
Huckleberry Finn is able to develop a friendship with Jim, which is significant because at the time period in which the novel was set, slavery was still legal and blacks were not considered equals to whites. This friendship is one of the first examples in American literature of an intimate interracial friendship.
Huckleberry Finn’s character also develops when he makes the decision to return Jim to Miss Watson even though it would have been easier for him to keep Jim and help him escape to freedom. Huck’s conscience tells him that it would be wrong to steal Miss Watson’s property, even though she is cruel to Jim, because it would make him just as bad as she is. Huck Finn’s character continues to grow throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and he becomes a more respectable person, even though he is still not considered part of society.
Huck’s decision to aid Jim in fleeing slavery is an important event that alludes to Huck’s gradual moral transformation later on in the novel. As time goes by, Huck and Jim become good friends as they travel down the Mississippi River together. During this journey, not only does Jim grow as a character but also their bond strengthens. By the end of everything, Huck sees Jim as his equal; he knows deep down inside thatJim deserves to be free just like anyone else.
Huck’s final decision to help Jim escape to freedom is an act of true friendship, which ultimately redeems him from his previously immoral ways. Huckleberry Finn is a complex character that goes through several significant changes throughout the course of the novel. In the beginning, Huck is a juvenile delinquent, more concerned with having fun than with doing what is right. However, by the end of the story Huck has matured into a young man who is capable of making his own decisions, even if they go against society’s norms. Huckleberry Finn embodies the ideal of independence, an essential characteristic of American society.
He also represents the moral conscience that every person possesses but often suppresses. Huckleberry Finn’s journey down the Mississippi River is not only a physical journey but also a journey of self-discovery. Huck Finn is a dynamic character who changes and grows throughout the course of the novel. His initial immaturity and naïvete disappears as he matures and becomes more streetwise.
Huck’s transformation from a boy to a young man is complete by the end of the story, when he makes the decision to help Jim escape to freedom, despite the risks involved. Huckleberry Finn is a complex character that embodies many different qualities. He is immature and naive at the beginning of the story but grows up to be a young man who is capable of making his own decisions.
Huck is a young boy who, by the end of the story, has come into his own with unique opinions and morals. However, at the beginning of the novel he is deeply influenced by society around him. Before living with Miss Watson and Widow Douglas, Huck’s life was quite different: He was abused by his alcoholic “Pap” and had to get by through stealing.(this could be its own sentence) This rugged lifestyle outside of conventional society suited Huck just fine; in fact, he much preferred it to going to school every day.
Widow Douglas and Miss Watson attempt to “civilize” Huck by teaching him religion and proper manners.
Huck Finn is an interesting character because he embodies the ideal of independence, while also displaying the innocence of a child. He is constantly running away from society’s rules and expectations, but doesn’t necessarily have a problem with following them when it suits him. This makes Huck a very difficult character to define. In some ways he can be seen as a bad role model for children, while in others he represents everything that is good about America.