Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn - Was giving up his pass to civilization wrong by consciously performing a right?

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Morgan Robbins

Section 1

Every human has a conscience, sometimes referred to as a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other, in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, Huck wrestles with eternal damnation to Hell to help a friend or natural order to remain a part of civilized society. In this case the angel and devil roles are hard to assign. Was giving up his pass to civilization wrong by consciously performing a right? To escape this indistinguishable decision, Huck decides to free himself from civilization, bringing his newfound Negro friend Jim out of slavery in a bonding journey down the Mississippi River. In an unlikely paradox, the raft on the river although confined provides more freedom and friendship opportunity for Jim and Huck than civilized land.

The life on the river for Jim and Huck intensified their friendship by creating bonding experiences and represented freedom from civilization where societal rules no longer apply. Like the waves of the very river they were on, Jim and Huck’s friendship ebbed and flowed. Huck and Jim did not even need to converse to enjoy each other. It was simply the other person’s presence, which brought each of them comfort. For example, Huck says “It was kind of solemn, drifting down the big still river, laying on our backs, looking up at the stars, and we didn’t ever feel like talking loud, and it warn’t often that we laughed, only a little kind of low chuckle,” (1237). Yet the friendship was always put to the test when Huck decided to play one of his nasty tricks. One night a heavy fog over the river managed to separate Jim and Huck. When they finally reunite, Huck tells Jim that it was all just a dream. An angry Jim, after he discovers the truth says, “my heart wuz mos’ broke bekase you wuz los’, en I didn’ k’yer no mo’ what become er me en de raf’ (1250). This caused Huck to recognize the true value of Jim’s friendship so much so that he says, “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger- but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards, neither” (1250). These waves continued in Jim and Huck’s friendship just as they do in any friendship, but the river linked these two together and that link could never be broken. The river also symbolized both Jim and Huck’s freedom from civilized society. Jim, a runaway slave, was being freed from inhumane system of slavery, while Huck was being freed from the boring routine of daily life. The river is where both Jim and Huck can relax and enjoy their freedom from the outside world while being connected to nature’s natural current. “Jim said it made him all over trembly and feverish to be so close to freedom,” Huck stated as they approached the town they thought was Cairo (1251). This made Huck question his morals, although he had been the one helping Jim to slavery. He said, “Well, I can tell you it made me all over trembly and feverish, too, to hear him, because I begun to get it through my head that he was most free- and who was to blame for it” (1251)? By freeing a slave, Huck’s damnation to Hell according to his family and the rest of civilization is sealed. This scares Huck because now he believes he must stay on the river forever, which would not be completely awful but there is a part of Huck that is intrigued by civilization. Yet, the river still remains a “home” to Jim and Huck even after the journey comes to an end.

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Although captivated by some parts of life on land, Jim and Huck still realize that in civilization they are enslaved and their strong bond of friendship would be looked down upon. In the beginning of the novel Huck stated that, “Living in a house, and sleeping in a bed, pulled on me pretty tight…I liked the old ways best, but I was getting so I liked the new ones, too, a little bit” (1206). Huck truthfully admits that he likes the comfort of having a roof over his head but he still states that he would prefer the uncivilized life ...

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