Huck Finn - Moral Development
Huck Finn - Moral Development
What are morals and where do they come from? Morals are what someone falls back on when faced with a problem or a difficult decision. Some people think that morals come from childhood and others feel they are similar to born instincts. Most highly believed is the theory that morals are developed through real life situations. In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, three events that display the main character’s development of morals are when Huck lives with Pap, when Huck realizes the corruption of the Duke and the King, and when Huck has a change of heart about Jim.
The first big awakening for Huck is when Pap returns to his life. Huck finds out that his father has come around again to seek Huck’s wealth. Pap goes on many drunken sprees, and eventually kidnaps Huck and takes him to the forest where he is locked up in Pap’s cabin. Huck quickly learnes that Pap was not the sort of person to be raised by. “He chased me round and round the place with a clap-knife, calling me the Angel of Death, and saying he would kill me, and then I couldn’t come for him no more”(Twain 29). Pap was a rough abusive alcoholic and Huck decided for himself that it would be best for Pap’s influence not to be present. This is the first big step in the development of Huck’s morals because he deciphers for himself, even though it is plainly obvious, what is wrong and right and that Pap is not the father figure he needs as a young adult. Huck’s morals concerning right vs. wrong unravel more when he becomes acquainted with the Duke and the King.
Over the course of the story, it becomes relevant that the King and the Duke are obvious scam artist and put on an excellent display of what is bad and unacceptable. When Huck first meets the King and the Duke, it takes him little time to realize their corruption and lack of morals. This didn’t bother Huck very much because at the time he was such a rebel and lacked respect for authority and rules. By the end of Huck’s so-called companion ship with these two hoodlums, he had a horrible feeling of remorse for even associating himself with the King and the Duke. After the King and the Duke’s...