Huck Finn

Huckleberry Finn is a young boy who struggles with complex issues such as empathy, guilt, fear, and morality in Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". There are two different sides to Huck. One is the subordinate, easily influenced boy whom he becomes when under the "guide" of Tom Sawyer. His other persona surfaces when he is on his own, thinking of his friendship with Jim and agonizing over which to trust: his heart or his conscience. When Huck's ongoing inner struggle with his own duality forces him to makes difficult and controversial choices, the reader sees a boy in the throes of moral development. And it is, indeed, a struggle. Although Huck believes in the rules of the harshly racist society in which he lives, a deeper and sounder part of him keeps making decisions that break those very same rules.

Due to the society in which Huck was brought up, his racist mindset is apparent throughout the novel. Huck makes many derogatory statements towards Jim, and even though he doesn't realize what he's saying is wrong, Huck's words leave the reader with a strong impression of his socially embedded racism. Towards the end of the novel, when Jim risks his freedom to get Tom to a doctor, Huck describes Jim as being "white inside". This statement, although intended as a compliment, in fact reveals Huck's deeply fixed beliefs about blacks' inferiority. Jim is not the only slave that Huck thinks of as lower than whites. When Jim is telling Huck about how he plans on stealing his children back once he becomes free, Huck expresses his horror:

"It most froze me to hear such talk...Here was this nigger which I had as good as helped to run away, coming right out flat-footed and saying he would steal his children - children that belonged to a man I didn't even know; a man that hadn't ever done me no harm."

Huck's words prove that he thinks of slaves only as property. When he thinks of Jim's family members, he does not associate them with his idea of what a white family is; he only views them as a legally broken-up group of "bought and paid for" relatives. Besides viewing slaves as property, Huck shows in one brief conversation with his Aunt Sally that he doesn't even see blacks as real people. Late in the novel, when Huck tells his aunt that his boat ran aground, she jumps in, saying "Good gracious! Anybody hurt?" Huck responds with "No'm. Killed a nigger," to which Aunt Sally replies "Well, it's lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt." Not only does this exchange show Huck's racism, but also that of the society in which he lives.

Huck's racism is not only apparent in his words, but also in his actions, which a reader sees in the form of tricks played on Jim. In the beginning of the novel, when Huck and Tom are sneaking out, Huck agrees to play a trick on Jim by hanging Jim's hat above him on a tree branch. When Jim discovers it there, he makes up all kind of stories about witches that carried him all over the land. Huck never says a word to Jim about what really happened. The important thing to realize about this practical joke is that it was not Huck's idea, nor was Huck involved in the actual carrying out of the trick. Huck blindly follows behind Tom and never utters one word of remorse about the joke. When Huck is away from Tom, Huck responds quite differently to the playing of a practical joke on Jim. Huck tricks Jim when they are on the island together. When Jim gets bitten by a rattlesnake after Huck puts the snake's dead mate on Jim's bed, Huck feels quite guilty. He quietly throws the two snakes away, saying, "I warn't going to let Jim find out it was my fault, not if I could help it." In this instance, Huck is on his own, without the influence of Tom, and so the outcome of this circumstance is that Huck feels remorse for his actions. This scene lets the reader have a peek at Huck's morality and sound heart. The next trick Huck plays on Jim creates a lot of genuine fear and tension for Jim. It is right after Huck and Jim have gotten lost in the fog and Huck finds and climbs onto the raft while Jim is sleeping. Jim is so relieved to find Huck back safe and sound that he hugs and squeezes him for a long time until Huck tells him that they were never separated. Jim believes this until he sees the evidence that they were, and then he reprimands Huck.

Nonetheless, Huck feels terrible and 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." This is the first time that Huck ever apologizes to or shows empathy towards Jim. In his previous tricks, he either didn't care at all, or just felt guilty, but here he shows that he is actually concerned about Jim's feelings. This progression in Huck shows that his morals are developing along with his friendship with Jim.

As Huck and Jim's friendship develops, so does Huck's empathy for Jim. When Huck encounters the two men on the river who ask if Huck's friend is white or black, Huck silently struggles between following his conscience by turning Jim in, or trusting his loyal heart. Huck knows what will happen to Jim if he turns him in. With Jim's fate on his hands, Huck decides to "give up tryin", and so tells the men that his companion is white. This shows Huck's incredible loyalty and also his ability to put himself in Jim's shoes. What would Jim do if the situation were turned around? This question causes Huck to empathize