Huckleberry Finn Morality Essay

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The Hidden Morality of Huckleberry Finn The best way to hide objects is in plain sight, and Mark Twain is the master of keeping the themes of his stories hidden in this way. In the beggining of Huckleberry Finn, he claims that "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot," (Twain, 2). Many (including myself) view this as a ploy to get people to find a moral in the story; however, it can also be viewed as a claim stating that one simply doesn't need to look for a moral in the story because it will directly give it to you. This story is Mark Twain's mouthpiece for many societal issues during the time, and it was banned in certain states due to the controversial topics in the story. The main story of Huckleberry Finn can be very dark on its own; but just beneath the surface, many darker themes linger. One of the most important themes in …show more content…
Even though Huckleberry Finn is often portrayed as a nonconformist, he still is (in a way) brainwashed by the society he lives in. One of the most epic clashes throughout the entire story is the battle between Huck's morality and what society thinks of him. Huck has this crisis throughout the entire story, as he lies to cover up the fact that he is helping a slave because he doesn't want to be viewed as an abolitionist by society. This conflict reaches it's peak when Huck considers returning Jim to Miss Watson, and tries to find something to use to try to turn his feelings against Jim; "But somehow I couldn't seem to strike no places to harden me against him," (Twain, 206). It's during this scene that Huck realizes that Jim is as much of a human, if not more human, than all of the people he'd ever known. After this revelation, Huck isn't the same; he is a moral person, who isn't bound by what society thinks of
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