Huck Finn's Life in St. Petersburg

Huck Finn's Life in St. Petersburg

Huck's early life in St.Petersburg shows us the original character. Huck will experience growth and maturity throughout the novel, so this point in the novel acts as our base. Huck's immaturity and romanticism is especially shown in the presence of Tom Sawyer. This is shown when Huck and Tom play a prank on Jim when he is asleep. Mark Twain writes " Then we got out, and I was in a sweat to get away; but nothing would do Tom but he must crawl to where Jim was, on his hands and knees, and play something on him"(8). In conclusion, even with mentoring by the Widow Douglas, Huck surrenders to the immaturity of Tom Sawyer; however, Huck will develop as the novel continues.

Michael Moore

Mrs.Trimble

English 10H(1B)

April 10th, 2015

Huck's Escape From Pap

It is here in the novel that we are exposed to Huck's intelligence and "street smarts". He is mature and wise with his interactions with Pap. He experiences the danger of living with Pap because Twain writes, " He chased me round and round the place, with a clasp-knife, calling me the Angel of Death and saying he would kill me and then I couldn't come for him no more" (35). He is mature enough to recognize the danger of living with his own father, and decides to escape. He exhibits great cunning and skill with this escape while still staying practical, unlike later in the novel with Tom Sawyer freeing Jim from captivity, and this is seen here: "Well, next I took an old sack and put a lot of big rocks in it, --all I could drag--and I started it from the pig and dragged it to the door and through the woods down to the river and dumped it in, and down it sunk, out of sight" (39). In conclusion, the way Huck handles himself with his drunk father, i.e not fighting back and maintaining self-control, in addition to the way he solves the problem, by running away and framing his father, demonstrates maturity and growth from his childhood fantasies with Tom Sawyer.

Huck meets Jim

Jackson Island

This is a major point of Huck's development because it is the first instance where he must defy Southern society's stance on slavery. He is mature and honorable when he makes a promise to keep Jim's location and current identity as a runaway slave secret, and he shows this here: "Well, I did. I said I wouldn't, and I'll stick to it. Honest injun I will" (51). By keeping Jim's stance secret, he is disobeying society, yet he maintains his honor and dignity by keeping his promise. It takes an adult to follow through something he doesn't support, or rather it takes an adult to uphold a responsibility he doesn't want, which is the situation Huck finds himself in.

Missouri River

Ohio River

Exploration of the Walter Scott

During the exploration of the Walter Scott, Huck learns a very important lesson about safety. Huck refers to his old self, which is full of romanticism and ignorance, and decides to explore the Walter Scott during a storm, against Jim's wishes. This act nearly strands him and Jim with two murderers on the shipwreck when their raft drifts away; however, they find a solution. Although this act itself was very immature and a step back for Huck's development, he soon rebounds. He becomes empathetic and actually pities the murderers' situation since the book states, " Now was the first time that I begun to worry about the men-- I reckon I hadn't had time to before. I begun to think how dreadful it was, even for murderers, to be in such fix." Huck exhibits empathy, an essential ability for an adult, and decides that although they are scum, they don't deserve to die in this manner. In addition to his lesson on empathy, Huck also learns about the consequences of being ignorant and overconfident, paving the way for his development as a mature adult.

Huck's Apology to Jim

This is a very pivotal moment for Huck's journey to becoming an adult in addition to his relationship with Jim. Huck and Jim become separated by fog while they're cruising down the river, which leads to some very important decisions by Huck. The first responsible decision Huck does is look for Jim; this was the perfect opportunity for Huck to abandon Jim and leave him to his destiny. Doing so would definitely result in Jim at least becoming a slave again and at most death, by his captors, but Huck decides to find him and uphold his responsibility as Jim's friend, an honorable choice.

Huck then acts childish by pranking Jim, but Jim catches on and directly confronts Huck about it. For the first time, Huck feels guilty for disrespecting Jim, and then does the unimaginable, he apologizes to Jim. Huck abandons his arrogance and the traditions society has taught him and decides to humble himself before a black runaway slave, a most heinous act in the eyes of society. By humbling himself via apology to someone who is deemed below him on the social ladder and by seeing Jim as an actual human being, Huck grows as a character.

The Feud and Death of Buck

The whole concept of the feud seems confusing to Huck, but it is necessary for him to experience the horrors of a feud if he wishes to grow. Huck has never felt a close death to him until he sees Buck die from a Shepherdson. Although Huck saw the dead person in the flooded house, he wasn't attached to this person; however, he bonded with Buck. Twain writes, "I cried a little when I was covering up Buck's face, for he was mighty good to me." The fact is Tom would've seen the feud as a plaything perfectly suiting his romantic ideals, but Huck realizes the grotesque reality about violence here and is traumatized by it. Nevertheless, the fact that Huck understood the importance of peace shows that he has grown, and this will prepare him for the arbitrary death of Boggs.

Buck's Death

Bogg's Death

This is the second major death that Huck experiences. Remember he is only 14, and he's already seen at least 3 people die by this point. Huck's account of his death is disturbing because he is very objective and straightforward in his narration. He says, "He made about a dozen long gasps, his breast lifting the Bible up when he drawed in his breath, and letting it down again when he breathed it out--and after that he laid still; he was dead. Then they pulled his daughter away from him, screaming and crying, and took her off." (169). One could argue Huck is being detached from this because he didn't personally know Boggs, but it seems that any normal human should display significant emotion, especially a teenager, to the arbitrary death of a man in the street. It is most likely that Huck has simply become desensitized to death due to his previous experiences regarding death, especially with Buck. In conclusion, Huck is adapting to the world and shows self control because he is capable of presenting an unbiased, eyewitness account of a murder without letting his emotions overwhelm him, which is simply astonishing for a teenager.

Mississippi River

The Virtue of Honesty and Vice of Deceit

The deception pulled by the Dauphine and Duke in regards to a man's will is the last straw for Huck. He's witnessed their con act and deception of the common people, but he expressed only slight disdain. It is in this instance when Huck decides to be responsible and confess the truth to Mary Jane. He simply feels horrible for being a by standard in the fraud act, and this is especially expressed here when she rescues him from his interrogation by the harelip girl : "I says to myself, this is the girl that I'm letting that old reptle rob of her money" (205). He begins to feel guilty again, like when he pranked Jim on the river. Huck proves himself to be growing as a character when he says, "and yet here's a case where I'm blest if it don't look to me like the truth is better, and actually safer than a lie" (219). In conclusion, Huck learns the importance of when to use the truth.

Huck's Final Decision and Ideas on Jim's Escape

The end of the novel is the final obstacle for Huck in his path to maturity and understanding the world. The most important part is when he decides to rescue Jim from captivity because it is here he learns to trust his gut rather than what his mind says. His mind equals society and it tells him to abandon Jim and even assist in turning him in, but his gut tells him this: "and he was so grateful, and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the only one he's got now" (249). Huck can't help but feel obliged to help him, and this final act of defiance, by going by his own rules and having confidence in his decision, is what truly completes Huck's path of maturity. He is willing to do this by himself, an act of bravery. In addition to this moment, Huck also presents all the practical solutions to Jim's escape rather than Tom Sawyer, who presents all the superfluous ones. This is the simple plan of Huck, "Then the first dark night that comes, steal the key out of the old man's britches, after he goes to bed, and shove off down the river on the raft, with Jim, hiding daytimes and running nights, the way me and Jim used to do before" (271). In the end, Huck has seen the worst the South has to offer and is capable of handling himself in the real world at the shocking age of 14.