Man Vs Self Huckleberry Finn

Man Vs Self Huckleberry Finn

by Gavin Duefrane and James Albert Clyburn

Beliefs

Pranking

Deciding whether or not to turn in the Duke and King

Huck constantly challenges his mind about morals. In the beginning of the book, Huck believes slaves should be forced to work and that slavery is normal. In the middle of the book, two men were looking for slaves. Huck had to decide whether he wanted to turn Jim in or lie to them. Huck ended up lying to the men and telling them they could not go past a certain point because it was his father and he had smallpox. Huck had to decide whether or not he wanted to save Jim, but at the end of the book, he was ready to save Jim. "It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a n****." (Page 89) “Then he got up slow and walked to the wigwam, and went in there without saying anything but that. But that was enough. It made me feel so mean I could almost kissed his foot to get him to take it back.” (Page 89). These quotes show that Huck isn’t used to apologizing to a slave

Huck plays tricks on other people to amuse himself, but doesn’t realize how he affects others. For example, he puts a dead snake under Jim’s bed, and the dead snake’s mate bit Jim. “When we was ten foot off Tom whispered to me, and wanted to tie Jim to the tree for fun.“ (Page 6) This quote shows that Tom enjoyed pranking people, and some of that may have rubbed off on Huck. Pranking in Huck’s case is an example of man versus self because he starts to mature and realize that he can hurt people, and is not sure whether or not it is healthy to continue pulling pranks or to stop.

Huck knows what they are doing is wrong, and his conscious tears him up from the inside. “I felt so ornery and low down and mean that I says to myself, My mind’s made up; I’ll hive that money for them or bust.” (Page 132) The quote obviously shows Huck feels guilty and internally conflicted about lying to the sweet and innocent girls. He would rather get caught and save the girls’ money, slaves, and property than lie and steal from them. He changed from liking how the Duke and King lived to being disgusted at how they would greedily take from anybody without a second thought.

Being civilized or not

At one point Huck liked living with his father because he did not have to go to school and because he could curse, but doesn’t like his father, one reason being Huck’s father locks him up in a shack. “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. I begged, and told him I was only Huck; but he laughed SUCH a screechy laugh, and roared and cussed, and kept on chasing me up.” Page 31 This shows man vs self because Huck does not like his father but likes living with him until his father locks him up. This is an internal conflict until he sees he can run away.

Deciding whether or not to turn Jim in

Conflict with Gardian

He doesn’t have to be with the widow and runs away when his father takes him. “The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn't stand it no longer I lit out. I got into my old rags and my sugar-hogshead again, and was free and satisfied.” (Page 2) Huck thinks being civilized is useless and would much rather live in the outdoors than in a house, but not with his alcoholic father. This classifies as man vs self because Huck internally can’t decide whether he wants to follow a simple, civilized life or the life of a deadbeat and leech.

For a long time, Huck internally debates whether or not to turn Jim in. Huck believes that Jim is Miss Watson’s property, so he is skeptical about whether or not he is doing the right thing. The following quote shows the conflict Huck faces with Jim because he promised he wouldn’t turn Jim in: Jim says, "But mind, you said you wouldn' tell—you know you said you wouldn' tell, Huck." Huck lies to Jim, because he at the time plans on turning Jim in, by responding: "Well, I did. I said I wouldn't, and I'll stick to it. Honest INJUN, I will. People would call me a low-down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum—but that don't make no difference. I ain't a-going to tell, and I ain't a-going back there, anyways.” (Page 45) However, Huck later realizes that Jim would stand up for him, so he decides to keep Jim’s secret.