Huck Finn

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child's-play. Raiding a caravan of Arabs really means terrorizing young children on a Sunday School picnic, and the stolen "joolry" is nothing more than turnips or rocks. Huck is disappointed that the adventures Tom promises are not real and so, along with the other members, he resigns from the gang. Still, Huck ignorantly assumes that Tom is superior to him because of his more suitable family background and fascination with Romantic literature. Pap and "the kidnapping" play another big role in Huck's moral development. Pap is completely antisocial and wishes to undo all of the civilizing effects that the Widow and Miss Watson have attempted to instill in Huck. However, Pap does not symbolize freedom; he promotes drunkenness, prejudice, and abuse. Thus, Huck escapes the cabin to search for the freedom he yearns for. It is after escapes to Jackson Island that he meets the most influential character of the novel, Jim. After conversing, Huck learns things about the runaway slave that ...

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After trying to deny the fog event to Jim, he says, "It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a slave; but I done it, and I warn't ever sorry for it afterward, neither." He continues by explaining how he could never do such a thing again. Huck has clearly gained respect for Jim here, which explains the risks he is willing to take for Jim later in the book. A short yet significant scene is when the men on shore want to check Huck's rat for runaway slaves. He escapes by tricking them into thinking that his dad is onboard with smallpox. This scene shows a negative view of human nature. The men had helped Huck until they realized that they were in ...

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