Youth & Desperation

I believe Huck's youth plays a key role in this story. By just looking at the the adventure, Huck and Jim are doing something no one else would do in their right mind. As a young person, Huck wants to do something exciting just like we thought as kids. Only a kid would think that going on this adventure would not be crazy. Most people would try and be rational and try to solve the problem with logic.

Jim is in a desperate position because he is a slave. He sees that he has no other choice but to run. That is probably true because slaves had no choice in anything. His desperation is what drove him to run. On the other hand Huck ran because he had to stay away from his father and was excited for an adventure. He joined Tom Sawyer's gang because he wanted adventure.

FRENCHMAN vs AMERICAN MAN

I think that the scene between Huck and Jim in the forest really does illustrate how straight forward of a thinker Jim is but I think it also depicts the way the two of them look at the human race. In this discussion Jim immediately thinks of all races of human beings to be linked to one another and that all of these races should be in union with one another. On the other hand Huck has been brought up differently, he sees the differences between all races and i think these two varying view points are created by the teaching each of them receives especially Huck. We know that he has been raised to specifically see the African America race to be one completely separate from his own, and he transfers this thinking over to Frenchman. But Jim on the other had would like to think that all races in the world are the same and are all human beings.

Theory about society

While reading the book I've notice, that Huck, Jim, Tom Sawyer, and member of the thieves gang, take things very literally. Whereas Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, take things a little more figuratively. They understand the difference between phrases that are meant to be taken literally and phrases meant to be taken figuratively.

I believe that this shows a difference in the society that they were raid in , along with the society that they belong to. Therefor Widow Douglas and Miss Watson are in a higher social class then that of Huck, Jim, Tom Sawyer and their friends. Widow Douglas and Miss Watson are educated women, who're very wealthily. They understand the way society works. Then you have Huck, who is taken in by Widow Douglas and Miss Watson and is educated, and taught about how to behave in society yet he stills lacks a certain essence of society. For examples Widow Douglas and Miss Watson tell Huck to pray and he will be granted what he prays for. So Huck prays, and to his disappointment, he is not granted everything he asked for. Things were left out. Huck didn't understand that when they told him to prayer and he would be granted everything he asked for, they didn't mean he would really get everything he had asked for, it was more a spiritual reward and gift. Huck took it literally, while Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, meant it figuratively.

Then theres Pap, who by all standards should be very love in society, he is a drunk, uneducated man, who doesn't treat his son very well. But in the book he is actually high up in society. But here's the thing, Pap, for the times that he is not drunk, also takes things more literally than most people in society. Which is why i believe the author did that for a certain reason. He point out how messed up society is, but also to show that the color of your skin, makes a difference in society. Because Jim, who is a African American Slave is also uneducated, yet he notices thing and understand things differently then everyone else.

Huck Struggles

It's fascinating to watch Huck struggle with the concept of morality--both his own and society's--because it almost seems like his uncertainty lies not in what is the good thing to do, but in the fact that he feels conflicted between what he has been taught by by society and what he feels is right. In most of the scenes where he acts or is tempted to act in a way that is less than kind or honorable, he tells us that he isn't comfortable with what he's doing. At the same time, he has been told all his life that whatever the educated people tell you is the truth, and that it is something you just don't question. However, Huck does question it--battling with his conscience to determine the best way to live. 

This is what sets Huck apart from the other characters. Despite his somewhat inconsistent and incomplete education, he is obviously very intelligent--he is a "thinker". It seems to me that Huck has had a taste of several different "kinds" of life. He has lived with his father, the id, the wild and lawless. He has spent a great deal of time with Tom Sawyer--two young boys with incredible imagination (especially Tom) and no one to guide or control their lives. He lived with the Widow, receiving an education and learning to be proper. He has experienced many "walks" of life and now, as he travels down the Mississippi on a raft, he looks back on all of these and can finally think. 

It's almost like the river is his freed mind--whereas before he was always locked into one state of being on land, surrounded by others who did all of the thinking for him, he can now explore and discover his own true opinions, beliefs, views. It is this search that leads him to his decision to disregard the "morality" he has been taught, and instead act simply on his conscience. In this decision he frees himself from the bonds society has put on him through his education and socialization, making the leap into independent thought.

Huck and Jim

Why would Huck even consider turning in Jim, his only friend at the time?