The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Essay Example

There were several moments when Finn had to undergo moral conflict as he went against the usual social norms by protecting Jim. Moral of Huck Finn Finn has been portrayed as an extremely loyal and courageous boy who because of his unique childhood did not get proper education. His sense of right and wrong is guided by the social structure in which he has been brought up. In the entire trip with Jim, Huck was faced with internal conflicts. On the one hand he felt it is his duty to surrender Jim to the authorities, on the other hand his loyalty and compassion makes him take extreme measures to save him.

Several times he was torn between his “reason and desires – where he believes the former is correct and the latter wrong” (Kleist, 258). Every time he followed his heart and fulfilled his desire to save his friend thus performing the right action even thought he felt that he was wrong. The question arises that why Finn performed such moral deeds. The general ideas are that enslaving people because of their color is an immoral act, Jim deserves to enjoy freedom like a white man, or it is an obligation of a decent man to protect the oppressed.

Throughout the novel Finn was never struck by these thoughts. On the contrary he kept on telling himself that by protecting Jim he was doing wrong and going against his moral duties. Although there is no way to know the exact reasons of his actions, it can be concluded that Finn was saving Jim because “his heart is in the right place” (Kleist, 259). Finn is a character who rejects the perspectives of civilization on what is right and wrong. He makes decisions based on what his heart instructs him.

Throughout the journey made in this novel, Finn undergoes an “inner growth” and he does not surrender to the conventional values of the society. He learns to be compassionate to others irrespective of their races. In the end, Finn decides to “construct a new life among men who, like him, have left a patterned society” (Cummins). Value of friendship The portrayal of the warm and compassionate friendship between Finn and Jim is a major aspect of this novel. Belonging to two different backgrounds in a society where one (Finn) must always neglect the other (Jim) these two characters stand out to form an unbreakable bond.

Jim who is one of the “noblest characters in American literature” (Wrobel, 6) knows how to value true friendship. In one sequence he sacrificed his sleep so that Finn can take some rest. Finn appreciated this gesture by saying that Jim was a good person. This revealed the “warm and cordial” (Wrobel, 6) side of Jim and he cared for Finn like a parent. Another day on Jackson’s island they find a house which they loot. Inside the house was a corpse which Jim did not want Finn to see because the face was “too gashly” (Twain, 47).

This proved how Jim wanted to protect Finn from the ugly things. Finn too felt “safe and comfortable” with Jim (Wrobel, 6). At one time Finn and Jim observed some men looking for slaves who escaped. During that time Finn felt a moral obligation to hand over Jim to Miss Watson because he belonged to her and protecting him means taking care of stolen property. But then Finn listened to his heart and saved Jim by lying to the men that his father is on the raft and is recovering from small pox, hearing which the men fled.

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