charhf Development of Hucks Character :: Adventures Huckleberry Huck Finn Essays

Huckleberry Finn – Development of His Character    Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn displays the development of a 'sound hearted pre teen boy' called Huck Finn. We see Huck develop in character, attitude and maturity as he travels down the Mississippi River. This is represented through Huck's search for freedom from 'sivilisation' and it's beliefs and through his personal observations of a corrupt and immoral society. Most importantly, we live through Huck's confusion over his supposedly immoral behavior and his acceptance that he will '...go to Hell...' as he conquers his social beliefs.    Huck's displeasure in 'sivilisation' and it's beliefs is the trigger to his development. Initially, Huck is presented as a uneducated 12 year old, born in to the rigorous life of pre-civil war America. He lives with Widow Douglas (Huck's conservative and motherly foster parent) and Miss Watson (Widow Douglas' sister) who both try to 'sivilise' Huck through religion, manners and beliefs. 'In the opening chapters, Huck is relatively though not completely, untouched by society. He is totally unsophisticated and is basically unthwarted by the ethical ideals and manners of adult society or by the game-playing unreality of Tom Sawyer.' PAUL EGGERT: Literary Perspectives. From this critics comment, we see that Huck's limited understanding in the 'sivilised' world also limited his capacity to comprehend society's teachings such as religion '...she told me all about the bad place, and I said I wish I was there.' and it's rules and life style 'She put me in them new clothes again, and I couldn't do nothing but sweat and sweat, and feel all cramped up.' This in many ways allowed Huck to make decisions from his own moral evaluation instead of relying on the disillusioned teachings of society.    As the novel develops, we see Huck kidnapped by his father, a drunken byproduct of society's corruption. At first, Huck enjoys the relief from religion and the 'sivilized' life '...it warn't long after that till I was used to being where I was and liked it...' but latter realized he was still trapped in the depressing confines of 'sivilisation'. Huck is subjected to the constant tyrannical treatment inflicted from his father ranging from beatings to being locked up days at a time.