The world shouts at you, telling you that what you are doing is wrong and that you will face the consequences of your unimaginable actions. However, your heart, the thing which no society can truly master, tells you that helping this slave is the correct thing to do. Throughout the pages of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, there are constant examples of how Hucks morals were unique and just. Hucks idea of right from wrong tends to be individual and independent from that which is imposed by society as illustrated through the morally challenging dilemmas he faces throughout the book.
This value is very significant on almost every page of Huck Finn. It is Hucks distinctive morals and perspectives which give the story its flavor. Huck continuously protects Jims freedom even though it goes against everything that society says. Hucks morals allow him to be compassionate and sensitive. Huck would rather go to hell then give in to society. Throughout the novel, Huck continues to conserve and protect Jims freedom and human rights. Huck will always lie to preserve Jim. (pg. 81)1Hes white… I wish you would.
Hes sick-and so is mam and Mary Ann. Huck will do anything to free Jim. When Huck learned of how Jim was sold back into slavery for forty filthy dollars the first thing that he thought of was how he was going to free Jim. (pg. 195) Sold [Jim]? I says and begun to cry; why, he was my… However, Hucks morals also allow him to possess compassion and sensitivity. Perhaps a key example found in the text which demonstrates how well founded Hucks morals are is in the episodes where Huck shows his compassion and sensitivity.
Huck is sensitive to honest and innocent folks. But [the slaves] will be back, and inside of two weeks-and I know it!. (pg. 46) Well, if ever I struck anything like it, Im a nigger. It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race. Huck is sensitive to indecent folks, as well. (pg. 63) Quick, Jim, it aint no time for fooling… if we dont hunt up [the murderers] boat… one of em going to be in a bad fix… Amazingly enough, Huck would rather live in eternal damnation then let society tell him right from wrong and how to interpret his morals.
Also, if it came down to having his ideas, feelings, and morals tampered with, Huck would sooner go to hell. Huck would rather go to hell. (pg. 192) All right, then, Ill go o hell-and he tore [the letter] up. Hucks morals could never be molded into what society thought. (pg. 263) But I reckon… Aunt Sally shes going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I cant stand it. I been there before. While walking around the dense forests of Mexico, listening to the jungle birds and the crisp breeze, you notice the surreal sound of the drone of drums off in the distance.
You walk closer to the sounds and notice a large funnel of smoke arising from one particular area of the forest. As you get closer still you hear men chanting violently in strange tongues. Suddenly you come to a clearing and notice a massive step-like building directly in front of you that is at least 200 ft. high! On top you can finally see several men on top of this what seems to be a temple, performing some kind of savage ritual. Theyre offering human sacrifice to the gods in hope of good luck, protection, and prosperity.
What these Aztec man were doing was performing a ritual that we have labeled as a myth. To them human sacrifice is a necessity, or means of life. Human and animal sacrifices were an integral part of Aztec religion. For warriors, the ultimate honor was to e slain in battle or to volunteer for sacrifice in a major ritual. Prisoners were often used for less important rituals. Victims would ascend the steps of the pyramid, where priests would then stretch them across a convex stone and rip their hearts out with a sharp knife.
However, our modern society has proved this belief as a myth because it has proven to be false or has never been proven. Almost every ancient culture (even our modern one) has myths or tall tales weaved into it for several reasons. One, people create myths to cope or explain the unexplainable. For instance, though controversial ecause nobody was alive to record the actual events of the formation of the earth, many religions have come up with several concepts to explain these unexplainable occurrences. With science evolving everyday, these concepts are becoming more and more shamed upon.
Also, myths are created to fill in a gap of undefined or list time in history. My drawing illustrates a scene where a Aztec priest is making a human offering to the gods in hopes of a better life. You can see the large stepped pyramid in the background, the type of clothing they wore, as well as some the tools used during offerings. I have noticed several things such as the pigs saying everyone is equal then taking advantage of all the other animals and how the pigs use fear and pure might as tools to scare the animals into not following them which led me to come to my conclusion.
Perhaps one of the best examples I found was when the King used brute force to drive out his enemy in office, Huck. Jimused trained attack dogs to expel Snowball from Huck Finn so that life would become easier for Napoleon (the self-appointed leader). This is similar to the event in actual history where there was an interior rebellion which ast out one party of communism so that the remaining party could have sole power. I also noticed little things in Huck Finn which reminded me of communism.
For example Old Major, the founder of Animalism, reminded me of the founder of communism Karl Marx. Both of these peoples ideas about the ideal government were brilliant on paper, which gave all power to the people/animals who were in sense the new government. However these two did not fit corruption, greed, and chaos into their plan. In short, Huck Finnis remarkably similar to the story of morals. Every detail from how it began to what happened after time is similar in both cases This combined with my other arguments have lead me to my final conclusion.
Huck Finns moral orientation is consistent and uninfluenced by society, throughout the entirety of the novel, as illustrated by the many sobering experiences Huck faces with Jim. What this all means is that from the begging, Huck was internally programmed to know what truly is right and what really is wrong. He instinctively knew the right way to act, when all of society was wrong. In short, if Huck ever broke down and gave in to all or any of the slave hunters, kings and dukes, paps, and Toms Jim might still be shackled today.
