Huck Finn Essay

Upbringings
In the never ending history of society, sometimes true justice can lose its meaning as the year’s progress from one era to another. Society has always told us that justice means fairness in all respects, but has society really upheld that meaning? Society has told us that slavery is fair, but it does not seem fair to the slaves who are forced against their will and are taught to honor the white man. People, who are born in this corrupted society, are very strict about the rules and regulations put in place for them. If anyone defies these laws they know what the consequences will be, so they stay in check. Society has brought up its residents so that if they ever think about questioning society’s judgment, the only reason they need to know is that society tells them to. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom is a perfect example of societal upbringings because he never questions society; if it is in his books, it’s the truth. On the other hand, Huck is an example of someone who was born outside the iniquities of society. Huck questions the world around him, which tends to irritate Tom, and more importantly society. Even though Huck has not had an education, with his intuition he is a true example of freedom and knowledge in contrast to Tom.
Society has raised Tom to follow all of its rules and regulations. Tom has always been taught the difference between what is good and bad; he was raised since birth to be civilized. Tom was raised to treat people differently because of their skin color. He has never once questioned, but has only absorbed, this prejudice. He made it part of his perception of life, and that is why he does not see any discrimination in the world. Since he has been raised like this, Tom will always follow what his books say, because they are supposed to teach him how to be civilized. Tom always considers Huck’s ideals to be simplistic and ignorant: “It don’t make no difference how foolish it is, it’s the right way—and it’s the regular way. And they ain’t no other way, that I ever heard of, and I’ve read all the books that gives any information about these things” (Twain 257). Tom is saying that no matter how outlandish his ideals may sound, it is the right way and the only way to do things. In his mind, it cannot be too easy, because that is never in the books.
Huck was born outside the iniquities of this society, unlike Tom. Many of Huck’s plans can be seen as ignorant, dumb, or just too uncivilized to be performed. It would seem like Huck is a believer in the concept of materialism, meaning that if he cannot see things, he does not think they exist. This is probably because of his isolated life away from society which forced him to understand things on his own. When Tom’s “gang” wanted to attack Arabs, Huck was disappointed to find out they were just going after a Sunday school. Huck did not follow the rest of the guys because he was not imagining seeing Arabs and elephants like the other boys. Huck came to the conclusion that “all that stuff was only just one of Tom Sawyer’s lies. I reckoned he believed in Arabs and the elephants, but as for me I think different” (23). Huck does think differently because he was never taught to be creative. Basically he has no imagination and no understanding of the concept of pretending.
Tom is always scornful towards Huck because he does not get how Huck is so free thinking about every little thing. When Tom hears that Huck is trying to free Jim, a runaway, he is willing to help him out, not because he wants Jim to have freedom but because all he wants is an adventure to live out like in his books. Society has told him not to care about runaways so he does not take Jim’s well being into account, when he sets up his plans. He even goes as far as contemplating cutting Jim’s leg off to escape a prison, rather than lifting a bed frame. Even when Tom gets shot he does not want any medical attention. He is actually happy about it because it always happens in his books. Tom went through so much to see his books come alive, even going through the dangers of risking everyone’s lives. Only after he has left out his fantasy did he tell people that Jim was actually free from the start. That is the reason he agreed to free Jim, because he saw no harm in freeing a slave who was already free, even though he withheld this information from everyone.
Huck, on the other hand, is quite different with his relations with everyone. Since he has been forced to think about the world around him, he only has Pap’s and Ms. Watson’s advice to go on. When he is faced with a moral dilemma he is forced to think about what a civilized person would do compared to an uncivilized person. Through his journey he is thinking about where his ideals of justice stand in the world, and starts to follow his gut. Huck has been blessed with an opportunity at justice, to mature himself and his thoughts so that he can make the right choices.
Huck faces many moral dilemmas, but is using his own wits to get him through it. Huck has been put in plenty of tight spots where he could expose Jim, like society has always told him to do. Huck remembers that Jim said he, “was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the only one he’s got now” (228). With this Huck sees Jim for more than just a runaway slave. He now sees Jim as a human being and not just a slave. Huck is turning away from the dehumanization that Ms. Watson forced on him, and he is trying to find his own path. He then thinks to himself “s’pose you’d a done right and give Jim up; would you felt better than what you do now? No, says I, I’d feel bad—I’d feel just the same way I do now” (104). Huck is realizing his own definitions of good and bad, and selling out a friend when they need you the most, only to be put back in slavery, would be seen as unjust to Huck.
Huck and Tom have been brought up in two completely different worlds that contradict one another. Huck has been brought up in a lawless, classless society of his own where he is trying to judge the world for what it really is. Tom was raised to be proper from his birth and given a proper education about rules and regulations to follow. Tom may believe that he has more knowledge, than Huck only because he has been taught to believe that. Huck, by gaining freedom, has proven his knowledge can help him out of moral dilemmas based on his prior experiences. Huck seems to formulate his own sense of liberty in the process. In Huck’s case freedom is knowledge.