Huckleberry Finn: Good Vs. Evil Essay, Research Paper
Huckleberry Finn: Good Vs. Evil
On important theme within The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn is the
struggle between good and evil as experienced when Huck’s personal sense of
truth and justice come in conflict with the values of society around him. These
occurrences happen often within the novel, and usually Huck chooses the truly
moral deed.
One such instance occurs when Huckleberry realizes that he is helping a
runaway slave. His moral dilemma is such that he is uncertain whether he should
or should not turn this slave, named Jim, over to the authorities. Society
tells him that he is aided a criminal, and that is against the law. However, he
has grown quite attached to Jim, and is beginning to realize that Jim is a
really good person. He would also never hurt him. This illustrates the concept
and symbolism of Jim’s freedom and societies influence on Huck.
At one point, Huck convinces himself that the nest opportunity he
receives, he will turn Jim in, and clear his conscience. The opportunity became
available when slave hunters meet them on the river. Huck had an absolutely
perfect chance to turn him over. However, he made up a story that his father
was sick and needed help and asked the slave hunters for help. They immediately
assumed that his father had smallpox, and he wanted nothing to do with Huck or
his father. Thus, he had saved Jim, and actually felt good about it. Further
along in the book, Jim becomes a slave again. Huckleberry, with the aid of Tom
Sawyer, free’s Jim. Once again, Jim’s escape and freedom are more important to
Huck than societies viewpoint.
The river is also important. The river is symbolic of freedom. It is
also symbolic of good. When Jim and Huck are rafting down the river, they are
free of society. They have no laws. This is not to say that they are lawless,
however, the laws they obey are there own. This is in direct contrast to being
on land, where society reigns supreme. Land is evil. This contrast also seems
to make the river a character in itself. It’s at time’s calm and relaxed, and
at other times fast and dangerous, and sometimes foggy and confusing. However,
it’s always moving. Always taking Huck and Jim to new adventures, and to new
places. It is their backbone.
So you see, that the concepts of escape and freedom within the book and
the ways in which these concepts are symbolized are extremely important. They
not only define what this book really is about, they single-handedly make the
book worth re