Right vs. Wrong: Type of Lies in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
- Submitted by: ashs2012
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- Category: English: Novels
- Date Submitted: 02/13/2011 07:05 PM
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Lying, whether for the “right’ or “wrong” reasons occurs frequently throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The “good” lies Huck tells to save Jim are moral opposites from those the duke and dauphin use to swindle civilians out of their money. Scholars often question the morality of these lies. The lies of the characters in this novel have moral differences and Twain uses these lies to pose a question to provoke though in his readers.
Huck tends to tell “stretchers” throughout the novel however he usually has honorable motives or intentions (pg11). As Huck and Miss Wasson’s slave, Jim travel down Mississippi River, the two form a father/son relationship rather than the more common slave/ white man relationship. The bond that they form causes Jim and Huck to become protective of one another and Twain shows this in different instances in the novel. At this time in American history it is not uncommon for slave catchers to go out looking for runaway slaves and Huck and Jim run into this during their journey to Cairo. Huck decides to hide Jim under the blanket and say to the slave catchers that “it’s pap” under the blanket and he has “got the smallpox”, which was a deadly disease at that time period (pg101). The slave catchers tell Huck to go to the next town in fear of getting the virus and leave him with a twenty dollar gold piece. In this instance Huck did tell a lie, but not a self-absorbed way. He did this because he cares for Jim and does not want to see him go back into slavery. As the novel progresses, the reader sees a less selfish side of Huck as he begins to consider feelings of others and his moral responsibilities to those he loves. He is willing to “go to hell” for helping free Jim (pg225). Huck is conflicted between the moral obligations southern society has instilled in him and his logic that slavery is wrong. By the end of his and Jim’s adventure Huck learns how to differentiate between right and wrong, good and bad. Because he is...
Huck tends to tell “stretchers” throughout the novel however he usually has honorable motives or intentions (pg11). As Huck and Miss Wasson’s slave, Jim travel down Mississippi River, the two form a father/son relationship rather than the more common slave/ white man relationship. The bond that they form causes Jim and Huck to become protective of one another and Twain shows this in different instances in the novel. At this time in American history it is not uncommon for slave catchers to go out looking for runaway slaves and Huck and Jim run into this during their journey to Cairo. Huck decides to hide Jim under the blanket and say to the slave catchers that “it’s pap” under the blanket and he has “got the smallpox”, which was a deadly disease at that time period (pg101). The slave catchers tell Huck to go to the next town in fear of getting the virus and leave him with a twenty dollar gold piece. In this instance Huck did tell a lie, but not a self-absorbed way. He did this because he cares for Jim and does not want to see him go back into slavery. As the novel progresses, the reader sees a less selfish side of Huck as he begins to consider feelings of others and his moral responsibilities to those he loves. He is willing to “go to hell” for helping free Jim (pg225). Huck is conflicted between the moral obligations southern society has instilled in him and his logic that slavery is wrong. By the end of his and Jim’s adventure Huck learns how to differentiate between right and wrong, good and bad. Because he is...