Moral Development in Huckleberry Finn

Huck’s moral development is greatly seen throughout the novel The Adventures of

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Although he is plagued by the fact that he has to help Jim to freedom, he develops a good sense of morals as the book goes on. There are varying examples of good morals and bad morals; shown by Jim and the Duke and Dauphin respectively. Huck is in between the spectrum of good morals and bad morals. He has yet to fully develop what is right and what is wrong, although he has a good sense of it by the end of the novel. Huck progresses morally greatly throughout the book. He uses lessons learned from Tom, Jim, and Pap to make moral decisions. Whereas Huck Finn develops his morals and tries to find balance within these morals as the book progresses, other characters such as Jim and the Duke and Dauphin represent a set of good morals or bad morals from the beginning of the novel.

Huck struggles to find his own balance between the different systems of morality he sees around him. He has to deal with the strict law and approval of society, as shown by the explicit teachings of the widow, as well as the rules of survival he has picked up from Tom and Pap.

Mornings before daylight I slipped into cornfields and borrowed a watermelon, or a

mushmelon, or a punkin, or some new corn, or things of that kind. Pap always said it

warn't no harm to borrow things if you was meaning to pay them back some time;

but the widow said it warn't anything but a soft name for stealing, and no decent

body would do it (65).

Here, Huck has a great balance between the extremes of the morality spectrum. His open mindedness and flexibility as seen through this quote, is what allows him to survive and be successful while he is on his quest