Huck Finn Essay Exam 1 (1-23)

Carlynn Dye

Mr. Hughes

10 English 2nd hour

31 October 2007

Huck Finn Essay Exam 1 (1-23)

There are many moral dilemmas throughout this book. Huck faces many moral dilemmas that have changed his life and are changing him as a person. All of the moral dilemmas that he has faced are all important but a specific one has and is going to affect his life the most.

The moral dilemma that is the most important in helping Huck’s character develop is when he helps Jim escape slavery. It is the most important because he had to make a hard decision and wasn’t sure which one was correct. He thought that helping him be free was wrong and when he was about to turn Jim in he felt guilty for betraying him. He has learned a lot from Jim so turning him in would have taken away more of his chances to learn from him. Huck has been raised thinking that slavery is normal and right so when he had the chance to turn Jim in, he thought that it was wrong but didn’t turn him in because he was lonely and didn’t want to be alone. “They went off, and I got aboard the raft, feeling bad and low, because I knowed very well I had done wrong.” (Chapter 16, Page 69, Paragraph 4) If Huck had turned Jim in then he wouldn’t know some of things that he does now.

Huck made the right decision because he went with the option that he thought was right at the time. If he had turned Jim then he still would have felt guilty, but for a different reason. “Then I thought a minute, and says to myself, hold on, - 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.” (Chapter 16, Page 69, Paragraph 4) In the end he made the right decision because if he had turned Jim in then he wouldn’t have had his friend anymore and he wouldn’t have know what a real friend is. Since Huck is still helping Jim, he is becoming a better person and learning to treat people better.

The decision that Huck made was right because it isn’t right for someone to be owned as property. He made a decision that if he still wanted to turn Jim in then he could, but if he had turned Jim in then he wouldn’t have the option to get Jim back. You should always trust yourself to make the right decision. If he hadn’t done what he felt what was right at the time, then he would be traveling alone. Before Huck was talking to the slave hunters he was thinking about what was the right decision to make and realized that he didn’t want to lose him. If it hadn’t been for Jim, Huck probably wouldn’t have made the right decision is helping free a slave. It shows that Jim is teaching Huck many valuable things.

Huck is usually a pretty fast thinker. Although he doesn’t always deal with problems the right way, he tries to do what he thinks is best. In this case, he just so happened to make the right choice and because of the choice that he made he is going to continue to grow into a better person.