Huckleberry Finn: Blog Post 3 (Coming-of-Age)

Warning: One portion of this post subtly addresses issues which are not directly related to “Coming-of-Age”. However, there are times when two themes go hand-in-hand. This is one of those times.

The sixteenth chapter of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn turned out to be the most crucial chapter in regards to Coming-of-Age so far. Huck faces an internal battle, trying to decide whether or not to inform people of Jim’s being a runaway slave. #Snitch. It was difficult to determine how he formed these “morals” (I was/am Jim-biased, so reading this section caused me to feel a little butt-hurt). In this harsh reality, Huck has no choice but to acknowledge the situation for what it really was: he was aiding a runaway slave in his escape to long-awaited freedom in the north. This was a time when slavery was a normal aspect of a normal society; therefore, these actions took a toll on Huck’s conscience. He started to heavily guilt-trip himself by bringing up the fact that he had wronged Miss Watson and the fellow Southerners who helped raise him: “Conscience says to me, ‘What had poor Miss Watson done to you, that you could see her nigger go off right under your eyes and never say one single word?’” (Twain, 109). Of course, during all this, Huck never seems to question his own righteousness regarding the issue (he was doing the same thing Jim was doing). #TheDifferenceBetweenWhiteAndBlack.

                  

                ~And now for a slight branch into Freedom and Enslavement~

Needless to say, if he had gone through with his initial decision to turn Jim in, he would have become, in all blatancy, a white man who conned the black man by having him aid and accompany him in his journey, only to have played him like a fool. Two men become “friends” while on their quests for freedom, then, in the end, once one’s quest is nearly achieved, he decides to send the other right back to his sad past of enslavement. I am failing to see the morality in this scenario.

However, all personal thoughts aside, this does contribute a great deal to the theme Coming-of-Age (just realized I have, yet, to refer to this as “bildungsroman” ß there you have it). Ultimately, Huck chooses not to sell his friend out, which shows he values their strong friendship more than he values the “morals” he grew up with. #Maturity. #DoneTheRightWay.