Jim Guides Huck to Nonconformity
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind”. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the character Huck travels with a runaway slave named Jim. On this journey along the Mississippi, both characters escape their previous lifestyle in search for freedom. Huck escapes from his abusive and drunken father, and Jim escapes from the cruelty of slavery. Huck’s conscious had been molded to believe that slaves are merely a piece of property. However, his experiences with Jim lead him to change his previous ideas that contradict what he has been taught is acceptable according to society. When he faces moral dilemmas concerning his friend Jim, he feels pressured to either turn in Jim or defy the societies code of social behavior, creating guilt either way. This guilt constantly tugs at Huck’s conscious throughout the novel and influences his opinions of right and wrong. Using Jim as a guide, he abandons the codes society abides by, and invents new opinions, shapes himself in his image, which follows Emerson’s ideas of thinking independently and nonconformity. Huck comes of age by overcoming moral challenges, and learns to love Jim as an equal. Huck represents the American ideal of nonconformity because he disregards the societal implanted beliefs he has learned and followed while growing up, and observes and creates his own opinions of what seems to be right. He resists societal pressures and stands up for his beliefs, fully aware that his actions contradict the beliefs of society, by choosing to assist Jim reach his dream of freedom.
Due to Huck growing up in a racist setting where society has shaped him to believe that slaves are inferior to whites, he is pressured by his conscious to turn in Jim. Miss Watson, an average member of society who owns a slave, tries to civilize and educate him about Christian lifestyle and proper behavior. Huck is unsure if...