Huckleberry Finn: Good Vs. Evil Essay, Research Paper

Huckleberry Finn: Good Vs. Evil

On important theme within The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn is the

struggle between good and evil as experienced when Huck’s personal sense of

truth and justice come in conflict with the values of society around him. These

occurrences happen often within the novel, and usually Huck chooses the truly

moral deed.

One such instance occurs when Huckleberry realizes that he is helping a

runaway slave. His moral dilemma is such that he is uncertain whether he should

or should not turn this slave, named Jim, over to the authorities. Society

tells him that he is aided a criminal, and that is against the law. However, he

has grown quite attached to Jim, and is beginning to realize that Jim is a

really good person. He would also never hurt him. This illustrates the concept

and symbolism of Jim’s freedom and societies influence on Huck.

At one point, Huck convinces himself that the nest opportunity he

receives, he will turn Jim in, and clear his conscience. The opportunity became

available when slave hunters meet them on the river. Huck had an absolutely

perfect chance to turn him over. However, he made up a story that his father

was sick and needed help and asked the slave hunters for help. They immediately

assumed that his father had smallpox, and he wanted nothing to do with Huck or

his father. Thus, he had saved Jim, and actually felt good about it. Further

along in the book, Jim becomes a slave again. Huckleberry, with the aid of Tom

Sawyer, free’s Jim. Once again, Jim’s escape and freedom are more important to

Huck than societies viewpoint.

The river is also important. The river is symbolic of freedom. It is

also symbolic of good. When Jim and Huck are rafting down the river, they are

free of society. They have no laws. This is not to say that they are lawless,

however, the laws they obey are there own. This is in direct contrast to being

on land, where society reigns supreme. Land is evil. This contrast also seems

to make the river a character in itself. It’s at time’s calm and relaxed, and

at other times fast and dangerous, and sometimes foggy and confusing. However,

it’s always moving. Always taking Huck and Jim to new adventures, and to new

places. It is their backbone.

So you see, that the concepts of escape and freedom within the book and

the ways in which these concepts are symbolized are extremely important. They

not only define what this book really is about, they single-handedly make the

book worth re