The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is a story of a runaway boy, who meets a familiar slave. The slave, Jim and the boy, Huck help each other survive the dangers of the south before the Civil War. They meet many people that do not put them in the best of situations, but they always seem to get out of the situations together. Through their journey, Huck grows more mature through his adventure along the way of the Mississippi River by him trying to get away from his abusive father, helping Jim flee slavery, and realizing that being disobedient can only lead to consequences in his future.
In the beginning, Huck would play pranks on people for his enjoyment, but he begins to realize that his pranks can cause harm to others and that there can be consequences for his actions. At first, Huck would play pranks that hurt Jim and others. Huck would go along with Tom Sawyer and cause terror to the town. He played pranks on school children. He did not show any emotion that would suggest remorse to anyone there. He never thought of the consequences of his actions, until he played a prank on Jim during their journey. He tried to lie to Jim about them getting split up. The result of this prank caused Jim to get upset. Huck, who usually never sees the consequences of his actions, has remorse for what he has done. He had to “work himself up to humble himself to a slave.” (174) He usually never would apologize to anyone for the terror he caused. Now, that he sees the consequences of his actions, he realizes it is not appropriate for him to fool people. This is interesting because he still believes that Jim still a piece of property, but he seems to display a change in his maturity already by being with Jim on this journey.
Besides, he is learning that there are consequences to his actions through other people’s actions. He meets the Grangerfords, who are in a feud with the Jeffersons. Whenever the families see each other, they shoot at each other. He does not understand the feud between the families. He befriends Buck Grangerford, whom he sees get killed. He becomes “sick,” when he saw the dead bodies. (192) This is a lesson Huck seems to learn quickly, that death is final. They cannot come back all because of a feud that their family has between each other. They are not even able to remember the reason why. He learns through these events there are consequences to his actions.
Further on their journey, he realizes that sometimes he has to let people have their way. He realizes this from when they meet the Duke and the King. He talks to the men who introduce themselves as royalty. He does not believe their stories, but he goes along with their story calling them “kings are mostly rapscallions.” He has learned that to best deal with people like this is to let them have their way. He most likely learned this from his father. His father was so abusive to him. He held him captive and beat him if he did not get his way. Huck realizes the similarities between the royal nonesuch and his father, so Huck does whatever they say. He is smart to recognize the resemblance of these men and his father. If he did confront them about their lies, they might have potentially hurt him or Jim. He displays his growth in recognition of the character of other people. Eventually, Huck begins to comprehend the detriment of being around people like the royal nonesuch. He watched as the Duke and the King trick the townspeople. They try and trick the woman out of their inheritance. When they are caught, they were tarred and feathered. This is another turning point for him because he begins to realize the severity of what conning people can lead too. He recognizes the Duke’s and the King’s ploy quickly, while it took a long time for the townsfolk to realize what was going on. His maturity can be expressed through learning from past experiences.
There is a resemblance of the King and the Duke to Tom and Huck at the beginning when they would cause havoc on the town. There is also a resemblance to Huck and Jim and the royal nonesuch. This evolution of Huck’s relationship with Jim instead of Tom helps him grow. He sees the wrong things he did not see with Tom. Huck is a follower and his being with Jim improves his growth.
Some people would say that Huck did not grow and develop through the story because of what Huck does in the end. He ends up running off to Oklahoma. Thus, the argument is that he has not learned anything throughout his journey with Jim. He does though by his growth throughout his internal conflict of what is the right thing to do with Jim. At first, Huck just sees Jim just as a piece of property asking himself “what has Miss Watson done to you.” He thought of Jim just as a slave, but not a real human being. His conscience made him feel terrible for what is the right thing. He just did not have the chance to learn yet. When he had the chance to send a letter home that would have put Jim back in slavery, he decides that “I’ll go to hell.” (254) His willingness to go to hell is a stark contrast of what he thought of Jim before. His emotions expressed are of care for Jim as a person not just as a piece of property. It is amazing how he switches from caring for the owner and know he may even think of Jim as a friend.
In conclusion, Huck has grown under the guidance of Jim during their journey. His maturity has grown due to those trials he had to face against.
