Literature Naturalism in Huck Finn Research Paper

Man versus Nature In the story “The adventure of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, many of the characters were facing some tough choices which were to either do what society believed in or do what they believed is right. Among the people that was mostly dominated by such choices, Huck Finn was the most critical character to always have to make these choices. In many occasions, he found himself on the spot to satisfy society but denied to do so because he does not care of what society think of him. Referring to the story can better help discussing the concept of man v. ociety that is so prevalent in Huckleberry Finn. The concept of man versus society that is so prevalent in Huckleberry Finn can be seen in many aspects. Huckleberry Finn in a way faces many aspects of society, which gives him the struggle of choosing his own individuality over society. In the beginning of the novel, Huck practically raises himself and relies on his instincts to guide him through his life on Earth. In the world as Huckleberry Finn views it, society has corrupted the notion of justice and morality to fit the needs of its people in the nation at a particular period of time.
In the very beginning of the novel ” the Adventure of Huckleberry Finn” Huck plainly states that he did not wish to conform to society. Huckleberry Finn states that “ the widow Douglas she took me for her son , and allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and descent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn’t stand it no longer, I lit out. I got into my old rags, and my sugar-hogshead again and was free and satisfied”( Mark Twain 102).
Huck did not really want to live that civilize life miss Watson was trying to get him to lived. she would constantly give him direct orders like ” don’t put your feet up there Huckleberry” and ” don’t scrunch up like that , Huckleberry -set up straight ” (102). she tried tirelessly to get Huck to be the way society expect him to be. it just wasn’t working. After realizing this component of Huck’s personality, we can further identify the development of Huck as an individual that is outside of societies liking.

We find next in the book that Huck’s own instincts tend to hold him in a higher moral standard than those of society. We first see this in the novel with Huckleberry’s decision to help free Jim, a known slave, is an example of one such occurrence. Huckleberry Finn recognizes Jim as a human being, but is actually fighting the beliefs bestowed upon him by society that believes slaves should not be free. However, it is even more important to realize though that Huckleberry’s decision creates the conflict between society and him.
But, what Huckleberry Finn does not realize is that his decision defines his personal justice, the righteousness, and even the heroism of his own self that is developing. when Jim was captured, he decided that he will do the right thing by sending miss Watson a letter to tell her where her nigger was. He sat and think of all the bad thing that he had done and he mentioned how society think of helping a slave to escape was sin. Despite all of that thinking, his words were ” All right, then, I’ll go to hell” (239). Most of the time, society set the rules of how people suppose to live their live.
In the face of the majority, you will be considered as immoral, out of order, miss-behave if one fail to follow those clear paths that been set. after reading this story, it is clear for one to see that he/she can distinguish his/herself from society. We can follow our own path just like Huck, and do what we think is right even if it hurt society. 01 November 2012
Works Cited Twain, Mark. “The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn. ” Vol. 2. The Norton Anthology. Ed. Nina Baym. Shorter seventh edition ed. New York: Norton & Company, 1884. Print.