The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain - 1664 Words

The protagonist of Huckleberry Finn is arguably one of the most remarkable character Mark Twain created in all his writings. Huck can be seen as both a symbol of the freedom of the natural man and an individual man with a conscience and a basic sense of decency. He is also very much still an out of control teenager who has issues with most modest things in life like society, religion, work, and even his own father, yet as a reader you never question that Huck is a sensitive, caring human being who is in many ways, superior to the figures of adults that surround him on a daily basis. These are just some of the reasons that Huck is able to find his closest friendships with boys his own age like Tom Sawyer or with outcasts from society†¦show more content†¦We suffer right along with him as the Widow’s old maid sister, Miss Watson, nags and pesters him about washing, dressing, combing, learning, and particularly religion. Yet there is evidence of Huck’s basic s ense of decency, or possibly even shame, at his resemblance to his non-present father. Huck even accepts the Widow’s forging religious providence in spite of his low self-esteem. â€Å"I judged I could see that there was two Providences, and a poor chap would stand considerable show with the widow’s Providence, but if Miss Watson’s got him there warn’t no help for him anymore. I thought it all out, and reckoned I would belong to the Widow’s if he wanted me, though I couldn’t make out how he was a-going to be any better off then than what he was before, seeing I was so ignorant, and so kind of low-down and ornery.† (14). Huck is ignorant only in the sense that he lacks a formal education, but â€Å"low-down and ornery† is the characterization of his father that Huck sees reflected in himself whenever he fidgets in front of a mirror. In fact, Huck’s greatest virtue is his absolute honesty in his self-examination, which overlooks his natural decency and compassion. While some similarities are definitely present, Huck is actually very different from his father, who is bigoted, ill-tempered, and usually drunk,