1

Brittany Wrigley
12/5/13

Morals and
Motives in
The Adventures
of Huckleberry
Finn

Ideally as people get older they learn morals and learn that there can be good and
bad motives for writing, saying or doing something. Similarly in the book The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the writer, Mark Twain, used different characters with
different motives to show the reader good and bad morals and how to tell them apart. In
the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the two main characters
were Jim and Huckleberry (Huck). Twain used both of them and other characters to show
that different motives show different morals. Although Mark Twain warned that there
were no morals or motives in the story, both morals and motives can be found in the text.
hidden in Huckleberry's lessons about life were morals for all kinds of things. Twain used
other people's motives to teach morals. When blacks keep getting treated horridly the
reader can see that Twain is trying to teach good morals.
Hidden in Huckleberrys life lessons are all different kinds of morals and motives
for many different things. Going against what Twain said in the notice he used Huck for
a number of different lessons on morals. Huck has finally learned that his father cannot
take from his knowledge; he realized that his dad can only beat him and his dads motive
for that was that Huck was more knowledgeable than him. If I catch you about that
school Ill tan you good! (pg. 20). Mark Twain used Hucks dad to show that some

3
people dont have good morals. By having used Hucks dad as a provider of bad morals
and motives Twain goes fully against his notice in the beginning by the use of morals,
already, in the story. In contrast to the morals of Hucks dad, Huck has quite good morals
on keeping promises. You said you wouldnt tell Huck! Well, I did. I said I wouldnt
tell and Ill stick to it (pg. 43). Even though not telling some one about a runaway slave
went against what hed been taught his entire life he knew that if he promised something
he had to keep that promise. This is a good moral to have and that is why Mark Twain
used it with Huck. Even Huck, who was raised by a drunkard, has good morals and Twain
is using that to say that all people should have some good morals. Twain used Huck for
an example of good morals because Huck was a lot like regular kids. He made regular
mistakes. It took me fifteen minuets before I could go humble myself to a nigger but I
done it and I warnt sorry for it afterward. (pg. 86). Mark Twain used the scenario of
Huck playing a mean trick on Jim and Jim finding out as a motive for his lesson on how
good morals can be changed. Huck changed his bad morals into good morals by
apologizing to Jim even though Jim is a slave. Mark Twain seemed to like to use
characters that were a lot like regular people because it was easier to teach motives and
morals to the readers when the readers could relate to the characters at hand.
Twain used other characters bad morals to teach good morals. In contrast to what
Twain said in the notice he obviously uses motives and morals in the book. In the book
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain apparently didnt want people to find
morals or motives but he was just being grotesque because he had threatened to kill them
if they did. Mark Twain, in all of his books, had hidden meanings in every single
character and circumstance. There are all kinds of different characters in the book. Some

4
were good some were bad. Mark Twain used these good and bad characters to teach Huck
and the readers good morals. Both barrels cockedBang! ...Bang! he tumbles onto the
groundColonel Sherburn tossed his pistol to the ground. (pg.143). colonel Sherburn
had shot and killed a harmless drunk man just because he was annoyed. Huck watched on
and saw what a horrible person Sherburn is and learned that one cannot just expel some
annoying thing from ones life because that causes people to either go along with it (bad
morals) or people to do something about it (good morals). Similarly to the Colonel
Sherburn situation, Huck met the King and the Duke. The Duke, although obviously
not educated enough to be a real duke, didn't care about Jims feelings because he didn't
have good morals. He had the bad moral of thinking that everyone was below him. Then
the duke took and wrote a sign on a shingle so: SICK ARAB-BUT HARMLESS WHEN
NOT OUT OF HIS HEAD. (pg. 157). The duke wanted an easier way to ride the raft
during the daytime. So, rather than explaining to everybody that Jim wasnt a runaway
but was actually Hucks slave, the duke painted Jim a ridiculous blue color that made Jim
feel uncomfortable and on top of that he called poor Jim a sick Arab and made him sit
where everybody could see him. The duke didnt care about Jims feelings he only cared
about himself. That is a bad moral to have because it makes the motives of everything
one could do to only benefit oneself. Twain used this scenario to show people that the
good moral to have is to treat people nicely instead of badly. In contrast to the people
with bad morals teaching good morals by default, Huck and the readers learn good
morals from characters with good morals. Take aunt sally with her niceness and trusting
personality. Youll be good, wont you? For my sake? laws knows I wanted to go to see
about Tom but after that I wouldn a went for the world. (pg. 283). Mark Twain is trying

5
to show that people can teach good morals without meaning to. Huck learns the good
moral of listening to adults that are also good because he didnt want to hurt aunt sally.
Twain is pointing out that good or bad morals can be taught without a body realizing it.
Mark Twain used specific qualities in people and characters to teach good morals from
good and bad motives. He used both in the book but mostly he teaches good morals from
bad motives because one can learn well from anothers mistakes.
As blacks were treated badly, one can tell that Twain was trying to teach
morals. Mark Twain did not agree with slavery so he used very seemingly round
about ways to prove that good morals are not in slavery. Mark Twain wrote this
book after slavery had already been abolished (against the law). His views on
slavery were quite obvious if one looks at the characters he puts racism into. to
teach good morals he uses other peoples actions. Mark Twain used his unusual
way of teaching good morals by using someone who has not one good moral in
his body. "They call that a government that can't sell a free nigger till he's been in
the state six months." (pg. 27). Mark Twain uses Huck's father, who was a no
good stealing drunkard who beat his only son, for a racist person. Twain did this
so he can try and prove a point that, in his eyes, racist people are no good. this
had, by default, taught the good moral of how racism was wrong and one should
treat another the same way they would treat a friend. similarly, when Miss.
Watson tried to sell Jim, Twain used his odd way of teaching good morals from
slavery. "I's rich now, come to look at it. I owns myself, en I's worth eight hund'd
dollars." (pg.47). Mark Twain was pointing out that even though Jim is 'Worth'
eight hundred dollars, he couldn't have that money because he is black. Twain is

6
trying to get people to realize that slavery is unfair and uses people who are mean
to represent slavery and racism. Mark Twain was teaching good morals from bad
morals. Similarly to Miss. Watson's ability to sell a person, a women called Mrs.
Hotchkiss was very cruel towards innocent blacks. "I lay I'd skin every last
nigger on this place." (pg. 280). Mark Twain used mean old Mrs. Hotchkiss to
show that only the cruel would beat a black person for no reason other than that
they were black. He taught that the good moral to have was to treat everyone
kind. Mark Twain did a great job of his use of people who the reader could look at
as uneducated or cruel or untrustworthy as people who agree with treating blacks
bad. this shows that he was trying to teach good morals form someone else's bad
morals.
Even though Mark Twain told people through the notice that there would
be no motives or morals in the story he put both all throughout the story. Mark
Twain used Huck's life lessons to hide morals for all kinds of things. He also
taught morals with the use of other peoples motives (Reasons for doing what they
are doing). Twain tried to teach good morals from the way that Jim and other
slaves were treated throughout the book. Mark Twain was trying to make it
obvious that he was trying to teach the readers about morals and motives but he
did it in a way that the reader had to look for the lessons. As I read this book for
the second time in my life, I could honestly see the way Mark Twain taught
lessons through the characters. I loved how he used good and bad morals and
motives to teach good morals. in my opinion, Twain is one of the best authors that

7
I've read and I would recommend this book to anyone who is able to look beneath
the surface of the words and understand just what Twain was trying to get across.