Huck Finn, a good-hearted boy, has lived in poverty and with very challenging family circumstances. Although he is clever and quick-witted, analytic thinking and long-term planning both play minimal roles in his approach to life. After Huck runs away from his difficulties, however, he learns that changing one’s circumstances does not change one’s personality. Huck has a fundamentally trusting nature and tries to coast through life—literally floating down the river—and then takes advantage of the things that happen to him, always hoping for the best. He had learned from his father’s example how to let his type of people “have their own way.”
Huck’s approach changes, however, when he is confronted with an instance of injustice that he believes he can counteract. Both his understanding that the Duke and Dauphin are only out to “rob” the Wilkses and his gratitude for the family’s kindness to him, as he felt “among...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
friends,” combine to motivate him to act against the swindlers. He will now take decisive action, even though it means risking discovery.
This episode that occurs in Chapters 24-30 in the book is another indication of how Huck Finn develops as a character as he works against the dastardly scheme of the Duke and the King to fraudulently disinherit the money of the heirs of Peter Wilks.
It is when Huck experiences the kindness and generosity of Mary Jane and Susan, who stops Joanna (correctly) interrogating Huck on the suspicion that he is lying that he begins to think again about letting the girls becoming the latest victims of the Duke and the King. Note what he says:
I says to myself, this is a girl that I'm letting that old reptle rob her of her money!... And when she got through they all jest laid theirselves out to make me feel at home and know I was amongst friends. I felt so ornery and low down and mean that I says to myself, my mind's made up; I'll hive that money for them or bust.
The girls' defence of a total stranger, as well as their appeal to their sister fro an apology, impresses Huck enough to realise that he cannot allow the Duke and the King to take advantage of these kind and gentle young girls. He decides to help the sisters. Huck's disgust at the Duke and the King demonstrates his continuing maturity. Early in the novel, Huck's morals were none too firm, but as he rafts down the river, he gets to know Jim, and has to deal with the con men, Huck is not only able to distinguish right from wrong, but he is beginning to stand up for what he believes in.