

Essay by mama_rulesHigh School, 10th gradeA+, December 2002

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When Huck is contemplating about the letter which may determine Jim's fate, he eventually tears it up and thinks that he will 'go to hell'. Such a rash act followed by a wild assumption is one of the many examples that show Huck as a naÃÂ¯ve boy. Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, however, is able to use this naÃÂ¯vetÃÂ© to convey many ideas, rather than using an omniscient narrator. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the effect of having a young, naÃÂ¯ve, boy as the protagonist and narrator is that the reader views the moral development of Huck more clearly and realistically, as he changes from being an impressionable boy to someone who shows a perceptive understanding of society. His struggle against society's moral values is more comprehensible, as he possesses many of those qualities that a young, naÃÂ¯ve boy may possess, such treating people in a fair and unbiased manner.

We, as readers, come to understand the feelings of Huck, and sympathize with him due to his young age. Through the many people and incidents Huck encounters and witnesses, Twain is able to criticize society indirectly, while not making it too obvious by using an omniscient narrator, or by writing the novel in third person.

Huck lives in a society where blacks are considered inferior to whites. In the Southern American society, almost all adults share this opinion, as they themselves own black slaves and are against abolishing slavery. If Twain had chosen a mentally developed narrator, then any change in morals and virtues would seem unrealistic and rather ineffective. This is primarily because of the stereotype that everyone had about blacks being unemotional, illiterate, and worth only to work for others. They were simply regarded as objects whose loss would not be...