Huckleberry Finn and the Village Mores
             Since time immemorial, human beings have bonded together, forming societies and institutions that no one can escape. Religions and governments have developed and changed throughout the centuries. The population of the time invariably conforms to the image of its society, but there is always an outsider, a freethinker. A revolutionary figure consistently rises from the status quo and contests the beliefs and moral codes of the society to which he belongs. Every era has had its Abraham, Socrates, or Thoreau, and post-civil war America boasts Mark Twain, or more appropriately, Huckleberry Finn. Vernon L. Parrington once said of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, "It is a drama of the struggle between the individual and the village mores." The book, although satirical at times, is certainly considered a dramatic epic describing American society and the conflicting views of the time. Huck is an unlettered, street-smart realist. Throughout the book, he is forced to make decisions that conflict with the conventions of his world, such as old-time religion, slavery, and even basic ideals like the treatment of other people.
             In order to understand the struggle that commences in the book, one must understand the character of Huck. This young boy of Hannibal, Missouri, is the son of the town drunkard. He nearly raised himself, living off the land and on the streets most of his life, while occasionally receiving a beating from his ignorant, ruthless father. The world forces Huck to look at life from a different perspective than the average boy, such as Tom Sawyer. He has seen the bane of human existence, but still seems to see the good in people, along with the bad. Huck's instincts developed independently, rather than societal institutions such as church, family, or school molding it. Yet he does not remain separate from society; he grows up believing he ...