Blackout: Heroism in Huck Finn
"Huckleberry Finn has the great advantage of being written in autobiographical form. This secures a unity in the narration that is most valuable; every scene is given, not described; and the result is a vivid picture of... the scapegrace of a hero [Huck Finn]" (Perry 30). Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck unconsciously exhibits through his thoughts and actions a fertility of invention, courage, and compassion, which contribute to his heroism. The 1800's is characterized as a time of bigotry and prejudice of African-Americans by whites. Huck's ability to overcome the racial barrier that society has implanted in his mind is demonstrated by his personal views of the problems that he encounters, and is made interesting by his youthful perspective on certain issues. In addition, Jim views Huck as a motivational and heroic person, seen through his speech. The events throughout the story are told as they would appear to a semi-civilized boy of fourteen, which helps to! illustrate that Huck is not afraid to defy society's degrading standards. His heroism is further strengthened by Jim's positive opinion of him. Because the story is written from the perspective of an adolescent, the reader further understands how preju
Huck Finn's straightforward first person point-of-view assists the reader in seeing his true heroic characteristics while challenging society and gaining the utmost respect of a person who should be his enemy. He is willing to risk his final destination after Earth, which in consideration was utterly important in his religion, to save a slave. Huckleberry displays kindness towards his fellow escapee on Jackson's Island, and motivates him to seek adventure while being safe at the same time. and then says to myself: 'All right, then, I!'ll go to hell' -and tore it up" (Twain 213). Upon arriving on Jackson's Island, Huck is pleasantly surprised to find Jim, who after a few minutes is convinced that Huck is not a dead ghost. While in the time that the book was written Jim's opinion of Huck was meaningless to most people, today Jim's praise of Huck has quite the opposite level of importance: "Then I told him the whole [plan I used to escape] and he said it was smart. Without Twain's ability to take the reader inside Huck's mind and let her observe firsthand the strong heroic traits that the young boy possesses, she would not recognize Huck as the praiseworthy person that he is. However, he chooses not to report Jim to authorities after living with him away from society for quite some time. In fact, Huck does not even think twice about Jim's skin color or rank in society when he first greets him on the island; he sees a friend, a companion: "I was ever so glad to see Jim. This "power" was rare among adults of the mid-1800's, and while most adults were more book-smart than a young boy such as Huck was, he is the strongest and the smartest in the field of humanity. He said Tom Sawyer couldn't get up no better plan than what I had" (45). In today's world, the previous remark would be considered an exaggeration, while Huck truly believes that he will go to Hell if he does not turn Jim in to the proper people. Regardless, Jim overlooks this seemingly powerful racial difference, and realizes that Huck is not merely acting benevolently for the sake of positive discrimination, but has actually accepted Jim as a human, rather than a slave. Twain takes the reader through Huck's mind, where his sense of compassion and friendship with Jim distinctly show that he is the hero of the story.
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