Analysis of Huck’s crisis of conscience in chapter 16 of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
... the idea that he would be a “low down abolitionist”. In chapter 11, Huck meets Judith Loftus while Huck was disguised as a girl to find information. In Huck’s conversation with Judith Loftus, Huck experiences more of the slave owning mentality of society. Judith tells Huck that at first they were after old Finn but when they found out Jim ran away they were after him. Judith tells Huck that there was a fine of both of them. The reward for old Finn was 200 dollars while the reward for Jim was 300 dollars showing that property is worth more than a person. It also shows that the very idea of capturing a wanted criminal was not as important as a slave. It shows Huck that what he is doing is wrong and that people are after Jim for the money. In chapter 14, Huck is under the effects of society and its opinion on slaves. Huck argues with Jim and Huck loses without knowing it but Huck says “you can’t learn a nigger to argue”. That shows us that Huck is still under the influence of society and believes slaves can’t reason. The main reason that causes Huck to bring up the result is that he realizes that he had done great wrong to society and Miss Watson. The slave mentality brought about by society was an important factor in Huck’s crisis. Friendship played a very important role in Huck’s conflict. In chapter 16, Huck was on the raft with Jim and made up his mind to hand Jim over to the authorities but than Jim makes a speech about freedom and friendship and reminds Huck of the promise he made in chapter 8. When hearing this speech it causes his conscience to torment him. He still resolves to turn him in but Jim had made it a lot harder. Huck knows of the bond they made and it torments him every step he takes to turn Jim in. In chapter 11, Huck does not allow Jim to be caught by the people who were hunting him down and instead he actually says “they’re after us” which shows that he actually cares for Jim as a friend and would help him run. In chapter 15, Huck plays a trick on Jim when they got back together after they were separated. When Jim realizes Huck was playing a trick on him, Jim states that he was so glad to see Huck safe and sound and that this journey meant a lot to Jim but Huck only cared about playing a trick on Jim. Huck saw that Jim was really upset and Huck had finally decided to apologize to Jim putting them on the same moral level. Friendship was a very important side to Huck’s conflict. In chapter 16, Huck decides to turn Jim in but as he spoke to the...