In that last sentence of the novel, Huck admits straight out that being civilized is not anything like what it's cracked up to be.  He likes being on his own, without adults, without rules, without church, and without itchy clothes. :-P

He has had experiences of civilized and uncivilized life, and he prefers, by far, the latter.  Since Huck doesn't fit in with society, the adults are trying to mold him into life in America like fitting a square peg into a round hole.  He wants them to just leave him alone so he doesn't have to endure the hypocrisies of American society.

Huck does prefer to be uncivilized.  He has had experience with both and I can understand how he likes the last choice!  He grew up that way and is used to it.  And from reading from his point of view, I can see how he would rather be unchained.  Twain embelleshes this thought on the river, at the Grangerfords, and at the funeral... Huck always has his own set of rules.  He is good at following them! 

Huck's choice for not wanting to be civilized shows how different he is from the other characters in the novel. Like Julie said, it is what he is used to, and by living the civilized life that everyone else wants him to follow wouldn't be him at all. Huck is non conforming to society and likes to be an individual.

This goes along with him learning about him self as he travels along the river. As he travels and runs into obstacles he continues to realize how he is not meant to be apart of the society he was born into. He figures out his role in society and that is ... not to be apart of it haha

Twain's message is that Huck is not ok with the good and evil of civilization. He does not feel confortable with civilization. He is at home on the raft, because he feels free. When in civilization he has to adhere to rules. This is not Huck's nature. He enjoys living life his own way.

I couldn't help but say that while I agree Huck likes to be uncivilized, he hasn't given being civilized a chance.  Living with his drunkard of a father around put a huge damper on his opinion of civilization.  Remember, pap discouraged and even threatened Huck from going to school.  Huck adapts so well to situations that I would bet, if put in the right home, he would do fine being civilized.  On page 14 Huck says, "At first I hated school, but by and by I got so I could stand it.  Whenever I got uncommon tired I played hookey, and the hiding I got next day done me good and cheered me up.  So the longer I went to school the easier it got to be." 

He does give civilized life a chance, but in the end finds uncivilized much better. He thought that when he was living with his father he was living a civilzed life. This gave him a bad impression from the start. I am sure that had he had a better start we would enjoyed civilized life much more. I don't know if he would have liked it as much as uncivilized but it would have been close.

I agree, Huck feels less pressure being 'uncivilized'. There is less pressure from society to be something Huck doesn't want to be. Maybe he prefers being uncivilized because he grew up that way, and it is easier for him. For Huck to be Civilized and fit in with society, it takes work and lessons and Huck doesn't want to waste his time when he already feels comfortable with his own thoughts.

what i find interesting is that throughout this whole adventure, Huck has matured and learned lessons about life, especially about slavery. but when it comes to settling down and becoming "sivilized" Huck hasn't changed a bit and still wants nothing to do with it. before he went on this little adventure he had nothing really to base his decisions off of, just that he hated being with Miss Watson because it was different from what he was used to. and after his adventure, he had so much more information to base his decision off, like the Grangerfords and Aunt Sally, but he still came to the same conclusion.

I agree with you Lindsay about your opinion on Huck not fiting in. He perfers to be himself and not try to change himself to fit in with society. He goes against people trying to change him througout the entire novel. He likes to do his own thing which seems to work for him.

I agree with you Lindsay about your opinion on Huck not fiting in. He perfers to be himself and not try to change himself to fit in with society. He goes against people trying to change him througout the entire novel. He likes to do his own thing which seems to work for him.

Exactly. I guess he does things his own way because he feels as if the other people are nothing more than hypocrites.

ya he feels that since other people do strange and immoral things all the time, why should he do the same stuff as them.

Yea he doesn't like being civilized and he does whatever he can to get away from it.  He hangs around other "Uncivilized" people and enjoys living life that way and with people who understand him.

I just noticed that I used the same phrase as Lindsay ("not all it's cracked up to be") in a later post, which made me think about what the crux of society is.  I've concluded that Huck's definition of "sivilized" is "conformist", which is not something most people want to be (or at least want to admit to wanting to be).  But I don't think Huck has any danger of conforming - he's that good.

I never thought of the whole "conformist" thing before, but it makes complete sense. To Huck, society isn't everything everyone makes it out to be. Everyone else, the conformists, or sivilized ones, would disagree. They are comfortable where they are and don't feel a need to step outside the box and be something society isn't. Huck is different though, and decides that there is so much more to life than conforming, and he decides to be uncivilized and different.

i agree with Carrie. Huck's morals disagree with the society's. The "sivilized" society is all the same opinion with very little if any differing.  Huck's desire to be unique and not conform show his anarchist attitude to society

Huck does want to be differnt from society because he likes being free and uncivilized.  But, i dont think it is because he disagrees with societies same opinions.  I dont think he is old enough to be too aware of the opinions of society around him.  He just wants to live life free.

Twain also contrasts these two worlds when Huck and his foil, Tom Sawyer – a boy of the civilized world, meet. Tom plans an elaborate and unusually cruel escape plan to spring Jim from the Phelps’s farm while Huck opts for the far more simple and benevolent plan of a clean getaway. This contrast in plan ideas is emblematic of the idea the Twain tries to express the entire story – the free world (thoughts/feelings) often surpasses the civilized world (religion/society) when it comes to grounds of righteousness.

He definitely doesn't want to conform like you said. "Miss Watson she kept pecking at me, and it got tiresome and lonesome (5)." This shows the attitude Huck has about being conformed to society. He hates it and resists it as much as he can.

I also think that it's interesting that not only does Huck not fit in to the rigidity of society, but I think that he is actually ahead of the society of his time.  Throughout the novel, Huck displays progressive thoughts that no other character's in the novel have displayed.  I believe that the values and morals Huck has developed for himself advanced for him to live in a "civilised" society.  I think that the way Twain words the final passage of the novel really reveals this aspect of Huck, "But I reckon i got to light out for the territory ahead of the rest."

I agree. Huck is ahead of society at that time. He does display thoughts that haven't even begun to surface, such as equal representation between people of different races. Because of this, Huck may be more "sivilized" than the rest of society by today's standards.

I agree that Huck prefers the uncivilized life much more than the civilized society he is being thrust into. There seems to be so much more for Huck to learn and experience when he is out on his own and not when he is forced to act the way the southern society demands he must. As Huck says, "We said there warn't no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and wasy and comfortable on a raft"(119). Huck enjoys the calm, open freedom offered in nature over the smothering feel of society.

I thought it was interesting that Huck, a young boy of flees from the "sivilized" society he lives in, ultimately conveys the most realistic sense of being civilized.  This is because what society call being sivilized is not true at all.  Huck learns to define being civilized for himself. 

In the end of the novel, Huck makes his decision to be "unsivilized" and to live life on his own. He shuns all attempts by adults in his life and rejects the accepted morals of society and chooses to live a life with his own morals.

From page 4, Huck does not like the "new way of life" which he thinks being civilized is. He hates those "new clothes" where Huck "couldn't do nothing but sweat and sweat, and feel all cramped up" (4). He doesn't like those "clean" ways of life. He wants to smoke, but the widow said it wasn't a clean practice. This helps develop Huck's character.

Through HUcks attempts to become "sivilized" he just realized more and more that he doesnt want to change. Even though he respects Aunt Sally he just cant vring himslef to change into some one who he doesnt wnat to be or who he really isnt.

 

I agree with Lindsey. Mark Twain is questioning the fairly rigid structure of life that we have come to expect Americans to follow. The 'civilized' people in the book treat living life as more of a job than something to be enjoyed. But Huck wonders why. The book's ending with Huck once again stuck on the track to becoming civilized shows the inevitability of becoming worked into the this predetermined structure of American society.

Although I agree that Twain is attacking society, he isn't promoting an unstructured society.  He thinks that society is too controlling and needs to be loosened up some.  Overall Twain wants more spiritual freedom from church, which is the major controlling part of society.

I don't believe that Twain is attacking society, and neither is Huck as a character. Twain does add some humor to his novel by poking fun at some of the characters, for example, the Grangerfords. Huck, however, clearly descirbes his perspective on his journey through the eyes of a young man. This is not an attack against society, but instead is a different point of view to the controlling society which exists during this time. His tone may be condescending but I believe that we can assume this because of his age.

Although I see where you're coming from, Twain's character, Huck, is a young, uneducated, unbiased kid for a reason.  He could've picked any other character but he created Huck.  That's why I think he uses Huck to deliver a message.  Since Huck has never really been "taught" what society believes, he has his own opinions and morals that lead him to do everything that he does.

I agree. Since Huck was Twain's blank canvas he is delivering Twain's message, and ultimately that is what characters do in novels.

Twain wants to show how a person's morals develop if they are developed unbiasly.  It shows that humans are ultimately good and that some people find society to controling and constricting.

I think Twain is defnitly attacking society, even at times if it's humorous. The goal of civilizing Huck is fought throughout the entire book. Incessantly Huck is confronted with "civilized" people, and they don't end up being of good moral structure. The Grangerfords for example; Huck says, "He was a gentleman all over; and so was his family. He was well born, as the saying is, and that's worth as much in a man as it is in a horse..." (Twain 104). Huck looks up to them as this wellbred, civilized family. We soon after find this "civilized" family spends all its time and energy trying to kill off another family because of an old issue years back. Twain is presenting the hypocricy society held in its standards.

Twain is making the point that "high society" is not all it's cracked up to be, certainly, but I don't think he is attacking society as a whole.  The society he's writing about is his society, after all, and it's not so bad.  Certain elements needed altering, as they always will, but I think Twain's view of "sivilization" is one of respectful mocking.

In reference to the amount of respect that Twain has for this society, I don't really agree.  I don't think Twain has any respect for the system of slavery specifically.  Whether or not he sees the rest of society as respectable is more likely to be positive I think.  In terms of slavery, I think he's also attacking everyone who supports it, and not just the slave owners or those associated with it who are also associated with "high society"

I agree with Natalie. One of the best ways to attack society's flaws is through humor, in Twain's case, satire. But we know Twain is serious about the matter, when the tone totally changes and all humor ends. When Buck is shot, Twian's tone becomes very serious. At first, Huck is too scared to come down from the tree, so he waits until night-fall, and finally comes down to cover the bodies. While covering up Buck's face, he begins to cry saying, "He was mighty good to me." (118) At this moment, Twain is attacking society, for it's moral hypocricy.

Throughout the novel we have seen contradicting ideas about what American ife is "supposed" to be. Twain makes it very clear that the people in Huck's society gives clear cut indications of how a person is expected to live. Huck has always avoided these guidelines, choosing to live his life the way he feels it ought to be lived. I think this shows wisdom on the part of Huck because he understands at a very young age that the majority is not always right.

Throughout this book, there have been different ideas on what is or what isn't moral. Twain's anylasis of society through Huck Finn lets us see his view of how individuals should live there lives, for the most part.

Throughout this book, there have been different ideas on what is or what isn't moral. Twain's anylasis of society through Huck Finn lets us see his view of how individuals should live there lives, for the most part.

We can also see society's flaws through punishments of various crimes.  A drunken white man shouting obscenely in the streets in merely given a slap on the hand, while the slightest disobedience of a black man results in strict punishment.  Even with all this inequality, society still attempts to call itself "sivilised".

I agree--Twain isn't an anarchist.  He's not advocating that everybody go live in a cabin out west, he's just saying that society holds too many constraints, constraints that need to be loosened.  I also agree, and what we know about Twain supports, that he is particularly critical of organized religion.

I find the last line of the book very interesting: "But I reckon I got to light out for the territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can’t stand it.” It shows that through all of Huck’s adventures and trials, close calls and near deaths; he regrets none of his decisions to run away and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Also, he says "I been there before", the very last line of the book. I wonder what that could mean. Maybe he is describing the influence of society on him that he has had throughout his adventures.

Yeah, I think that he is probably referring to the way that his experiences have changed him.  They're going to try to civilize him, but the way he sees it is that he doesn't need to be civilized.  He sees it as though they can try to civilize him, but he won't change for society.

Twains message about being "sivilized" is that conforming to society doesn't bring you happiness.  At the beginning of the book, Huck becomes restless with living in a stereotypical home of the Southern society.  With the rest of the story, you see how he enjoys living an unstructured lifestyle with Jim."Miss Watson she kept pecking me, and it got tiresome and lonesome."

Not only is Twain making this connection, but he is also showing how life of nonconformity can also fulfilling. Huck, despite being uneducated, is still smart enough to understand his environment, and thereforestill able to live a good life. This time period after the Civil War, when reforming society was present during Reconstruction and the end of slavery, was a time period when people began questioning the American Dream and society in general. Twain, although some of his beliefs, including the uselessness of education, are considered radical today, back in the late 1800s, they were seen as popular ideas.

The use of beliefs during Reconstruction ties in the style of Realism. Throughout the novel these beliefs are developed, including the family feud and Wilks' funeral, as Twain satirizes their "civilized" society.  The main example of this nonconformity is when Huck tears up the letter to Miss Watson.  He would rather save his friend than fit in to the American Dream.  

I THINK that Huck has a sense of future morals. Huck finds himself placed in a society constantly beleiving in the "American Dream"  From the beginning of the novel, Huck is described as a creature of incredibly "crazy" morals that differ from those of southern society. Huck does not go to church or school, which is considered uncooth in Southern antebellum society. But Huck can see the corruption of the society and the church which the others don't see or just wish not to see.

I completely agree with you. When Huck looks at everyone who tries to be civilized, they do unjust things. For example, look at Mrs. Watson. Yes, she reads the Bible and knows the proper way to act, yet she keeps slaves, which is immoral.

Not only is this immoral, but it is also hypocritical. It seems that Huck is doing his best to escape from hypocrisy as part of society. Twain may have been trying to point out the hypocrisy in his society through Huck's views.

I agree. Twain is showing his own dislike for the times uptight and controlled society. He shares some of the desires that Huck shares also. Twain likes the free life too.

The civilized world has taught Huck that slavery is correct and that aiding a slave to escape is a sin. However, the free world has taught Huck to follow his emotions and his emotions tell him to stick with Jim. Huck listens to the free world and helps Jim in his flight and the two become close friends.

The society that is civilized around Huck acts more irrationally uncivilized than even Huck.  Huck and Jim stay "unsivilized" while they experience robbery, murder, slavery, and an abundance of irrational thinking like the feud as they travel down the Mississippi.

Ya, and Huck is still young, and trying to create his own set of morals in this confused society. He sees a sweet woman like Widow Douglas keep slaves, and seperate Jim from his family. He sympathizes with the idow, but as time goes on, becomes friends with Jim, and sees his side of the conflict too.

Not only does Huck disagree with the ideas of the society, he also feels uncomfortable always having to act so proper. He feels much happier when he is able to break from these restraints and just be relaxed, such as when he is laying in a boat and thinking, "It was kind of lazy  and jolly, laying off comfortable all day, smoking and fishing, and no books nor study" (48). Society would frown at this unproductive life, but Huck doesn't care what others think as long as he is happy.

Exactly.  Everything Huck does on his advenure and in his life for that matter would be looked down upon in a normal civilized society.  He never went to school which is important in their society and prefers to live off the land.  He gets himself into all kinds of trouble but is always able to come up with a scheme to get himself out even though sometimes they aren't "civilized."  Huck finally realizes thoughout the course of his journey that he never wants to go back to the civilized life and prefers life as he lived it on his journey.

it almost seems that Huck learned more important survival skills while being "uncivilized" rather than going to school and being civilized. it is good that he learned at a young age to follow him emotions and what he felt as right instead of listening to a corrupt society that forces everyone to think the same and conform. Huck is simply a nonconformist and enjoys breaking the rules of society. however, he never breaks his own morals.

If you're conforming to society, then you are being false to yourself.  A person can't be happy if they're living a lie.

i agree with grayson. a person should be true to themselves even when everybody else around u is different. thats y i respect huck in his decision in helping jim out of slavery when the society said it was okay.

I think Huck's resistance to being civilized also plays off Huck's immaturity and boyish ways. But at the same time, there is a sense of maturity here because he is trying to keep his character and stay true to himself. So while he is being immature he has an aspect of adulthood at the same time.

Huck's childhood is an important aspect in the narration of the novel. His youth is able to be moulded under society's careful hands. However, without a good upbringing and without formal education, Huck is still able to make more morally correct decisions than the community. As Brooke said, his immaturity can sometimes be viewed as his maturity. His age works for him in both a benefitial and detrimental way.

I think his innocence is shown more than immaturity.  Huck acts mature when dealing with the Peter Wilks funeral and with the rescue of Jim.  Despite the boyish approach to getting Jim out of imprisonment, I think that immaturity had to do more with Tom than Huck.

And as a child, the beliefs of the society haven't been stamped into his brain yet, and he can choose the right path with an adultered concience. Also, we often think of children as being honest, even to the point of uncomfortable truths, witch describes Huck exactly. He's honest. He hasn't lost the straightforward talk of childhood.

I agree with Brooke.  His opposition to being civilized has to do with Huck wanting be true to himself.  If Huck does become civilized, he would not really know what to do and how to act.  This shows through his immature nature.  Even though Huck is immature, he knows what he wants in life and that shows a sense of adulthood.

Ooo, I like your first sentence.  Of course, then it begins to sound like all of us are totally immature and childish if we don't like change.  But there is some truth behind his ignorance and reluctance to become civlized.  I think a little of it is he doesn't want to grow up, but I agree with you that he is just trying to find his true self. 

Huck is struggling because he is starting to grow up, but he doesn't know who he is. All his life he has been taught to have certain values and beliefs, but he is starting to wonder if he really agrees with them. His experience with Jim helps him to realize what his true beliefs are and the kind of person he wants to grow up into. For one thing, he knows its not the civilized person society encourages; "I can't stand it. I been there before" (386).

Mark Twain is also showing an idea that was introduced in the Scarlet Letter. By showing the moral wrongs of society and how slavery is not as it is made out to be, Twain is showing how something defined as being correct is not always true. For example, people in the past believed that the world was flat. In the novel, Huck shows how one does not need to be "sivilized" or proper to live a successful or fulfilling life. This shows how Twain may be portrayed as a dissenter in the present era.

Also, while Twain points out that you don't need to be "sivilized" to get along in the world, he also points out that people need to choose what path in life is the best for them.  In the whole novel, society as a whole is seen as civilized, supporting slavery, and generally thinking the same things.  But Huck defies that with his decisions, which are very out of the ordinary, and proves that even the uneducated and young can get along with their own morals.

Twain does a great job in pointing out the negatives of a "civilised" society. Through Huck, Twain expresses the idea that you don't have to be "civilised" to make right decisions. He kind of makes it look as if the "civilised" society has no sense of morals. Just like Alyx mentioned before, Huck proves that even the uneducated and young can get along with their own morals.

In the beginning of the novel, there is an example of the theme of 'civilized'. The judge allows Pap to keep custody of Huck. The judge chooses the father's natural rights over the child's welfare. This situation can also be seen as the white man's possession of property (such as black slaves) over the black slave's rights. Twain implies that a society cannot be civilized and just if they have 'possession' of human welfare.

 

I think by allowing Pap to keep custody of Huck is choosing an uncivilized life for Huck.  Unlike Pap's living standards, the life of Widow Douglas is civilized and clean.  The widow has a daily plan and Pap just does what he wants when he wants.  Like Yas said, the judge chose who has custody of Huck by natural rights than what would be best for him.

I completely agree.  The question of well being over natural rights is present.  I do also think that this is why Huck has such issues, morally, with slavery.  The idea of the judge giving custody to pap rather than a fit parent, is similar to that of the question of slavery and the morals behind the institution.

Another theme in the novel is the battle between the civilized and free worlds. Huck has little experience with the civilized world having been raised for most of his life as a homeless boy who follows his will. Throughout the story Huck is presented with the moral dilemma as to the righteousness of aiding Jim in his flight from slavery.

Sorry, but who is attacking the american dream? 

I think you mean... nope, just not sure.  I don't think Huck is, I think he is trying to follow his own dream. And his doesn't include being proper and civilized. 

I agree, I don't think that Twain or Huck are attacking the American dream in any way, they just say that they would rather passively not participate in it.  Huck chooses to follow his own dream, rather than try and change society's dream to fit his own.  I think that this is proven when instead of coming back to "civilised" society, Huck chooses to move out to the Western territory where he can live his life the way he sees fit without the expectations of society.

I agree, but isn't the "American dream" just a desire for a happy and successful life? If so, then Huck is definately pursuing the American dream because he is pursuing a happy life, and a successful one in his own definition. I also don't think the American dream is being attacked, but Huck is pursuing, like Julie said, his own dream of freedom from a "sivilized" world.

Twain is advocating through Huck's character that it is more important to fulfill your own dreams than to fulfill everybody else's expectations.  Slavery is a prime example of issues that Huck sees as important.  He differs from society on this issue, and refuses to conform.

Huck hates being "civilised" and has managed to escape several attempts into becoming so. He is able to come to the realization that the views of the majority isn't always morally right and sometimes you just have to go with your gut feeling. Through Huck, Mark Twain is able to point out all the wrongs in such a perfect, "civilised" society.

By the end of the novel, the reader can see the growth that Huck has gone through. When Aunt Sally adopts him he still refuses to become civilized and says: "... I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest." (293). He'd rather go on an everlasting adventure, discovering new things about the world rather than being civilized like how he  was at the beginning of the novel in which he was still naive about issues of morality in society. Twain stresses Huck's refusal of conforming to the "rules" of society and to accept traditional outlooks that usually reflect hypocritical factors in society. This idea is developed by Huck's growth and budding relationship with Jim and the obstacles they faced together, testing their loyalty for each other.  

I do agree with Joe in regards to the statement that Huck is running from "civilized" society, but I also think that this is not entirely the fault of the American Dream.

Huck's moral decisions are based heavily on his childhood and the decisions and positions that he faced.  He was an orphan, so the comfort of parents was never offered to him, he was also afraid of his father, so he had no moral upbringing so he was only comfortable in uncivilized society where he was able to do what he pleased.  I do not blame this fault on the "American Dream".

Additionally, I also thought Twain regarded society as mostly hypocritical and often raised questions of civilized societies and it's adequacy. Although Ms. Watson scolded Huck for smoking, she smoked. "And she took snuff too; of course that was all right, because she done it herself." Twain showed the most typical flaw of a civilized society: hypocrisy (which also played a part in slavery also).

I agree with what Kyle said about Huck running from civilized society and how it has much more to do with the experiences he has been put through more than the, "American Dream". In some ways he has experienced society and human nature in the worst ways possible, witnessing families that kill each other, crooks stealing from inocent people, and people putting prices on the life of a slave. Through these experiences he realizes that maybe "civilized" society is not exactly as great as it seems to others. He prefers a life where he is free to make his own decisions.

I think it's interesting that although Huck runs away from being "civilised" he was going to do what was lawful and turn Jim in. He does, in someways, conform to society. He feels that he can pray, which is what he has been taught to do by the corrupt southern church.

I don't think that Twain is really attacking the American dream like Joe said, I think that he was promoting it because Huck says that he is going out west or to the Territory to start over. This shows how he is going to escape society by going there, and since the west is often associated with the American Drean, I think that Twain is really endorcing it.

That is a good point. this is actually related to the next section about this book being a satire of American society and culture. Huck is Twain's way of telling people how rediculous they act some times.

 I think Huck's perception of being "sivilized" was warped and tainted by the culture he grew up in. Huck thinks being civilized is to be like the widow Douglas and own slaves and force religion onto people, when ironically, civil behavior is understood as the opposite. If Huck wasnt jaded and if his perception wasnt tainted with, I think he would feel differently and realize that being "sivilized" (the widow Douglas' version), isnt really civil.

I agree with Miles' statement about how Huck's jaded preception of a civilized society is the direct result of the home in which he has been raised. Huck only feels so strongly agianst civility because he has been taught that to be civil one must be quiet, courteous, and follow the rules others have made for him. Perhaps if Huck had been raised in a less severe society his opinions would be different.

Throughout the novel Twain portrays Huck's hatred towards the society he lives in.  After being kidnapped by his father, despite being held in captivity by his father, Huck was still able to roam the woods. He didn't have to worry about his manners or keeping his clothes clean.  He felt at peace and at home, in the environment he grew up in.

Huck finds that being civilized actually limits your ability to grow. by being uncivilized, Huck makes his own decisions and creates his own morals in life.

i think andy's right but also Huck is his own person and i think Twain is trying to make the point that no matter how you try to change someone, no matter what you do in the end they are going to be who they want to be and its hard to change that.

Huck feel restricted by civilization. He is not able to do what he wants, and the restricts not only his actions but his thoughts also. When on the raft he is able to learn things that you don't learn in normal civilzation. This helps his charater to grow and expand his outlook on life.

Huck finds that being civilized actually limits your ability to grow. by being uncivilized, Huck makes his own decisions and creates his own morals in life.

while i agree huck has made his decision to live by his own morals, i wouldn't say that being civilized limits ability to grow. in the novel we find many well developed characters shaped by the civilized culture of that time. judge thatcher, tom sawyer, the widow douglass are just a few. these people, despite the southern hypocracy, seem to remain true and kind to huck. we can identify the righteous miss watson as a strong force to civilize huck. in this way twain satirically exposes the necessity to attend church and weep and pray and cry at funerals as false actions used to expand culture of the hypocritical south.

civilized: (as defined by dictionary.com) means adjective

1.	having an advanced or humane culture, society, etc.

2.	polite; well-bred; refined.

3.	of or pertaining to civilized people

4.	easy to manage or control; well organized or ordered

to civilize- as "aunt sally...[is] going to adopt and sivilize" huck- means:–verb (used with object), -lized, -liz·ing.

to bring out of a savage, uneducated, or rude state; make civil; elevate in social and private life; enlighten; refine:

of course this is how we define civilize today, but we can still pertain these definitions to huck's fear of being civilized. personally, i wouldnt want to be controlled, or advanced into a culture full of contradictions and hypocracy. huck's resistance is his natural ability to see plain truth. and in the 'civilized' society- he sees none.

I think Twain is describing his views on civilization and how he feels. Huck describes being civilized as being suffocating and he dislikes it. Huck wants to be able to make his own dipictions on the American life and it's many life styles. He believes that it is not important to be exactly like everyone else or see things how society sees them but be able to see them for yourself.

It's not that Huck doesn't want to be civilized; he doesn't want to be "sivilized."  The difference in Huck's mind is that being sivilized means he has to conform to societal norms.  Since he repeatedly sees the rest of society as hypocritical and cruel, there is nothing he would less rather do.

I agree with Joe, Huck does not fully agree with the ways of his society.  His morals and what society wants him to do are in a constant clash throughout the book.  Huck does not want to fit in with the societal form, because it is against his personal beliefs. 

Twain's message: Society does not provide a sense of belonging for every one.  Twain wraps up his novel with "But I reckon I got to light out for the territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and sivilize me and I can't stand it.  I been there before."  The essence of Huck is captured here in this passage.  He is not one to be civilized.  He resents society and wishes to be free to explore not only other places but himself as well.  The reason he can't stand being civilized is because his eyes are open to the parts of society that is hypocritical and unethical.

At the end of chapter 18, Huck says "there warn't no home like a raft, after all.  Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't.  You feel might free and easy and comfortable on a raft."  Life on the river symbolizes a place of refuge for Huck and Jim.  They can get away from the evils of society.  Both of them are moving towards a life of freedom and away from a life of oppression (and in Huck's case, away from being civilized too). 

The idea that the society Twain creates is "sivilized" is laughable.  It is a false sense of being civilized.  The judge awarding custody of Huck to Pap is a perfect example.  The judge quickly gives Pap custody saying that a man deserves the right to be in charge of his own son, but dismisses the possibility that Huck's welfare may be sacrificed.  A man with such degraded moral as Pap is still given rights and the rights of young Huck are overlooked.

I agree and I think this actually goes back to Huck's ways of doing what he wants to to instead of what society thinks he should do. All he wants to do is be happy. I think this idea of living your life for you is something the Twain has been trying to teach us through his novel.

I agree with what both Brooke and Vasiliy said.  The happiness Huck gets from being uncivilized is an important idea of the novel.  I think the idea of living life the way you want is what Mark Twain is trying to tell his readers through Huck's character and actions.  Huck picks his path of happiness in the end.  That is what Mark Twain wants his readers to do, pick the path that is right for them and will lead them to happiness.

I think Twain also wants us to realize that happiness cannot always be found within the beliefs of society. Huck chooses to live an "uncivilized" life even if it means that he is isolated from other people in his town. His decision to not let the Aunt Sally conform him to society's standards is a good way to conclude the satire of typical southern society, that Twain has built throughout the novel.

I agree with your statement. I'm not sure if Twain is trying to saying do whatever makes you happy, but I think he could be saying don't be afraid to to find happiness outside of socities boundaries.  Huck does many things that society frowned upon but really had no right reason to do so. Take his decision on Jim for example, he did what most would not want him to do, but Huck didn't care. It made him happy. I think this is more what Twain is trying to say.

Huck has lived in both extremes: civilized society and uncivilized society. It was necessary for him to experience both in order for him to choose the right one. Because he has experienced first hand that living within strict guidelines doesn't make him happy, he is able to better appreciate the choice he has made and live the way he wants. Twain is trying to tell us to explore possibilities other than the one we are given to find what is really best for us.

Even though Huck has experienced both extremes of society, he has always been rebellious by nature and refuses to conform to accepted values of society. Huck is an independent and adventurous person who will be happy if he is able to make decisions based off of his own morals. The reader sees this by the tone of the narration. At the beginning of the novel, Huck refuses to conform to the wishes of Miss Watson and continously worries about the return of his druken pap, a figure of greed and selfishness. Huck is the happiest while on the raft with Jim in which they are both free from the wrath of society. While on the raft, Huck's friendship with Jim develops and their attachment towards each other is something happiness is truly prevalant in.

Anna, I agree.  Twain is using this story as a means to bring about many changes or outcomes, and one of them is to tell his readers to experience life.  He wants them to have experiences- good and bad- and make their decisions based on life.  For example, many kids just follow their parents' political views without researching and experiencing life if the world were how their parents viewed it.  Many people, as they get older, change their political preferences because of hte experiences they have been through.  Maybe they fell on hard times, or had a religious "awakening" that made htem change what they thought about public policy.  This is what Twain is encouraging the reader to do... live life to the fullest so you can make your own choices.

I agree that Twain is telling us to explore life's possibilities.  If one doesn't explore other possiblities then you don't know if you've made the right choice and found what is truly best for you.  Also to tie back into the happiness theme, if you settle for something less that isn't the best for you then you generally aren't as happy.  Twain is definately telling us to live life to the fullest and explore life and our surroundings.

I agree and I think what Twain's message is to the readers is that being an individual and forming your own way of life is your only way to happiness. Huck portrays a confused character who has seen the best of both worlds (civilized and uncivilized) and he chooses to go away from a conforming society in the end. This represents how civilization in socety wont bring you happiness always.

I agree and I think what Twain's message is to the readers is that being an individual and forming your own way of life is your only way to happiness. Huck portrays a confused character who has seen the best of both worlds (civilized and uncivilized) and he chooses to go away from a conforming society in the end. This represents how civilization in socety wont bring you happiness always.

I agree, Twain makes it clear that it is important to choose what you believe for yourself, noy because it is accepted by society, or it makes other people happy, you shuold choose because it makes sense to you and makes you happy.

I agree, I think that throughout the novel, Huck makes his decisions based on what he believes is right and what will make him happy.  I think that Huck is not fully content until he finally decides to ditch the King and the Duke and start taking matters into his own hands.  Even then I think that the peak of Huck’s happiness comes at the end when he decides to move out west to live freely on his own terms.

Exactly--one of the things Twain is advocating through Huck is the ideal of living your life to be happy instead of living it to live up to the expectations of society.  Huck certainly does this throughout the book, and especially after the turning point in which he tears up the letter to the Widow Douglas.

Huck;s free spirited mind helps him to find what makes him happy, and thats to be himself and to be an individual to people, not to conform into what everyone else and be a apart of the corrupted minds that surround him. His free spirited soul saves him from following that path and leads him to the one that ends up to make him happy

I agree that happiness is one of the topics Twain is peddling, but I think it may border more on discovering himself. Huck didn't know initally what he wanted to do, what his beliefs were, and who to look up to. As the novel progressed Huck was finally shown someone of good moral intention: Jim. Huck even says early on, "Well, he was right; he was most always right; he had an uncommon level head for a nigger" (Twain 70). I think Twain's message emphasizes happiness, but more so good intention. Happiness isn't pure unless it allows other to be happy as well, not infringing on their rights.

I do think that happiness is a part of the theme of the novel, that it is whatever you make it out to be and that one can find happiness anywhere, even outside of the bounds of the civilized society, but I also agree with Natalie that Huck discovering himself is much more a part of the novel.  Whenever Huck had a turning point in the novel, such as his decision to not turn Jim in, and also not wanting to be "sivilized", he discovered what his morals were and what was important to him in life.  I also think that discovering himself connects with happiness because what he discovered about himself and his beliefs led him to happiness. 

I agree that Huck's discovery of happiness connects with his growth. Throughout the novel Huck is faced with various obstacles that in the end help him justify his disgust with a civilized society.  Twain satirizes certain events to develop these uncivilized actions throughout the novel.  An example not mentioned yet is when the widow tries to take Huck away from his father. "...but it was a new judge that had just come, and he didn't know the old man:so he said courts musn't interfere and separate families if the could help it..."  Although the Judge will not separate Huck from his father, ironically the slaves at Peter Wilks's farm are forced to separate from each other.  This quote reveals the hypocricy and racism during this time period.  This example helps Huck conclude that he would rather be loyal than civilized.

I agree that happiness is part of a theme of the novel. Much of what Jim and Huck do is to acheive their happiness. Being "uncivilized" makes them happy, and they run from trying to be turned "civilized".

i dont think being uncivilized makes huck and jim happy, i think they are happy because they have each other and they are having fun doing wat they want. they have freedom and people around them that love them, thats something neither of them ever had and thats y they are happy.

Happiness is a large part of the novel and like Natalie and Alyx said I think that discovering yourself and morals plays a more important position, it also shows that society is not always correct in it's decisions and can't bring you happiness.

I agree.  However; for Huck in order to finally decide what he wanted in life he had to take his journey and live life on his own and experience different ways of life.  He learns that he does't want to go back to life as he knew it before and decides to follow his own heart instead.

I agree with both Vasiliy and Brooke when they stated that Mark Twain is telling his readers to do whatever makes you happy. The message is dont let other people determine what will make you happy. With his father also states dont let other people keep you from happiness. Mark twain has a lot of hints throughout the book that leads bk to happiness

In the book, Twain depicts nature symbolic to freedom and adventure. Evidently, Huck enjoys being in the wild so much that he puts up with his abusive father to escape civilized life. In the end, he claims that he will "light out for the territory" to re-experience the freedom he felt throughout his voyage on the river.

And, not only happiness, but the ability to experience freedom in general. In the beginning of the novel, we saw that Huck was in fact in bondage with Miss Watson and the widow and his dad. At the end, he had made choices on his own that caused him to find himself and keep his values.

 

I agree with Vasily in that Twain wants to incorporate happiness with ones' actions into the overall theme, but i also think that he saying do what you believe. Taking the path that you want to take will make you happy, so they go hand in hand pretty well. Hucks' whole adventure represents this reoccuring theme and his final decisions represent his beliefs and the clear necessity of happiness.

While living with Widow Douglas, Huck had to constantly hide the things that made him happy, jam and the band of robbers, but when he was living on the raft with Jim he was free to do anything he liked, anything that made him happy.

The unhappiness he felt while living under Widow Douglas's roof and rules was overpowered by the happiness Huck gained while rafting down the Mississippi, free from any sort of civilization and rules, other than his own.

i think this also made his bond with jim alot stronger. he realized that he was much happier with jim rather than cooped up with widow douglas.

Twain's idea, as Vasiliy said, is to be happy regardless of what others may think.  This idea is what every person should believe in. Follow what you think is right and forget everything else

I think that freedom comes in a second close to this.  When huck is free, he is happy.  He can make his own decisions and create his own person.  I htink twain is trying to tell readers, also, that when one is free, their mind can become clear and their decisions of who they want to be can be figured out. 

adding to what anna said, Twain proves this idea of being free of society's rules allows one to make their own decisions of who they want to be through the actions of Huck when he decides not to turn Jim in. even though he thinks he is going to hell for not turning a slave in to his proper owner, Huck ultimately feels free and happy nevertheless.

I like that you mention Huck's growth in the novel. I think that the novel could be classified as a coming of age story because like you said Huck has not changed his opinion of the civilized world but he is now mature enough to back it up.  All the hypocrisy that Huck experiences and the oservations he made in the various places he visits have let him grow to form stronger opinions of the world around him.

Huck was able to take all the people he grew up around, all the examples he had seen and really make an opinion of his own. Although, his opinion did not change all the adventures and such that he went through helped him make that a more concrete decision.

Huck's journey certainly allowed him to make an opinion of his own to a degree, while even at the end of the novel he still was not fully broken out of his shell. He still had the tendency to look up to people society found suitable, who maybe weren't really. Twain writes, "He was the softest, glidingest, stealthiest man I ever see; and there warn't no more smile to him than there is to a ham" (Twain 180). I think we're giving Huck a bit too much credit in all honesty; yes, he chose to save Jim. But was it really a full-fledged, right vs. wrong epiphany?

I agree. Huck's journey with Jim on the raft allows Huck to form his own opinion over the whole slavery issue. Before, he was often caught in the middle, coming really close to ratting on Jim, but it was then when Huck realized what was morally right and the true meaning of friendship. I think Huck's young age and his naivety made it really hard to come to a decision because he is exposed to such a negative and narrow- minded society, but the moral growth that Huck has experienced overpowered the "civilised" society. I do think that Huck experiences a right vs. wrong epiphany, it just took a while because of his young age and other succumbing factors.

i think in the sence of slavery it definatly was. i dont think it was a full on i know whats right and whats wrong deal but who in all the shades of gray can difinatly say in all situations what is right and wrong, i do think that he got closer in his development but he still has a long life to live where he will make his own opinions about it so i do think that Huck will continue do decide for him self whats right and wrong.

I think that also his different adventures that took him around the state matured him.  As he traveled to the various places he was given more insight into the different civilized families and people.  In the end his opinion is exactly the same, but now he realizes what he does and doesn't like about the other people in society. 

I agree that his adventures on and off the river caused him to mature.  His experiences exposed him to opinions, views, and people that he had never come across in his town.  All the different views and experiences helped him form his own opinions about what is right and wrong.

hucks adventures opened his eyes to the world outside of his town. he was able to see important events through a different veiw point and he was also to experience some of those events first hand.

And the fact that half of the time he was on his own experiencing the world outside of this town, led him to become stronger and more mature because you can only learn something by seeing what is wrong and figuring out how to make it right. This can be difficult to do by yourself, but trying makes you more confident in controlling how live your life; which i think applies to Huck

Huck's growth plays an important factor that fuels his discomfort at being civilized. Throughout the novel, Huck experiences many things, both good and bad, in society. At the beginning of the novel, Huck also accepted slavery as just a part of society and something that will continue to be. But once his friendship with Jim develops into a strong bond, he rejects the idea of viewing people of color as property without any human emotions. Racism plays an important element in the novel that Huck has to battle with. He also learns to cope with frauds like the dauphin and the duke whom represent the art of lying and cheating. Huck even deceives them so as to escape with Jim. Huck learns that friendship is the key to happiness no matter who it's between and that lying can at times cause more trouble than solutions.

This is a good point, a strong idea that this story provides is a coming of age story.  He starts out from scratch, has his experiences and comes out with his own idea about the world.  He overcomes a stage in his life of learning and realization of where he stands.

Your right throughout the novel you see Huck change as a person. He starts trusting himself more and growing as a person . This quote, " They went off, and I get oboard the raft, feeling bad and low, because I knowed very well I had done worng, and I see it warn't no use for me to try to learn to do right: a body that don't get started right when he's little, ain't got no show- when the pinch comes here ain't nothing to back him up and keep him to his work, and so he gets beat." This is his thing towards the beginning, but toards the end you see a change. He helps Him, Mary, and other characters with their hardship.

Supplementary to his new sense of judgment is his newfound responsibility for his actions. "It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger- but I done it, and I warn;t ever sorry for it afterwards, neither". This shows a growth within Huck; previously he would deny any responsibility for his actions however, now he has learned to make important decisions for himself and others as he maneuvers into adulthood.

This quote shows elements of Huck's newfound morals as well as his old biases.  He still has that deep-seated hatred for blacks, but now he can respect them and feel superior, all at the same time.  Personal growth (something of a theme of the novel, wouldn't you say?) comes in baby steps. This is one.

While Twain definitely does demonstrate Huck's moral and personal growth throughout the story, I think that he is trying to show that Huck is still going to be himself because that is the way he was raised and he was not raised to be civilized.

Huck's character does grow throughout the novel.  The raft is the symbol of freedom for Jim and Huck, especially because it is taking Jim to freedom. It took Huck away from Pap and the people who were trying to make him civilized.

Huck basically transfroms from one person to another, from someone who followed society's standards and allowed himself to be rendered defenseless against the corruption that people can create to a person who stood up for what they believed in, following their own morals. He slowly grew into his own person, molded by his own judgement, although at times he himself was unsure of what was right because of the culture instilled in him. He made more significant and rapid changes the farther he traveled down the river.

Yes. With Jim and Huck on the raft, it is a place of un-'sivilization'. It's a place of purity, unaffected by the corruption of the outside world and the rigid structure of 'proper' life. Of course, when the King and Duke come on the raft, they bring with them the corruption and pretensions of the outside society. Immediately, they are concerned with power and money, and how they are thought of. But if they let those things aside, as Huck and Jim do, they would be happier.

I think you made a good point that after Huck's adventures on the raft, he can now justify his opinion on civilization instead of just saying he doesn't like it. When Huck is on the raft, he has all these experiences with people and the world which help him for form his opinions.

Huck also states that being civilized means that you must go to church in "going to church...". I find this funny because he is so worked up by the moral questions he asks himself everyday that it seems like he would want to go to church. He believes in a heaven and hell and all of his decisions are based upon that. He follows a set of bootleg moral rules which would in fact make him "civilised". He didn't want to be civilized in the first place because he did not want all of the rules of modern society to affect his actions. Seems odd.

Huck also says in chapter 31 that he is not to be blamed for his actions if he freed Jim because he was brought up wicked and had never been properly "civilized" and didn't go to Sunday school. I find this ironic and a little bit funny, like Matt said above, because Huck is doing something that is morally correct, something that a church generally endorces.

I agree with your statement that Huck was so apposed to being "civilized" yet, whether he fought it or not he eventually became civilized in a way. Like you said, enough to realize that Jim should be treated as a human being. Though he's still "wild and crazy" he has grown in a way.

We also see that he is truly more civilized than almost anyone else in the story.  Just because he is somewhat of a fugitive, he can very well be considered uncivilized, but he is more moral than anyone in the story who went to church or lived in an established home.

Not only is Huck civilized, living in avoidance of those who are "sivilized" (a completely different concept), but he is also jaded by what he considers society. He has been rejected by all the people of the society he ran away from, chooses against the lessons they instilled in him, and becomes his own person. Huck is the true definition of civil, while the "sivilized" people he ran from are simply a product of the constant adversity, violence, ignorance, and racism present in the south.

I think the "civilized" is open to interpretation. In his sociletal view no he was not civilized. But the grangerfords were civilized even thought they went around killing people. In my opinion he was civilzed because he knew what was wright and what was wrong, and acted on those feelings, like with Jim.

Although huck seems to have an understanding of the world and him, i hink that he is stil growing.  We can't simply say that he is civilized or not, or he wants to be or not,  he is creating his own idea of his perfect society.  I think there should be a sequel in order for readers to really understand what huck wants.  He goes back and forth between morals and people that it is easy to say at the end of the novel huck is even mroe confused than any other part about what  a civilization is and should be. 

I agree with Matt, even though Huck appears to be wild, he really is quite civilized.  He has spent most of his life in a civilized society.  Although he doesn't want to be civilized or is against it, there is still a part of him which is.  This "civilized" characteristic within him is shown throughout the book, mainly with his decision to free Jim.

The incorrect spelling of the word can also show how civilization and society in itself can be false/fake.

Thats what im thinking. its society's view of civilizedness. so Huck saying it with it spelled like it probably means that he doesnt to be society "civilized".

it also shows huck's indifference to all of it. He doesn't care how you spell it, an dhe doesn't care for being "sivilized"

I agree but I really didn't pick up on this before Brian mentioned it though.  Perhaps the fact that Twain mispelled this word is because he was trying to show that civilization had never been a part of Huck's life and because of that he never got a proper education or fit in with the members of society.  He didn't like it in the begining when he was forced to stay there and he doesn't want to go back to living like that.

If Huck were in school in regular society, they would get angry at him for misspelling words. But he doesn't care about how words are spelled. He spells words wrong, and it never hurts him. Twain's saying that there are more important things in life. Like his famous quote, "Don't let school get in the way of a good education". I would also like to point out that I FIRMLY BELIEVE in this quote and Twain's message here. We could all learn something from this book.

jack. your funny.

twain's choice to spell civilize phonetically versus the correct way stresses the falseness of the civilized culture itselft. while it may sound one way, the word is spelt another way; while society appears one way, the underlying truth and values are not even close to acceptable on today's standards. huck sees truth; that is why he spells things the way they sound, just as he sees situations in their raw occurance, not muddled by civilization's complex network of morals.

Twain uses the mispelling of the word "sivilize" to show Huck's view of the word.  Civilize is often connected to education and by spelling the word with an "S" Twain is showing how Huck dislikes society, and therefore attacks the word by mispelling it.