Huckleberry Finn Moral Conflict Huckleberry Finn is a

Huckleberry Finn Moral Conflict Huckleberry Finn is “a book of mine where a sound heart and a deformed conscience come into collision and conscience suffers defeat. ” ~ Mark Twain

Moral Conflict ► Throughout the novel, Huck is troubled by the tensions between what society tells him is right and his own sense of morality – his conscience. “If I had a yaller dog that didn’t know no more than a person’s conscience does I would pison him. It takes up more room than all the rest of a person’s insides, and yet ain’t no good, nohow. ” ► “I warn’t feeling so brash as I was before, but kind of ornery, and humble and to blame, somehow- though I hadn’t done nothing. But that’s always the way; it don’t make no difference whether you do right or wrong, a person’s conscience ain’t got no sense and just goes for him anyway. ” ►

Moral Conflict ► External conflicts are struggles between characters who have different goals or between a character and forces of nature. ► Internal conflicts are psychological struggles that characters experience when they are unhappy or face difficult decisions. ► Are moral conflicts external or internal?

Moral Conflict ► Huck’s sense of morality seems quite flexible. § He lies on occasion and thinks an occasional “stretcher” is ok, but he believes his word is his bond. § He hates the rules imposed by Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, but he follows them. § When he breaks rules, and even the law, sometimes he feels guilty, sometimes not. § He can’t make up his mind about Jim – to turn in his friend (and bring certain harm to him) or to go to hell for helping Jim escape.

Moral Conflict ► Is Huck at all times a rebel or does he sometimes go along to get along? ► Does his doing the right thing ever clash with what society tells him is right? ► How does Huck deal with these tensions?

Moral Conflict ► To earn participation points for this lecture, relate Huck’s moral conflicts to your one of your own. § Write a paragraph describing a time in your life when you were confronted with moral conflict – a choice between what your conscience told you was right and what society (friends, parents, teachers) told you was right. § Consider the following: Was it easy to decide? Was it easy to tell what the right thing was? How did you feel after you decided?