Essay About Importance Of Civilization In Huckleberry Finn

Throughout the book, “The adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, the main character, Huck Finn, is faced with many tough decisions. But in the end he always chooses to reject civilization. Looking back, life for Huck was not good, he had lost his freedom as well as his father figure. Huck’s refusal to join civilization is due to all of the overwhelming factors in his life. As the reader moves throughout the book, the reader starts to realize a sudden pattern. This pattern tells a story of all of the wrongs in Huck’s life. Huck, a 13 year old boy, had no one to care for him so a lady named Widow Douglas took him in. She agreed to clothe him, feed him and give him an education. Sounds nice right? But from the start, Widow Douglas wanted to civilize Huck and turn him into someone he wasn’t. In the process of this, she took away his freedom of religion as well as his right of choice.

Widow Douglas forced Huck to attend school and learn about the bible. To add on she tries to teach Huck about being a better person, but she is a hypocrite. Widow Douglas teaches Huck that smoking is bad but then turns around and uses tobacco. While Widow Douglas tries to civilize Huck with a nicer approach, Widow Douglas's sister, Miss Watson, uses a much more severe approach to civilize Huck. For some context, Miss Watson is a very strict, old woman. If Huck makes one mistake, he gets scolded by Miss Watson. For instance, she told Huck to sit up straight and to not stretch like that. But when Huck said that he’d want to go to hell rather than heaven, Miss Watson shamed him. Huck was abashed because he wanted to go to hell so Miss Watson gave him a whole lesson on what heaven is like. Huck is constantly being changed as well as criticized while he lives with widow Douglas and Miss Watson.

What kid would want to live in a house where he is forced to live like a civilized person rather than the person he wants to be. Adding on to all of this, the reader gets to experience the loss of Huck's father figure. For some context, Huck’s father is a 50 year old man named Pap. He is the town drunk and has left Huck to figure out his ways of the world on his own. Huck had lost the one person in the world that he was supposed to look up to and learn from. Instead he gets to see the drunk and beaten side of his father. Pap disappears for long amounts of time except when he needs something. So when Pap suddenly showed up in town, Huck knew that he needed something. Pap had found out that Huck was rich, so he showed up just to take his fortune. Once Huck told him that he didn’t have the gold, Pap proceeded to shame Huck. He begins to tell Huck that none of their family could read but now Huck can. Pap said that if he was caught at school, then he would beat Huck for it. Furthermore, Pap then continues to kidnap Huck and leave him in a cabin for multiple days at a time. Huck then was beaten over and over again. What kid wouldn’t want to leave civilization due to a father who is not supportive of him. Connecting back to the thesis, all of the stress that is put on Huck is due from the constant nagging of Widow Douglas and Miss Watson to be civilized, as well as the disappointment from his only father figure. What boy would want to live in such a society where the overwhelming factors in his life are all connected to the people he hangs around.