Although Mark Twain shows American society as easily influenced by others, he also shows Huck trying his best to dodge herd behaviour and listen to his conscience. Twain is trying to indicate that mob mentality can devour your identity. Mob mentality is an essential factor and plays a significant role in greed- another big issue in the novel. .
"Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in and endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching"; a famous Greek philosopher, Eric Fromm, reflects Twain's idea of greed depicted in Huckleberry Finn in this quote. Twain portrays greed as another flaw of American society in the novel, showing that greed drives people to do things they may not have done otherwise, not unlike engaging in mob-style behaviour. Greed often also symbolizes a lack of morals. Pap's greed for Huck's money is the only reason he comes back for his son after abandoning him. "I hain't heard nothing but about you bein' rich. I heard about it away down the river, too. That's why I come. You git me that money tomorrow-I want it,"(20) Pap says, showing that his greed for money is much greater than his value of his son. The Duke and the King also represent American society, showing how greedy and selfish human beings can be. They commit fraud several times along the river, scamming money from innocent people. Upon seeing the extent these two go to for their greed, Huck is beyond upset, "It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race"(163). Twain also displays another type of greed in the novel- one that involves having influence over others rather than gaining money. This kind of greed is evident when Tom Sawyer creates elaborate plans to rescue Jim from Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas. However, while trying to become a hero, Tom forgot about Jim and didn't pay much attention to the fact that he was risking Jim's life. When Huck proposes an efficient plan to rescue Jim, Tom goes on to say, "but I bet we can find a way that's twice as long.