This strikes a chord in Huck he never realized, and his perception of how Jim and people in general should be treated is profoundly changed. Some argue that it is not. Yet in the way Twain portrays Huck as "humbling [himself] to a nigger*" (94), there is a sense that he understands that hurt he caused Jim, and that it is not right to make a fool of any person whether they are black or white. It is apparent that although he is beginning to understand that society's view of slaves is misconstrued, he has trouble letting go of ingrained mentalities and terminology from his upbringing. Huck doesn't see his apology as just another "I"m sorry", he has to spend time preparing himself for the supposed humiliation of apologizing to a slave. Huck clearly says that he "wouldn't done that one if [he"d] knowed it would make him feel that way" (94) which indicates his awareness of both what he had done as well as his growth as an unbigoted person. Huck is slowly casting away of the laws of society for those of the river.
To Huck, society takes many forms; it is the shore, St. Petersburg, the widow, Ms. Watson, the Grangerfords, and the Shepherdsons. All of these elements of society equate unpleasantness for Huck. Although the Grangerfords take Huck in and are kind to him, their feud with the Shepherdsons breeds sinister sentiments into all who are involved in the violence. Huck's experience with society in the form of the feud is traumatizing because his friend Buck Grangerford and a relative are chased and brutally shot by some members of the Shepherdson family while Huck sits in a tree and watches helplessly. The feud portion of the story is originally included as a satire on "family honor" and shows the absurdity of such feuds, but it quickly becomes very serious for Huck and the true meaning is understood in the final scene. Society rears certain ideals that establish a negative view for Huck such as hate and violence, and Twain displays this powerfully when Huck comes down from the tree weeping as he covers his friend's corpse and thinks how "[Buck] was mighty good to [him]" (138).