Throughout a man's life, it is the difficult decisions and events that expand their horizons on the moral and intellectual aspects of life. Literature often discusses the gradual maturation of man. In Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck develops both morally and intellectually as shown through his actions, his manner in thinking, and his personal opinions about individuals around him.
Huck's actions clearly demonstrate his moral development. As a young adolescent, being persuaded to do what society believes is right has a great influence on his way of thinking. Huck is previously branded with the idea that white people cannot associate with, nor help people of color under any circumstance. However, feeling like an outcast, Huck has misgivings about the morals and viewpoints of the society that characterizes him as an outsider. This uneasiness about society and his growing friendship with a slave, Jim, lead him to interrogate many of the teachings that he has acquired on race. One indication that the boy rebels against society may be found in his comment, .
It was a close place. I took it up, and held it in my hands. I was trembling because I"d got to decide betwixt two things, and I knowed it. I studied it a minute and then I says to myself "Alright then, I"ll go to hell" and I tore it up (Twain 214).
In this quote, Huck is deciding whether or not to write his guardian, Widow Douglas and inform her about the whereabouts of her runaway slave Jim. Society finds it unlawful for a person to aid a slave in finding freedom. However, Huck chooses to go to hell rather than go along with what he's been taught. He bases his decisions on his experience, his own sense of logic, and what his developing conscious tells him. He no longer relies on the beliefs of everybody else, and is clearly becoming an individual. His actions not from the influence of society, but from the heart.
