Society’s laws & values can conflict
with personal morals.
• Topic: freedom, Huck, Jim, nature
• Huck and Jim disagree with slavery
• Huck thinks stealing anything you don’t
need is bad (Wilks)
• Huck thinks the feud is hypocritical and
brutal
Freedom means different things to
different people
• Topic: freedom, Huck, Jim
• Huck – getting away from Pap & Widow
Douglas & Mrs. Phelps
• Jim – freedom from slavery; being with
family
People tend to behave irrationally &
even cruelly in large groups.
• Topic: nature, freedom
• Grangerford/Shepherdson feud
• Mob trying to bust king and duke
• Col. Sherburn shoots Boggs and then the
mob comes after him
• King and duke are tarred and feathered
• Mob chases Tom, Huck & Jim during
evasion
The tension between freedom &
conformity can cause inner conflict
• Topic: nature, Huck, freedom
• Huck – deciding whether to turn Jim in
– Slave hunters
– Letter to Miss Watson
• Conflict between conscience and society’s
values – or nature and civilization.
Society’s values & laws need to be
examined, questioned, & changed
if necessary.
• Topic: nature, Jim, Huck, freedom,
education, religion
• Slavery is wrong
• Practical learning should be valued –Huck
vs. Tom
• People should practice what they preach
The life of every person has value.
• Topic: Huck, Jim, freedom, nature
• Jim is clearly a human with feelings,
intelligence, and compassion
• G/S – poor Buck!! Innocent people
shouldn’t be dragged into a stupid feud.
Belief in superstition is often strong
in people who have little control in
their own lives.
• Jim, superstition, Huck
• Jim, a slave, has little control and has
strong belief in superstition (Huck, too)
• Widow & Miss Watson don’t believe in
superstition
• Phelps’s slave also superstitious