The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

why does huck think he should turn jim in as a runaway slave?

adventures of huckleberry finn

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Huck was raised by a racist father in a slaveowning society. Of course the views that the society has forced upon him will affect his decisions. At this point in the novel, Huck is forced to choose between making society happy and doing what he knows in his heart is the right thing. Eventually he ends up not turning Jim in and decides that he will no longer try to appease everyone by doing the right thing. He will simply do what's more convenient.

He feels loyalty toward the Widow Douglass who has treated him kindly. In the time period in which Huck lives, slaves are not people...they are property. And at this point in the story, that is the way he views Jim. He is torn by his desire to 'do right' by the Widow and to get away from town and his father.