Huck: Truth or Lie

Lying, running away, and stealing; Huck must make the decision between right and wrong throughout the entire of Mark Twain’s The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn. From the beginning of the novel, when faced with a decision when he must consider what is ‘morally right’ it appears Huck always chooses what is ‘morally wrong’. It is not until the twenty eighth chapter when the reader really sees Huck contemplate what he should do, “I asked her to let me think a minute; and she set there, very impatient and excited, and handsome, but looking kind of happy and eased-up, like a person that’s had a tooth pulled.” (Twain 199). At this point in the novel the King, Duke and Huck have infiltrated their way into a town, posing as the brother’s—and their servant—to a deceased man; through the process of their scheme they are beginning to deprive three young girls of their inheritance. This is when we see Huck begin to question the morality of what they are doing, whether his deliberation between the truth and lying stems from infatuation for Miss. Mary Jane or he feels it is just the right thing to do this is a major point for Huck in the novel. Huck is trying to figure out if he should tell Mary Jane that all her slaves that were sold off will be reunited—thus giving away his scheme—or if he should continue to lie to her, “I says to myself, I reckon a body that ups and tells the truth when he is in a tight place, is taking considerable many resks, though I ain’t had no experience, and can’t sat for certain; but it looks so to me, anyway; and yet here’s a case where I’m blest if it don’t look to me like the truth is better, and safer, than a lie” (Twain 200). As Huck contemplates if he is going to tell Mary Jane the truth or not we see him look at both of the options he is, it is clear during this process that he might be making the ‘right choice’ for the ‘wrong reason’. He decides to tell the truth because it is ‘better’ and ‘safer’ than lying, should we applaud Huck for making the right choice in the end or scold him for not doing it because it is the right thing to do? I think we just need to be content with the fact that Huck is making the right choice and being completely honest, even if this is a one time occurrence, “Well, I says to myself at last, I’m agoing to chance it; I’ll up and tell the truth this time…”  (Twain 200).

            We must also consider the subject that is being discussed between Mary Jane and Huck, the slaves. While Huck might still have a master—slave type dynamic with Jim we have seen that change with his time with him on the raft; especially when Huck hears about Jim’s tribulations with being separated from his family. In earlier chapters Huck seems to be moved by the fact that Jim misses his family and even compares this to ‘white folk’,  “He was thinking about his wife and his children, away up yonder, and he was low and homesick; because he hadn’t ever been away from home before in his life, and I do believe he cared just as much a for his people as white folk does for their’n”  (Twain 167). So another point we must consider, is Huck only being honest because it deals with the separation of a salve family and it reminds him of Jim’s situation?  Whether it is his infatuation with Mary Jane, his growing relationship with Jim or he was just making the right choice; Huck’s decision to be honest with Mary Jane is an important point as Huck develops in this novel.