5. The central conflict that exists in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is that Huck struggles with his conscience. This conflict gains greater focus in Huck’s dealings with Jim, as Huck must decide whether to turn Jim in, as society demands, or to protect and help his friend instead. We see the extent to which Huck’s mind is dominated by the mores of a slave holding society. As Huckleberry reminisces to himself: “I tried to make it out that I warn’t to blame, because I didn’t run Jim off from his rightful owner; but it warn’t no use, conscience up and says, every time, ‘But you knowed he was running for freedom, and you could a paddled ashore and told somebody’” (Twain 134). This quote demonstrates that there is a head on clash between Huck’s belief in what he has been taught and his natural humanitarian inclination. Huck most fully comes to grip with his moral dilemma. Miss Watson and Widow Douglas are the additional sources who assisted in brainwashing Huck that segregation against blacks was right. As Coelho writes: “Conscience says to me, ‘What had poor Miss Watson done to you, that you could see her nigger go off right under your eyes and never say a single word? What did that poor old woman do to, that you could treat her so mean?’” (Twain 134). This quote proves that he has been raised with a certain set of values, and he struggles with those values when he goes against them. As has been said before, Huck is a child of slave-holding Mississippi Valley, and as such he believes slave-holding to be right. He has been taught that anyone who attempts to free a slave is an agent of, almost literally, the devil. Huck is in a war with his mind and his heart. His mind is constantly reminding him of society’s cruel expectations, while his heart is implicating that he should assist Jim to freedom like white society obtains. As Huckleberry writes: “It froze me to hear such talk. He wouldn’t ever dared to talk such talk in his life before. Just to see what a difference it made in him the minute he judged he was about free” (Twain 135). This quote shows that Huckleberry witnesses the result of Jim’s life transformation and the impact he has made. It displays the potential happiness that has been taken away from many people of black descents. Huckleberry Finn’s heart confirms to him the actions and risks he is going through is morally correct and that society is definitely mistaken. These ideas contribute to the meaning of the book of Huck’s birth and rebirth. When he feels stifled or deadened by society, he escapes to become reborn again. And throughout the novel Huck loses his identity, assumes different names, arranges his own murder, and then, in turn, is reborn with new or different values. This relates the meaning of the work because Mark Twain is interpreting to us that racism is indeed wrong and that people being judged based on their appearance is utterly disgracing to the human race. This highlights the theme of racism, standing up for what’s right and morality. Therefore, Huckleberry Finn is in a battle with his conscience and society’s expectations.
