Lies for Good and Evil in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Early in Mark Twain's (1972, p. 452) novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck makes it clear that he is prone to lying, telling Judge Thatcher that if he isn't asked a question, "then I won't have to tell no lies." Lying, for purposes both good and evil, is one of the more significant themes in this story of how the son of the town drunk becomes a respectable citizen. This brief report will discuss the theme of lying and how it shapes many of Huck's adventures.
According to Lionel Trilling (1985), much of Huck's adventure consists of the moral testing and development which a character so morally sensitive as Huck must inevitably undergo. The lies that Huck tells include the normal lies that young boys invent to get themselves out of trouble with adults, to avoid punishment, and to cover up acts that they know are not acceptable. For example, in his relationship with his alcoholic father, Twain (1972) positions Huck as lying, literally in self-defense. In his relationship with Jim, the former slave, Huck often lies simply because he does not feel the need to tell a person he regards as inferior the whole truth. In one instance, Huck does not tell Jim the truth about a snake because he does not want Jim to know that the snakebite he has been afflicted with is Huck's fault (Twain, 1972).
Huck also lies when he becomes, temporarily, a female child rather than presenting himself as the boy that he is. Huck allows people to believe that his erroneously reported death did take place and even allows Jim to be publicly blamed for the killing that never took place (Twain, 1972). This is the action of a young man who has desperately needed to escape from his father and from the efforts that people have made to "civilize" him. He does not value Jim sufficiently and therefore does not at least initially believe that he has any obligations to prevent Jim from ...