Huck Finn

While reading Huck Finn (for the second time) I couldn’t help but feel the same amount of displeasure toward America as I did the first time I read it. I realize that today we still face racism and prejudice, but since I was not alive when this was written and didn’t experience it for myself, I still can’t believe how people in our country used to treat other humans. I find it to be disgusting how common and accepted slavery was. Throughout the book, Huck is in a constant battle with society in which he doesn’t know where to stand. He has been brought up to believe that he shouldn’t associate closely with the slaves just because of their skin color. I find it incredibly upsetting that when Huck is trying to save Jim from being sold into slavery, one of the first thoughts he has pertains to what people will think of him trying to help a black man. The fact that he had to think twice about helping a man who was like a father figure to him just because of his skin color makes my head spin.

Though the book did upset me in that way, it also made me appreciate what I have now. Looking at Huck, I value my education, friends, family and lifestyle so much more. I appreciate the fact that I can show affection for just about whomever I wish and for the most part, it is fully acceptable in society. By the end of the novel, though his society still was not ideal, I believe that Huck too appreciated what he had and who he had in his life.