Beyond Good and Evil: Huckleberry Finn on Human Intimacy

Author(s): Michael Lackey

Source: Amerikastudien / American Studies, Vol. 47, No. 4 (2002), pp. 491-501
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BeyondGood and Evil: HuckleberryFinnon Human Intimacy*

Michael Lackey

ABSTRACT
Scholarsconsistentlyuse a discourseofmoralityto interpretMarkTwain'snovelAdventures of
Huckleberry Finn.By contrast, I argue,notthatmorality shouldbe used to measurethevalue of
Twain'snovel,and notthatthenovelshouldbe used to establishan alternative morality,butthat
Huckleberry Finnis politically
and sociallyresponsible,accordingto Twain,preciselybecausethe
book seeks to destroyand abolishmorality. There are two stagesto thisargument.In the first
part,I examinewhyTwainconsidersmorality and politically
socially,psychologically, destructive,
whilein thesecondpart,I showwhatTwainoffershisreaderin place ofmorality, whichis an ex-
perienceoffriendship and intimacy.

Introduction

The authorof thenovelAdventures of Huckleberry Finnissuesa noticethat

"personsattempting to finda moralin itwillbe banished,"1and yet,thetruthbe
told,Twainscholarshaveconcernedthemselves withalmostnothing butthemor-
al ofthestory, themoralcode in thenovel.2LionelTrilling's
or morespecifically,
groundbreaking essayin TheLiberalImagination is perhapsone ofthefirstworks
to framethenovelso insistentlywithinthediscourseofmorality. ForTrilling,
the
novelembodies"a greatmoralidea" because it focuseson "thetruthof moral
passion,"whichis bestseen in Huck's"moralcrisis,"his"moralsensitivity," and
his "veryintensemorallife."3So influential was Trilling'sinterpretationthat
"Huck"hascometorepresent, as Jonathon Aracrightly claims,"a moralidealized
bestAmericanself."4Notsurprisingly, as Aracobserves,
critics, eithertargetHuck

* I wouldliketothanktheAlexandervonHumboldt forthegenerousfinancialassistance
Stiftung
thatmadetheresearchforthisprojectpossible.I wouldalso liketothankthereadersfromAmerika-
studien/American Studiesforhelpingmeclarify andstrengthenthearguments inthisessay.
1 Mark Finn:A Case Studyin CriticalControversy,
Twain,The AdventuresofHuckleberry ed.
GeraldGraffand JamesPhelan(Boston:BedfordSt. Martin's,1995) 27. Thiseditionof Huckle-
berryFinnwillbe citedparenthetically in thetext.
2 For a
veryusefulsummary of theevolutionof themorality-based ofTwain's
interpretations
novel,see RichardHill's essay"Overreaching: CriticalAgenda and theEndingoí Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn,"The Adventuresof Huckleberry Finn:A Case Studyin CriticalControversy,
ed. Graffand Phelan312-34.
3 Lionel Finn,"TheLiberalImagination:
"Huckleberry
Trilling, Essayson Literatureand Soci-
ety(Oxford:OxfordUP, 1981) 100-13;103,102,108,101,103.
4 Jonathon Finnas Idol and Target:TheFunctionof Criticismin Our Time
Arac,Huckleberry
(Madison:The U ofWisconsinP,1997)3.

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492 MichaelLackey

as an instanceof moralfailure,or theyidolizehimas the moralabsolute.Leo

Marx,forinstance, faultsTwainbecausethereis a "glaring lapseofmoralimagina-
tion"5in theclosingchapters, whileHarold P. SimonsonclaimsthatHuck ulti-
matelyloseshis"moralstruggle" by"entering theprison-house ofTom'sworld."6
ForJuliusLester,becauseTwain'snovel"demeansblacksandinsultshistory," itis
"immoral in itsmajorpremises."7Anothergroupofscholars, however, has found
thenoveltobe muchmoremoralinitsorientation. Forexample,BruceMichelson
claimsthatHuck's"moralsilence"duringTom'scruelandinsensitive game-play-
ingwithJim"is thepuzzlement ofa childfacing"themostcomplexoflifechoices.
GivenHuck'sresponse,Michelsonconcludesthat"Huckhas comeas faron his
moraljourneyas a plausibleboyofthattimecould."8Using"The Declarationof
Independence" and "TheGettysburg Address,"CarlF. Wieckexaminesthenovel
as an instanceof "shapinga personalmoralcode."9Alongsimilarlines,Carol
Freedmanassertsthatwe findin theyoungadventurer thekindofbehaviorthat
bestexemplifies "an instanceofmoraljudgment,"10 whileStanPoole arguesthat
the"novelexposesthelimitsofa morality ofpersonalholiness, butitalso illumi-
natesresourcesformoralrenewal."11
If,however, Twain'snovelexposesmorality as theprimary forcethatdestroys
humanrelationships and degradeshumanbeings,thenthoseinterpretations that
use morality as the touchstonefordetermining the worthof Huckleberry Finn
havefailedtocomprehend Twain'scentralpoint.12 In thefollowing
pagesI willar-
gue,notthatmorality shouldbe usedto measurethevalueofTwain'snovel,and
not thatthe novelshouldbe used to establishan alternative but that
morality,
Huckleberry Finnis politically
and sociallyresponsible, accordingto Twain,pre-
ciselybecauseitseeksto destroyand abolishmorality.13 Thatsuchan interpreta-

5 Leo
Marx,"Mr.Eliot,Mr.Trilling, and Huckleberry Finn" The Adventures ofHuckleberry
Finn:A Case Studyin CriticalControversy, ed. Graffand Phelan290-305;301.
6 HaroldP. Finnas Tragedy," YaleReview59 (Summer1970):532-48;
Simonson,"Huckleberry
537,545.
7 Julius
Lester,"Moralityand Adventures of HuckleberryFinn" The Adventuresof Huckle-
berryFinn:A Case Studyin CriticalControversy, ed. Graffand Phelan340-48;342.
8 Bruce A Cen-
Michelson,"HuckandtheGamesoftheWorld,"HuckFinnamongtheCritics:
tennialSelection,ed. M. ThomasInge (Frederick, MD: UniversityPublicationsofAmerica,1985)
211-29;226.
9 CarlF. Finn(Athens:U ofGeorgiaP,2000) 2.
Wieck,Reflguring Huckleberry
10Carol
Freedman,"The MoralityofHuckFinn,"Philosophyand Literature 21.1 (April1997):
102-13;102.
11Stan FinnintheChurch-Related
Poole,"'PrettyOrnery Huckleberry
Preaching': College,"Mak-
ingMarkTwainWorkintheClassroom, ed.JamesS. Leonard(Durham:Duke UP,1999)280-91;282.
12
Significantly,althoughRobertOrnsteinrightly notesthatTwain"specificallyforbade"any
attempt"to moralizeHuckleberry Finn,"he uses a moralapproachto critiquethe"moralulcerof
[the] slave-owning society"in Twain'snovel (Robert Ornstein,"The Endingof Huckleberry
Finn,"ModernLanguageNotes74.8 [December1959]:698-702;699).
13EverettEmersonnotesthatTwaintakesa in "Man's
verynegativestancetowardmorality
Place in theAnimalWorld"and "The Chronicleof YoungSatan."See EverettEmerson,Mark
Twain:A Literary Life(Philadelphia:U ofPennsylvania P,1999)222,250.

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 Finnon HumanIntimacy
Huckleberry 493

tionwouldbe appropriate fora textfromthelate nineteenth century is obvious

whenwe considertheimpactthatatheismhad on morality.14 ForFyodorDosto-
evsky,ifthereis no God, thenall thingsare lawful,a pointthatJean-PaulSartre
detailswhencommenting on The BrothersKaramazov:"The existentialist ...
thinksitverydistressing
thatGod does notexist,becauseall possibility offinding
valuesin a heavenofideasdisappearsalongwithHim;therecan no longerbe an
a prioriGood, sincethereis no infinite and perfectconsciousness to thinkit."15
Forthereto be an objectivemoralvalue,theremustfirstbe a God whospokeit
intobeing,butsincethereis no God,therecan be no morality.16
Whilemanywritersmournedthe loss of God and morality, some rejoiced.17
Forinstance, whendiscussing God's death,Nietzscheclaims:"The concept'God'
hashitherto beenthegreatest objectionto existence We denyGod; indenying
"18
God, we denyaccountability: onlyby doingthatdo we redeemtheworld.-
Not surprisingly,
ifGod is an objectionto existence,so too is morality, whichex-
plainswhy Nietzschedesires its death:"My problem: What harm has come to
mankindthrough moralsand through itsmorality?"19 Obviously, thisclaim from
Nietzsche'sNotebooksmerelyanticipatesthe moresystematic denunciation of
moralitywe findin the1887work,On theGenealogyofMorals:
As thewillto truththusgainsself-consciousness-
therecan be no doubtofthat- moral-
itywillgradually
perishnow:thisis thegreatspectaclein a hundredactsreservedforthe

14 thatTwainwas an atheistis questionable,especiallywhenwe consider

Obviously,suggesting
how muchhe vacillatedwithregardto the God-conceptfromthe early1880s untilhis death.
While I do not wantto suggestthatTwainwas eitheran "unconditionalhonestatheist,"like
Nietzsche,or an "out-and-out unbeliever,"likeFreud,I do thinkwe can saythathe experimented
withan atheisticvisionoflife,specificallyduringtheyearswhenhe wroteHuckleberry Finn.For
instance,in thepublicationyearof thenovel,Twainpennedan atheisticdeclarationto Charles
WarrenStoddard:"I havefoundthatas perfectpeace [as thepeace resulting fromreligiousbelief]
is to be foundin absoluteunbelief.I look back withthesame shuddering horrorupon thedays
whenI believed,as youdo uponthedayswhenyouwereafraidyoudidnotbelieve.Bothofus are
certainnow;and in certainty thereis rest"(qtd. in JohnT. Frederick,The DarkenedSky:Nine-
teenth-Century AmericanNovelistsand Religion[NotreDame: U of NotreDame P, 1969] 152).
For usefuldiscussionsof Twain'squarrelwithGod and belief,see Frederick'sbook and Alfred
Kazin's God and theAmericanWriter (New York:AlfredA. Knopf,1997) 176-93.
15Jean-Paul
Sartre,"The HumanismofExistentialism," EssaysinExistentialism (Secaucus,NJ:
Carol Publishing Group,1999)31-62;40-41.
16The atheismofthenineteenth had an enormousimpacton morality,
century language,epis-
temology, etc.Forsomeinsightful
subjectivity, discussionsoftheprofoundeffects ofatheism,see
David Berman,A Historyof Atheismin Britain:FromHobbes to Russell(London: Routledge,
1988); Susan E. Lorsch,WhereNatureEnds: LiteraryResponsesto theD esigni ficationof the
Landscape (London: AssociatedUniversity Presses,1983); and J.Hillis Miller,The Disappear-
ance of God: FiveNineteenth-Century Writers(Cambridge,MA: HarvardUP, 1963).
17For a discussionof various of see myessay"Atheismand Sadism:Nietzsche
types atheism,
and Woolfon Post-GodDiscourse,"Philosophyand Literature 24.2 (2000): 346-63.
18Friedrich
oftheIdols,trans.ReginaldJ.Hollingdale(New York:Random
Nietzsche,Twilight
House, 1989)64.
19Friedrich
Nietzsche,TheWilltoPower,trans.WalterKaufmann(New York:VintageBooks,
1968) 169.

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494 MichaelLackey

nexttwocenturiesinEurope- themostterrible,
mostquestionable,and perhapsalso the
mosthopefulofall spectacles.-20
LikeNietzsche, Twainconsidersreligionto be a signofprofound culturalstupid-
itythat leads to human destruction; so it would not be unreasonable to read
Huckleberry Finn as an instanceof post-God and post-moralityredemption.21
To shedlighton Huckleberry Finn,I willexaminein thefirstpartof thisessay
whyTwainconsidersmorality and politicallydestruc-
socially,psychologically,
tive,and thenin the secondpartI willshowwhatTwainoffershis readersin
place ofmorality.

Putsimply, morality,according to Twain,alienateshumansfromhumans.To in-

dicatemorality's deadlypower,TwainmakesTom Sawyerthespokesperson of
whatis right,whilehe usesHuckto represent oflivingin a world
thepossibilities
beyondgood and evil.According to Tom,wholivesbytheauthority ofthebook,
itis notmoralto violatethelawsinscribed withinthewritten text.Indeed,when
he decidesto freeJimfromthePhelpshut,he insiststhatthetwoadolescentsuse
case-knives to dig a hole.WhenHuck objectsbecause it wouldtake too much
time,Tomretorts: "It ain'tright,and it ain'tmoral,and I wouldn'tlikeit to get
out" (228). Tom'sindignant moralstanceexplainsHuck'searlierconfusion when
Huckinitially informs hisfriendthathe intendsto freeJim.Insteadofcondemn-
ingHuck'sactionas immoral, Tomsaysthathe willhelpstealJim.Tom,whonor-
mally would notwant itto getoutthathe violatedone oftheimportant lawsfrom
the books,agreesto freeJimsimplybecause Jimis alreadyfree,but because
Huck does notyetknowthatMiss Watsonhas liberatedherslave,Huck inter-
pretsTom'sbehavioras a blatantviolationofthelawofthebook.In otherwords,
havingbeen formedwithinthecommunity ofmoralsand conscience, Huckcan-
notyetimagine, on an emotionallevel,a worldbeyondgood and evil;so he casts
a criticalglanceon his mentorand friendforbeingwillingto freeJim:"I'm
boundto sayTomSawyerfell,considerable, inmyestimation. OnlyI couldn'tbe-
lieveit.TomSawyera nigger stealerV(212) Butnotice,threechapterslater,when
Tomdecidesto use picksinsteadofcase-knives to freeJim,Huckrejectsthemor-
al visionthatnormallyholdsthe two emotionally and psychologically
captive:
"Ticks is thething, moralor no moral;and as forme,I don'tcareshucksforthe

20 FriedrichNietzsche,On the
Genealogyof Morals,trans.WalterKaufmannand ReginaldJ.
Hollingdale(New York:RandomHouse, 1989) 161.
Z1ForTwain'smostbittercomments on religion, on Religion HudsonRe-
see his"Reflections
view3 (1963): 329-52.In thisessay,whenhe questionswhether"theChristianreligionis hereto
and itsGod mustfollowtherule.Theymustpass on in
stay,"he saysno: "I thinkthatChristianity
theirturnand makeroomforanotherGod and a stupiderreligion.Or perhapsa betterthanthis?
No. Thatis notlikely.Historyshowsthatinthematterofreligionswe progressbackwardand not
theotherway"(342). The implication throughout theessayis thatwe willonlybeginto producea
healthierfunctioning societywhenwe abolishreligion.

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 Finnon HumanIntimacy
Huckleberry 495

morality ofit'" (228). AlthoughHuckhas been livinga lifebeyondgood and evil

fromthemomenthe rejectsconscienceand decidesnot to re-enslaveJim,it is
onlyat thispointinthenovelthathe beginsprocessing thetrans-
and articulating
formations occurring within him.
To understand whyHuck rejectsmorality, we mustfocuson his mostintense
confrontations withhis'conscience.'On thebasisof a morecontemporary 'con-
science,'it would seem that is
slavery morallywrong, but forHuck, when he dis-
coversthathe is on thevergeofhelpingJimgethisfreedom, his"conscienceup
and says,everytime,'But youknowedhe was running forhisfreedom, and you
could a paddled ashore and told somebody'"(101). Twain'sdecisionto have
Huck'sconscienceupbraidhimforsomething so clearlyreprehensible as slavery
underscores, not that the is
conscience an impartial of
judge objective moral val-
ues,but that itis a social a
construction, of
receptacle his values
culture's and ide-
ology.22To underscore moreforcefully thedegreeto whichthe'conscience'is so-
ciallyconstructed, Twainhas Huckmakea commentthatseemsmoreconsistent
withTom'spersonality23: "Consciencesaysto me,'Whathad poor Miss Watson
doneto you,thatyoucouldsee herniggergo offrightunderyoureyesand never
say one singleword?Whatdid thatpoor old womando to you,thatyou could
treatherso mean?Why,she triedto learnyouyourbook'" (101).
Throughout thenovel,Tominsistson theauthority and legitimacyofthebook,
specifically claimingthatit is through"books" thata person"knowswhat'sthe
correctthingto do" (39): "'It don'tmakeno difference howfoolishit is,it'sthe
rightway-and it'stheregularway.Andthereain'tno otherway,thatever/heard
of,and I've read all the books thatgivesany information about thesethings'"
(226).NoticehowTwainunderscores theword"right"Whether thelawsanctions
something just (an AfricanAmerican'srightto vote,whichinfuriates Pap) or
something unjust(slavery),itis theauthority ofthetextthatdictateshumanbe-
havior.As a slave owner,MissWatsonhas learnedHuck hisbook,theBible in
particular, and notsurprisingly, Huck's'conscience'dictatesto himthelaw ofthe
bookshehasgivenhim.24 The suggestion,hereand elsewhereinthenovel,is that

22 Leo B. "the internalizedformof society,"but

Levy arguesthatconscienceis a construct,
whenhe focuseson morality, he makesa subtle(and to mymind,illegitimate)distinctionbetween
"conventional morality"and a truemorality. leads himto claimof Twain:"His
This distinction
perceptionof thewaysin whichconsciencebecomesthe tool of organizedhypocrisy led himto
thehope,expressedthrough Huck Finn,thatmoraldecisionindependent oftheworkings ofcon-
scienceis possible"(Leo B. Levy,"Societyand Consciencein Huckleberry Finn,"Nineteenth-Cen-
turyFiction18.4 [March1964]:388,390). As I arguein thisessay,Twainresisted,throughout his
novel,makinga distinction betweensocietalconscienceand a trueconscience,conventional mo-
ralityandtruemorality. FortheAmericansatirist, bothmorality andconscienceare destructive as
either.
ofrehabilitating
such,so thereis no possibility
ZJ
LevynotesthatTwaincritiquesconsciencem manyotherworks(389).
Z4Forusefuldiscussionsofthe
waymanyChristians appealed to theBible to sanctionslavery,
see Kazin's God and theAmericanWriter 57-141;Donald G. Matthews, Religionin theOld South
(Chicago:U ofChicagoP,1977) 136-84;and BertramWyatt-Brown, YankeeSaintsand Southern
Sinners(Baton Rouge: LouisianaStateUP, 1985) 155-82.

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496 MichaelLackey

thewritten wordformstheconscienceofthosewithintheculture, so thedictates

ofconsciencewilldiffer inrelationto thesociety'sdominant texts.25
Laterinthenovel,Huckexperiences moreconfusion on thetopicofslaveryand
conscience, once again,hurling him into a stateof crisis:"The moreI studied
aboutthis,themoremyconsciencewenttogrinding me, and themorewickedand
low-downand orneryI gotto feeling"(201). Sinceitis a divinity thatestablishes
and sanctionsthemorallaw,Huckconsidersthefeelingemanating fromhiscon-
science"theplainhandofProvidence"(201),so itis thisdivinely sanctioned mor-
al law thatnearlyturnsHuck on Jim.Significantly, whenHuck mustchoose
whether or notto turnJimoverto MissWatson,he mustmakea choice,notbe-
tweentwotypesofmorality, butbetweenmorality andfriendship. Theimplication
ofthenovelat thispointis: acceptingmorality meansrejecting friendship, while
accepting friendship means rejectingmorality.
If thisinterpretation is convincing, we mustask: whydoes Twainsuggestthat
morality-necessarily-excludesfriendship? Or conversely, whydoes friendship
-necessarily-excludemorality? We can answerthesequestionsby analyzing
Tom'sand Huck'sdecisionswithregardto usingpicksor case-knives to freeJim.
ForTom,whois "[f]ullofprinciple," thearbitrary morallawsdocumented intexts
dictatehowhe shouldrelatetoJim,whileforHuck,whodoesnot"careshucksfor
themorality ofit,"hisintimate friendshipwithJimdetermines howhe shouldact.
Notsurprisingly, afterTomexplainswhythetwoshouldproceedas theydo,Huck
tellsTom: "I don'tgivea dead ratwhatthe authorities thinkabout it nuther"
(228). At thispoint,Huck realizes,as Tomcannot,thatthedictatesof authority
figures are justthearbitrary constructions ofthosein power,so insteadofusing
mentalprojections (morality) to determine hisrelationship to Jim,he usessome-
thing else:his of
feeling respect and love.
ButHuckhasnotalwaysbeenso respectful ofJim,norhashe alwaysexpressed
muchlove forhim.WhatTwaindoes,however,is to traceHuck'sdevelopment,
showinghowhe is initially incapableof experiencing anygenuinesensitivity for
Jimearlyinthenovel,buthowhe slowlydevelopstheemotionaland psychologi-
cal capacityforintimacy towardstheend.Moresignificantly, theintenseemotion-
al connection betweenJimand Huck can onlyoccur,Twainsuggests, insofaras
Huckshuffles offthemortalcoilsofmorality. Notice,forinstance, thatHuckpar-
ticipates intwoseparateprankson Jimbeforehisfirst crisisof'conscience.'In the
firstone (chaptertwo),Tomwants"to tieJim"to a "treeforfun,"butHuckob-
jects,notbecause he feelsanything forJim,but becauseJim"mightwake and
makea disturbance, and thenthey'd[MissWatsonand theWidowDouglas]find
outI warn'tin" (35). In chapterfifteen, whenHuckconvinces Jimthathisexperi-
encein thefogwasjusta dream,Huckregrets playingtheprankon Jim,butthis

25JamesM. Cox showshowtheactionofTwain'snovel"is notdefining theconscience

rightly
so muchas rejectingit.Whethertheconscienceis 'lower'social conscienceor the'higher'inner
conscience,itremainsthetyrantwhichdrivesitsvictimsintotheabsurdcornersfromwhichthey
cannotescape" (JamesM. Cox, "Attackson theEndingand Twain'sAttackon Conscience,"The
Adventures ofHuckleberryFinn:Л Case Studyin CriticalControversy,
ed. Graffand Phelan305-
12;311).

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 Finnon HumanIntimacy
Huckleberry 497

time,he is sorryforJim'ssakeratherthanhisown:"It wasfifteen minutesbefore

I couldworkmyself up to go and humblemyself to a nigger-butI doneit,and I
warn'teversorryforit afterwards, neither.I didn'tdo himno moremeantricks,
and I wouldn'tdone thatone ifI'd a knowedit wouldmakehimfeelthatway"
(100).Whatis different fromthefirst prankis Huck'sabilitytohavea deepfeeling
ofrespectfortheinnerlifeofanotherperson,and itis precisely thisfeelingthat
leadsHuckto giveup playingprankson Jim.
WhileHuckfeelsinchapterfifteen muchmorestrongly forJimthanhe does in
chaptertwo, he still
has a longjourney on hisroad to emotional intimacy.Forin-
stance,although he no longerplayspranks Jim, on Huck does not yethave theca-
to
pacity experiencedeep feeling for hisolder friend, whichis obvious when a ri-
verboatrunsover theirraft.Jimcould have been severelyhurtor even killed
duringtheaccident,butHuck beginsanotheradventurewiththe Grangerfords
withno apparentconcernforJim'swell-being. His responseat thispointstandsin
starkcontrast tohisexperience inchapter31,whenhe cannotfindJimbecausehe
hasbeensoldbackintoslavery: ". . . itwarn'tno use- oldJimwasgone.ThenI set
downand cried;I couldn'thelpit" (200). Thisscene,perhapsthemostmovingin
thenovel,is so powerful precisely becauseitmarkstheradicaltransformation that
Huck has undergone. Clearly,Huck has notonlylearnedhowto feeldeeplyfor
another,he hasalso formed a profound attachment toJim.Butthestrength ofthis
connection, as well as Huck's abilityto feelthe innerlifeof anotherperson,is
nearlyjeopardizedonlya fewparagraphslaterwhenhis 'conscience'beginsto
chastisehim forviolatingone of his culture'smorallaws. However,because
Huck'sfeelings forJimoutweigh hisrespectforthemorallaw,he chooseshuman
friendship.26
Giventhisinterpretation, we canmakeconsistent senseoftheunsettling andof-
tentimescontroversial conclusionof the novel.Obviously,the mostdisturbing
sentencein theworkcomeswhenTomdeclaresthatJim"'ain'tno slave;he's as
freeas anycreturthatwalksthisearth'"(262). WhileTom'squixoticpranksand
adventures mayhavedisturbed thereaderinearlierchapters, hisclaimthatJimis
freetransforms theearliergame-playing intoa formofsadism-thereis a linkbe-
tweenTom'senjoyment and Jim'ssuffering. Afterall,whenAuntSallyquestions
Tomabouthismotivation forsetting freea freedslave,Tomreplies:"Why,I want-
ed theadventure ofit;and I'd a wadedneck-deepin bloodto-" (262). Tomdoes
notfinishhissentence, butgivenhisbehaviorduringthelasttenchapters itis clear
thathe wouldwillingly allowothers'as wellas hisownbloodto be spilledforthe
sake ofhismoraladventures. But moreimportantly, through Tom'streatment of
JimTwainindicateshowlittlechangethereis whena blackmanis finally given his
freedom.In otherwords,Tom'scommentaboutJimbeingfreeis ironic,forthe
novel,publishedin1885,documents howmuchfreedom whiteAmericaconferred

26 Freedman
arguesthatHuck, by beingmore sensitiveto Jim'ssituation,is actuallybeing
moral,butto arguethisclaim,she mustimposea moralsystemontothetext.If,however,I have
been sufficiently
attentiveto Twain'slogicin thenovel,Freedman'sinterpretation
wouldbe less
thanpersuasive,because Twaindoes notofferhis readersan alternative
moralityso muchas he
as such.
rejectsmorality

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498 MichaelLackey

on AfricanAmericansbothbeforeand aftertheCivilWar.Jimmaybe free,but

freedomfora blackmanstillmeansbeingsubjectto thedegrading game-playing
ofa sadistlikeTomSawyer.
Buton whatgroundscanTomjustify hiscruelandinhumane treatment ofJim?
As I havebeensuggesting this
throughout essay, Tom appeals to thehard and fast
morallawsfoundin booksin orderto sanctionhiscruelgame,and as Twainhas
beensuggesting throughout thenovel,morality, as a socialconstruct, providesthe
legaland emotional to
legitimation justify Tom's treatment ofJim. So morality, in-
steadofensuring thatall humanshavea fighting chanceto participate in theuni-
versalpublicgood,actuallyfunctions to maximizepleasurefortheculture'sap-
pointed while
sadists, it simultaneously sanctionsthe degradationof culturally
marginalized Put
persons. differently, without theculture'svalorization ofmorali-
ty,Tom could not effectively his
justify systematic abuse ofJim. Granted, thecul-
turecouldeasilycondemnTom'smoralcode and establishan alternative system,
one thatresultsin bettertreatment oftheculturally marginalized, butforTwain,
sincethoseinpower(thosewhowritethebooks)determine morality,theculture's
sociallyconstructed moralcode is certaintoservethesadisticneedsanddesiresof
thesociety'sdominant figures.
Giventhisreadingof thenovel,themostimportant ironyaboutmorality, ac-
cording toTwain,wouldbe thatitdoesnothing to improvethequalityoflivingfor
thewholepopulation. ForJim,thegoalis freedom, andMissWatson'smoraldeci-
sionto freeJiminno wayleadsto morehumanetreatment ofherformer slave.If
thereis goingto be a substantive changein thewaytheracesinteract, a change
thatwillresultinsensitivity andrespectfortheOther,morality cannotplaya role,
to it
because,according Twain, merely functions to enable the dominant powerto
maximizeitspleasurebysubjecting theOtherintoan inferior stateofbeing.Stat-
ed inNietzschean terms, Twainrealizesthata ruthless willtopowerinhabits every
humanbody,and whilemoralists believethattheycan construct a truthsystem
thatwillensurefairandjusttreatment oftheOther,Twainwouldsuggestthatthe
sadisticimpulsesofa TomSawyerwillalwaysseriously affecttheculture'smoral
constructs.To thinkthata culturecouldproducea truly just moral system is a fail-
uretounderstand thesadisticimpulsesthatgovernhumanactions.Therefore, giv-
en thatmorality,insteadofneutralizing theseimpulses, actuallyprovidesthemost
favorableconditions forthoseinpowerto satisfy theirsadisticneedsand desires,
Twainhas Huck rejectmorality outright as he developsa moreresponsibleap-
proachto humaninteraction.27
Obviously, scholarscouldeasilychallengemyinterpretation bypointing to the
lasttenchapters, whenbothHuck and Tomplaytheircruelestand mostvicious
prankon Jim,butifwe understand thecomplexity ofHuck'sdilemma,thereis a
clearreplyto suchcritics. First,Huckis a fourteen-year-old boy.Whilehe has,by
virtueofhisactions,beguntheprocessofabolishing morality fromhislifephilos-
ophy, he does not yet have the emotional and/or philosophical capacityto register
hissystem ofliving,and one can hardlyholda fourteen-year-old accountableto a
27 I am not
myclaimis that,bybeingsubjectedinto
sayingthathumansare bornsadists;rather,
a
beingthrough process ofsocial 'humans'
construction, are habituatedintosadism.

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 Finnon HumanIntimacy
Huckleberry 499

highlevelof intellectual whena brilliant

consistency thinker likeNietzschewas
to
struggling detaila coherentpositionon thesame topic exactlythesametime
at
whenTwain'snovelwas published.Second,even ifHuck wereable to register
someofthecentraltenetsofa post-morality paradigmshift, hisre-immersion into
themoralculturewouldsurelyoccasionmuchconfusion. To faultHuck forsuc-
cumbingto thecharismatic TomSawyer'ssystem, a systemthathas been estab-
lishedand legitimated through sanctioned
culturally texts,is to failto appreciate
thecomplexity ofimagining an as-yetunimagined thatis,a worldbeyond
society,
thecategoriesofgood and evil.Whenreadingtheclosingchaptersof thenovel,
we shouldbe askingto whatdegreecan Hucksalvagehispost-morality visionof
humanintimacy and friendship,
ratherthancondemning himforbeingpartially
seducedbackintothedemeaning and degradingcultureofmorality.

II

WhatTwainoffers hisreaderinAdventures ofHuckleberry Finn,insteadofmo-

is a philosophy
rality, ofhumanintimacy, a systeminwhichindividualsdevelopand
refinethecapacityto feelandrespecttheinnerlifeoftheOther.Moresignificant-
ly,shouldthissystemgaincurrency withintheculture,Twainsuggests, morality
wouldbecomecompletely irrelevant.
Huckhas onlya vagueunderstanding ofhis
post-morality philosophy,andobviously,whatenableshimtodevelopitis hisclose
relationship withJim.But beforeHuckcouldactuallyshuffle offthedebilitating
coilsofmorality, twothingsmustoccur.First,he muststepoutsidehisegotistical
worldas he learnsto feelthattheinnerlifeoftheOtheris worthacknowledging
and respecting. Whilefeelingdeeplyforanothermayseemto be a naturalactfor
anyone with a sensitive
boneinhisorherbody,suchis notthecase.Huckis theso-
cializedproductofPap,a manwhopassionately supportslawsthatdegradeAfri-
canAmericans andwhohasneither thecapacitynorthedesiretofeelhiswayinto
theinnerlifeofa blackman,be he slaveorfree(52-53).AfterHuckconvinces Jim
thatthetwoofthemwerenotseparatedinthefog,orrather, afterHuckconvinces
Jimthathe had dreamtthewholeaffair, Huckfeelsconsiderable remorseas Jim
indicateshowpainfultheprankwasforhim(100). To feelenoughforJim(some-
thingforwhichTomwoulddeveloponlya verylimitedcapacity)to vowno more
pranks(something Tomwouldneverdo) indicatesthatHuck has movedfarbe-
yond his fatherintherealmoffeelingfortheculturally Other.
marginalized
ButHuckdoesnothavejustthecapacitytorespondsensitively toJim'spain;he
can also makeintelligent inferencesaboutJim'sinnerworld.Forinstance, during
thenight, whileJimis on theraftandkeepingwatch,Huckobserveshim"withhis
handdrawnbetwixt hisknees,moaningandmourning tohimself"
(155).ForHuck,
thecause ofJim'stearsis hisseparationfromhisfamily: "He was thinkingabout
hiswifeand hischildren, awayup yonder,and he was lowand homesick; because
he hadn'teverbeen awayfromhomebeforein hislife;and I do believehe cared
justas muchforhispeopleas whitefolksdoes their'n.It don'tseemnatural, butI
reckonit'sso" (155).Evidently, Jimhassharedimportant eventsabouthislifewith
Huck,and Huckhas listenedto,registered, and feltthemeaningofthosestories

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500 MichaelLackey

according toJim.Butmoreimportantly, on thebasisofhearingJim'sstories, Huck

can drawa reasonableconclusionaboutthelogicof Jim'spresentsituation, an
emotionallogicthatleadsJimtotears.ThatHuckcouldbe so sensitive toJim'sin-
nerlifeis mostimpressive whenwe considerhowmanylayersofprejudiceHuck
mustshedinorderto treatJimwithso muchrespect.UnlikeTom,whocannotsee
beyondhisculture'sstupidandoffensive stereotypes aboutpeopleofAfricande-
scent("Jim'sa niggerandwouldn'tunderstand thereasonsforit,andhowit'sthe
custominEurope"[223],Tomsays),Hucksees inJima leveloffeelingthatforces
himto abandonone ofhisracistpreconceptions. Therefore, Huck'sabilityto feel
deeply forJim clearly marks a significant
development in Huck'scapacityforinti-
macy-he is no to a
longerjustresponding person who has been hurt;he is infer-
ringthe nature of a person'shurt evenwithout the personexpressing itdirectly.
The mostimportant development in Huck's transformation,however, comes
whenhe is movedto tearsbecauseoftheunfair treatment Jimsuffersat thehands
ofothers.To highlight Huck'stransformation, letus juxtaposetwoscenes.In the
Huckhas been separatedfromJim.Althoughhe does notknowwhathap-
first,
penedto Jim,Huck nonetheless carrieson an adventure withtheGrangerfords.
Whenone oftheslavesbringsHuckto thesleepingJim,Hucknarrates: "I waked
himup,andI reckoneditwasgoingto be a grandsurprise to himto see me again,
butitwarn't.He nearlycried,he wasso glad,buthe warn'tsurprised" (120).Huck
assumesthatJimshouldbe overjoyedto see hisfourteen-year-old friend, notthe
otherwayaround.However,itis Huckwhoshouldbe mostrelieved,forwhenthe
twowereseparated,Jimkeptan eye on Huck by swimming behindhim,while
Huckhad no idea ofJim'swhereabouts. Putdifferently, Huckbelieveshimself to
be thelegitimate focalpointofemotionalconcern, regardlessofthecircumstances
ofhissituationin relationto Jim,butwereHuck capableat thispointofseeing
Jimas a fullperson,and werehe able to feeldeeplyforJimas a consequence,it
wouldbe Huckwhoshouldbe surprised andneartears.
Butlaterinthetext,Huckdoes respondmuchmoresensitively to Jim'smisfor-
tune.Thistime,on discovering thattheKingandtheDuke havesoldJimbackinto
slavery(201),Hucksitsdownand cries- "I couldn'thelpit" (200),he says.What
stimulates Huck'semotionalresponseis his feelingforJim'ssuffering. In other
words,Jim'ssuffering is thefocalpointofemotionalconcern, andbecauseHuckis
now capable of feelingthe injusticeof Jim'ssituation, he cannothold back his
tears.Not surprisingly, only a few paragraphs later,Huck rejectstheslave-code
morality oftheSouth,evenifitmeansgoingto hell.So Huckhas madea signifi-
cantmovetowarddeveloping a philosophy beyondgoodandevil,andithasbeen
hisintimate experiences withJimthathaveenabledhimto do so.

Conclusion

Is Huck'stransformationcomplete?Onlyifyoubelievein fairytales.Butjust
becauseHuck'svisionofa post-morality is onlyinan earlystageof
lifephilosophy
itsdevelopment,thisdoes notmeanthatTwainrejectedHuckor hisexperience.
BothHuckandTwainwereon thevergeofimagining a culturebeyondgoodand

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 Finnon HumanIntimacy
Huckleberry 501

evil.FortheHuckleberry Finnwhohas thecapacityto feelhiswayintotheinner

lifeofanother,a moralcode on thetopicofslaveryis completely irrelevant-after
hiseducationinhumanfeelingthrough hisrelationshipwithJim,Huckcouldnev-
er livewithhimself werehe to enslaveanother.But forthemoralists ofthenine-
teenthcentury, thereweremanyarguments to justifythemostruthlessformof
slaverytheworldhas everseen.Twainrealized,as didNietzsche, thatmoralityis
destructiveforsociety,notso muchbecauseitfailsto ensurehumanetreatment of
thevariousgroupswithintheculture, butmainlybecauseitprovidestheneeded
for
justification the mostbarbaricforms ofsadismto flourish withinsociety.The
way Twain setsup thenovel,Huck must make a choicebetween morality
(con-
science)and intimacy had Huck chosentheformer,
(friendship): he wouldhave
had to sacrifice
theonlyrealfriendship we see in thenovel,butsincehe accepts
the latter,moralitybecomes irrelevant.Because world-widesocial injustice
woundedTwainso deeply,theculturecouldno longerafford to maintainthesys-
temsofmorality andconsciencethathavedominated forso long,so he offeredhis
readerin the formof Huckleberry Finnsomething healthier,muchricher,and
morehumane:humanintimacy.28

28 Richard
WrightsaysofTwain:"Twainhidhisconflictin satireand weptin privateoverthe
and theinjusticesof his civilization."
brutalities I am notso certainthatTwain'sconflicts
are so
wellhidden,butI agreeinwholewithWright's assessmentofTwain'sresponseto thesocialinjus-
tice of Westernculture.I have takenWright'squote fromShelleyFisherFishkin,Was Huck
Black?Mark Twainand AfricanAmericanVoices(New York:OxfordUP, 1993) 140.

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