Huckleberry Finn: Typical Teenage Boy or Wise Beyond His Years?

As Gandhi once said, Constant development is the law of life, and any realist author would strive to show this in their created personas, because after all, isnt the purpose of the realism genre to depict characters and their actions as they would be if it was real life? Mark Twain, the lauded author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, though a realist himself, has had his character of Huck Finn accused many times over of being wiser than a fourteen year old boy could ever be. However, when analyzed using the developmental theories of Piaget, Kohlberg, and Erikson, Hucks behavior is mostly on par with the typical adolescent. Throughout the novel, Huck struggles with his morals, the most key battle being his decision to rescue Jim, despite the fact that Jim is a run-away slave and his capture is right by the law. With his statement, All right, then, Ill go to hell(Twain 250), Hucks moral development would be defined, in Kohlbergs theory of moral development, as Stage 6:Ethical principle orientation. In more clear terms, an individual at this stage bases a decision on universal principles of conscienceThese are abstract and general principles, which often refer to dignity and worth of each person, rather than concrete rules(Zimbardo et al. 394). Though by modern standards Huck would be considered racist when he says, I knowed he was white inside, and I reckoned hed say what he did say (Twain 319), what Huck is saying is that he considers Jim to be a real person, or by that periods definition, white, and with this, Huck sees the true worth of Jim as a person and not property, establishing his high morals over his initial opinions of Jim. However, Hucks axioms are not consistent throughout the storyline, which is extremely realistic. Its recognizable in everyday life how a persons morals change depending on the situation. Consider this: a bystander is watching someone else be berated by the teacher for incorrectly answering a problem the bystander themselves also got wrong. How might the

onlooker respond to the situation if they are friends with the unfortunate victim? What if they arent? What if they are looking for that teachers approval? What if they dont care what anyone thinks about them? As humans, no one is consistent, even in the ever important concept of morality. Its a simple fact, and this is reflected in Huck when he feels that he has done the wrong thing by helping Jim run away, because I begun to get it through my head that he was most free-and who was to blame for it? Why, me. I couldnt get that out of my conscience, no how nor no way (Twain 104). At Stage 3, the emphasis is on being a "good boy" or "good girl" in order to win approval and avoid disapproval, while at Stage 4 the concept of doing one's duty and upholding the social order becomes predominant(Strickland). Using that information, at the time of his first encounter with the moral dilemma of his involvement with Jims escape, Huck is functioning at Moral Development Stage 4, in which law is above all, whereas when he retrieves Miss Sophia Grangerfords bible just to please her, he is at a solid 3 on the scale. Morals are rationalized solutions to dilemmas where there is no one right answer, and considering how rare rational thought is during the adolescent years, morals are in no way consistent during that time. Huck is just like any other teenager, crossing bridges when he must and trying to find himself and his ideals and his way of going about in the world. According to Eriksons theory of psychosocial development, which defines healthy social development through the overcoming of key principle challenges unique to each stage of life, a young adolescents main trial is to overcome the anonymity of Role Confusion to create their very own Identity. Huck, being the typical fourteen year old boy that he is, is also facing this ordeal. the fifth stage, in which the adolescent must form a stable identity and achieve a sense of self. While social issues such as "fitting in with the group" are important at this point, Erikson emphasizes the importance of achieving an individual identity based on self-knowledge and

continuity of experience.(Strickland). Huck displays the desire to fit in with the group when, despite after spending weeks as the leader between he and Jim, he quickly slips back into the simple position of Toms follower, even accepting Toms overly-dramatic plan with few questions, And it didnt. He told me what it was, and I see in a minute it was worth fifteen of mine, for style, and would make Jim just as free a man as mine would, and maybe get us all killed besidesand said we would waltz in on it(Twain 271). Any and every teenager has inner turmoil they must face, and as stated earlier, Hucks big dilemma is over his morals: Will he fill the mold of society and turn Jim in, or will he let him go on to freedom? Huck becomes the individual and decides to even rescue Jim back from slavery after he is sold by the Duke and the King. While the Duke and the King are scamming the poor Wilks orphans, Huck experiences immense guilt and decides to aid the poor sisters by letting Mary Jane know of the conmens despicable plan. He didnt want to be a filthy liar anymore, Well, I says to myself at last, Im agoing to chance it; Ill up and tell the truth this time,(Twain 219). Hucks decision to leave Pap and the Widow also defines him: Huck was not willing to be the boy who was beat to death by his drunk, greedy father, nor did he want to be a sivilized boy, and for that, Mark Twain thanks him, I got to thinking that if I could fix up some way to keep pap and the widow from trying to follow me,but what he had been saying give me the very idea I wanted. I says to myself, I can fix it now so nobody wont think of following me (Twain 38). Overall, Huck used his creativity and his own actions to shape the individual he wanted to be and his very juvenile view of the world and his challenge more than proves his youthfulness at heart. In the period of concrete operations, from about 7 to 11, they begin to think logically. For example, they learn to organize their knowledge, classify objects, and do thought problems. The period of formal operation lasts from about 11 to 15. At this time, children begin to reason

realistically about the future and to deal with abstractions (Abramson). Hucks ability to reorganize the history he learned from the books he found in the truck from the sunken steamboat, which he used to educate Jim one night along the river about all the kings and what they did and where they were now, I read considerable to Jim about kings, and dukes, and earls, and such, and how gaudy they dressed, and how much style they put on, and called each other your majesty(Twain 91) places him somewhere in between concrete and formal operational thinking. However, when Jim and he argued over how wise King Solomon had actually been, though he is right and he knows it, he is unable to find a reason of his own making to support his thinking besides, Yes, the widow told me all about it (Twain 93), leaning him more towards the concrete end of the spectrum, which is actually considered behind in development since Huck is supposed to be fourteen. But, he is capable of abstractions, such as when he planned his death or when he formulated a simple, but workable proposal for Jims escape, My plan is this, I says. We can easy find out if its Jim in there. Then get up my canoe to-morrow nightand shove off down the river on the raft, with Jim, hiding daytimes and running nights, the way me and Jim used to do before. Wouldnt that plan work?(Twain 271). Though not his most creative plan, it required developed thought and consequential foresight to produce it, installing Huck as a cognitive operant of the formal kind, and establishes him as ordinary adolescent in regards to cognitive development. It is understandable why critics would think Huck too wise for his age. He is incredibly creative and self-sufficient enough to take care of himself and Jim while on the river, and while that is somewhat suspicious, the reader has to remember that Huck basically raised himself for much of his life. His father was an unpredictable drunkard who made his son fear for his life with his presence, but he also taught Huck the skills of borrowing when you need it and lying

to keep yourself safe. Creativity and inventiveness are traits that vary from person to person; Huck just has a lot of them. Another possible reason for why Huck would be thought of as having unrealistically amounts of worldly knowledge is because there is a bias against Southern boys who are raised in the backwoods without real parents around that anyone with that kind of life cant possibly be that good at taking care of themselves or that smart. Its unfortunate, but its been around for a long time and its going to continue to be around for a long time. Huckleberry Finn, an inventive child born of the Mississippi, is proven by the developmental theories of Kohlberg, Erikson, and Piaget, to be no wiser than the common adolescent boy. Twains realist style of writing shows through with his well-developed, plausible persona of Huck, a boy who undergoes multiple changes in character, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.