Heroic Huckleberry Finn

Many people have the ability to be a heroic figure. Huckleberry Finn, as shown in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is in a constant struggle with his conscience, which qualifies him as a heroic figure. Huck keeps it a secret when he finds out that Jim is a runaway slave. He saves Jim when the steamboat heads straight towards the raft. Huck also helps free Jim from the shed on the Phelps’ property. Huck is in a struggle with his conscience and he qualifies as a heroic figure.

One reason Huck Finn is a heroic figure is that he keeps it a secret when he finds out that Jim has runaway. His conscience tells him he should turn Jim in, but he goes against it and helps him out instead. “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 one single word?’” (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 66). Jim and Huck have become very close and Huck now looks at Jim as a human being, instead of a black man or a runaway slave. Huck saves Jim many times throughout the novel when he could easily turn him in.

Another reason Huck is heroic is that he saves Jim when they are on the raft and a steamboat heads straight towards them. Huck jumps off of the raft with Jim and guides him to safety. This is another time where Huck could have turned Jim in, but he goes against his conscience once again and continues to help Jim. Their plan is to get Jim free so that he can be with his family. Huck wants Jim to live a normal life with a family that loves and cares for him. Huck is becoming more and more of a heroic figure throughout the entire novel.

Finally, Huck is considered a hero because he, with the help of Tom Sawyer, helped Jim escape from the Phelps’s property. “Well, one thing was dead sure; and that was, that Tom Sawyer was in earnest and was actuly going to help steal that nigger out of slavery” (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 176). Both Huck and Tom know it is wrong to help a runaway slave, but Huck has thought of Jim as a father figure and wants Jim to be reunited with his own family. Huck does not want Jim to be sold into slavery now more than ever since they have gotten near the free land.

Although Huck struggles with his conscience, he qualifies to be a heroic figure because of his actions and belief of what is right and wrong. He helps hide Jim after he has runaway, saves him when they jump off of the raft, and helps Jim escape from the Phelps’s property before he is sold back into slavery.