The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a well-known novel written by famous American writer, Mark Twain. This novel is about a boy, Huck, and his adventures with a black slave, Jim. As one reads the story, it is apparent that Huck is a very considerate and tries to be a good boy by not hurting others and following the rules. However, Huck still has an independent personality which shows in his eager for freedom and his individualistic thoughts.

Huck always tries his best to help Jim run away despite Huck’s intense psychological struggle to do otherwise. Huck’s internal turmoil can be seen in the excerpt, “‘I couldn’t get that out of my con- science, no how nor no way. It got to troubling me so I couldn’t rest; I couldn’t stay still in one place’.” He thinks he should send Jim back because it would be ungrateful to Miss Watson for him to witness Jim escape yet not do anything about it. During the time period in which the story is set in, slaves were expected to always follow their rightful owner instead of running away. Thus, Huck believes he committed a wrong by helping Jim run away. Huck’s thoughts indicate profound consideration about responsibility and value of right and wrong in societal rules governing slavery. Huck’s conflicted feelings about his actions is further heightened when Jim displays his gratefulness towards Huck’s aid: “‘Pooty soon I’ll be a-shout’n’ for joy, en I’ll say, it’s all on accounts o’ Huck; I’s a free man, en I couldn’t ever ben free ef it hadn’ ben for Huck; Huck done it. Jim won’t ever for- git you, Huck; you’s de bes’ fren’ Jim’s ever had; en you’s de ONLY fren’ ole Jim’s got now.’” Huck’s heart shakes from Jim’s thankfulness and desire for freedom that he ends up lying again to protect Jim. Thus, although Huck has tough time deciding given his desire to be good and follow societal rules, he chooses to prioritize his friendship with Jim and show independence in his decisions.

Another example of Huck’s desire to adhere to rules to be good is his interaction with the Widow. Huck always wants to escape all the rules and restrictions in the Widow’s house, but he still tries his best to obey the Widow’s and her sister Miss Watson because he does not want to disappoint them. This is evident in the following: “‘Pretty soon I wanted to smoke and asked the widow to let me. But she wouldn’t. She said it was a mean prac- tice and wasn’t clean, and I must try to not do it any more’.” The Widow wants to educate Huck and have him be well-behaved. This is what the society defines as a ‘good’ person, such as putting one’s feet down while sitting and avoiding scrunching and stretching. Furthermore, literacy is valued as Miss Watson teaches Huck reading. However, Huck feels forced to do so, and he is tired and annoyed of this life and wants to escape: “‘All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change, I warn’t particular’.” He sometimes doesn't agree with Miss Watson's words. For example, he says, “‘Well, I couldn’t see no advantage in go- ing where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn’t try for it. But I never said so, because it would only make trouble, and wouldn’t do no good’.” Huck feels there are no advantages to the place that Miss Watson wants him to go to obtain happiness and wealth in the future. Miss Watson tells Huck all about the bad place that Huck tends to go if he opinionated and mannerless, but that does not mean that the direction Miss Watson wants Huck to go towards is good either. More importantly, Huck does not care about what his future would be. This is not important to his life currently because his only hope and desire is to change to a place without. This indicates that Huck has his independent thoughts as well though he never speaks his disagreement out loud. He wants to avoid trouble for the Widow and stop Miss Watson from getting angry at him by not voicing out his opinions.

Huck’s interactions with Tom Sawyer also showcases Huck’s internal struggle between following expectations to be ‘good’ versus following his independent thoughts and desires. Huck tries to adhere to Tom Sawyer’s recommendations, which is Tom learned from books, though Huck defies expectations with his own independence through both his internal thoughts and his ability take care of himself on his adventures with Jim. In previous book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huck used to follow Tom’s instructions: “‘And Jim and me laid into that grindstone and walked her along like nothing; and Tom superintended. He could out-superintend any boy I ever see. He knowed how to do everything.’” Here, Huck wryly notes that Tom has a talent for supervising while others do the work. There is a tone of reluctance, for Huck is not completely willing to follow Tom’s ideas every time because Tom gets most of his ideas from books he reads though Tom even cannot explain why people should follow. For example, when a group of boys are forming a ‘Gang,’ during which they have fun and imitate robbery groups, Tom says, “‘I don’t know. But that’s what they do. I’ve seen it in books; and so of course that’s what we’ve got to do.’” This indicates that Tom is used to following instructions and social ideas. Although Huck does not argue against Tom due to Huck’s desire to be good, it is clear that Huck is able to live a satisfying life by not adhering to society: “‘Next we slid into the river and had a swim…Not a sound anywheres — perfectly still — just like the whole world was asleep, only sometimes the bullfrogs a-cluttering, maybe’.” This quote details Huck and Jim’s peaceful life and conveys a beautiful scene of the two enjoying their rafting life. Huck’s tone seems delighted and satisfied with a life beyond one typically dictated by society for an adolescent. Furthermore, Huck clearly can take care of himself without an adult, breaking a societal norm. During the adventure, Huck sometimes even cooks himself breakfast. These all show his independence and ability to live without an adult, despite societal expectations for him.

In conclusion, although Huck tries to satisfy the expectations of others and tries his best to follow the rules, that does not mean that he is a mindless puppet. In contrast, he has his own thinking and is very independent. He desires freedom and enjoys his own life adventure.