At the end of chapter 15, Huck plays a very mean trick on Jim, and Jim calls him out on it. Huck immediately regrets his trick, and wishes he hadn't done it. He says, "It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and I warn't ever sorry for it afterward, neither. I didn't do him no more mean tricks, and I would't done that one if I'd 'a' snowed it would make him feel that way." This scene is once again depicting that Huck is, actually, a morally sensitive person, and cares about others feelings like he does his own. He looks up to Tom Sawyer, famous for his lack of caring, but, little does he know, that Tom is actually a horrible influence on him. Huck is trying to have adventures like Tom does, trying to be just like Tom, but his sensitivity to others feelings get in the way of him being a better person, and I, honestly, think he resents that.
Right after he pulls an awful trick on Jim, Huck is presented with a huge moral problem. Jim shares that he's longing for freedom, and how close there are to obtaining his freedom, because of this, Huck begin to get uneasy. Huck was taught that blacks are property first, and then people, not the other way around. Now that he realizes that he is helping Jim, and possibly Jim's wife and kids, to freedom, he is starting to get cold feet about this whole freedom business. He needs to get his priorities straight, whether he's Jim's friend first, or a semi law-abiding adopted son of Widow Douglas. It's got to be hard to decide, because if he helps Jim to freedom, and then gets caught, while he's supposed to be dead, that's going to cause a lot of problems. Particularly for Jim, because if he gets caught, he'll be hung, for sure; because he ran away, disregarded that bounty placed on a young boy's head, and is trying to become a free citizen of the United States.
If we think back to chapter 11, Huck's dad, Pap, is very much not okay with this happening in the U.S. He views blacks as property, and to him, that's what they will always be, they don't get to be free, only white people. Therefore, if he knew that his son was exploring off with a slave that he was helping to freedom, Huck would get beaten, for sure. Huck is used to going against his father's wishes and being his own person, but he's not sure if he's ready for this level of rebellion yet.
Right after he pulls an awful trick on Jim, Huck is presented with a huge moral problem. Jim shares that he's longing for freedom, and how close there are to obtaining his freedom, because of this, Huck begin to get uneasy. Huck was taught that blacks are property first, and then people, not the other way around. Now that he realizes that he is helping Jim, and possibly Jim's wife and kids, to freedom, he is starting to get cold feet about this whole freedom business. He needs to get his priorities straight, whether he's Jim's friend first, or a semi law-abiding adopted son of Widow Douglas. It's got to be hard to decide, because if he helps Jim to freedom, and then gets caught, while he's supposed to be dead, that's going to cause a lot of problems. Particularly for Jim, because if he gets caught, he'll be hung, for sure; because he ran away, disregarded that bounty placed on a young boy's head, and is trying to become a free citizen of the United States.
If we think back to chapter 11, Huck's dad, Pap, is very much not okay with this happening in the U.S. He views blacks as property, and to him, that's what they will always be, they don't get to be free, only white people. Therefore, if he knew that his son was exploring off with a slave that he was helping to freedom, Huck would get beaten, for sure. Huck is used to going against his father's wishes and being his own person, but he's not sure if he's ready for this level of rebellion yet.