Written in 1884, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the story of a boy's journey to freedom from society and his struggle with conscience during a time in past where slavery was the norm for society. Huck, a rebellious boy, runs away from Pap, his abusive father, and embarks on a journey along the Mississippi River with Jim, a runaway slave who longs for freedom in the North. During their journey Huck and Jim meet various personalities, but everyone's opinion of African Americans is the same. Slaves were considered property, not real human beings. Unlike the rest of society, Huck's struggle with his conscience portrays civil disobedience by not adhering to society's expectations. To act in civil disobedience means to disobey laws or accepted standards. Civil disobedience should not be confused with criminal acts that defy the law based on selfishness because “…any act of civil disobedience is rooted in a prior act of obedience to the individual conscience” (Evans). People who engage in civil disobedience are “people who choose to disobey the laws of their country or the moral teachings of their culture do so because they feel an obligation to a higher kind of law or a higher kind of ethics…” (Evans). Twain uses Huck Finn's actions as an example of civil disobedience in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to show how challenging society's standards can be morally correct. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Huck's journey is dangerous because of the crime he was committing by traveling with Jim, the runaway slave. To ensure that fugitive slaves were returned to their rightful owners, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. This was controversial because "The Fugitive Slave Act challenged opponents of slavery and kept them torn between helping slaves escape and being obedient" (Johnson 156). Disobeying this law meant punishments such as fines, imprisonment, and even execution. It is clear how twisted society was before the Civil War: “to help steal a horse or cow was a low crime, but to aid a hunted slave, or feed him, or shelter him, in his troubles, in his terrors, in his despairs, or hesitate to betray him promptly into the hands of the slave-hunter when the opportunity offered was a far baser crime, and carried with it a stain, a moral stain which nothing could efface…” (Stocks). It is absurd that the consequences of helping a slave escape to freedom were so harsh. Huck is trapped in a society that frowns on showing compassion and kindness to a man whose skin is darker than theirs. Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia states: "...Mark Twain repudiates the moral blindness of the respectable slave society whose decaying social order is so vividly depicted throughout the novel." To emphasize Huck's civil disobedience, Twain uses other characters to represent the corrupt morals of society. Pap, Huck's drunken and abusive father, is an example of a prejudiced individual commonly found in mid-nineteenth century society. At the beginning of the novel, Pap asks for custody of Huck after finding out that Huck has money that he can use for himself to buy alcohol. When Pap is denied his request for Huck, he angrily says, “Call it government! Why, just look at it and see what it's like. Here is the law ready to take away his son, the son of a man who had all the problems, all the anxieties and all the expenses of raising him... And they call that the government!... The law supports the old manJudge Thatcher and help him keep me off my property” (Twain 34). Although Pap protests the government, he is not an example of civil disobedience because he talks about Huck as if he were his property, just like a slave owner and his slave. With Pap's outburst, "One might assume that any attack on government authority is a textbook example of at least potential civil disobedience, but Twain makes clear that Pap is motivated not by any claim to altruistic conscience but by pure, naked self-interest." (Evans). Unlike Huck, Pap does not possess the qualities of someone who acts in civil disobedience due to his selfishness. Tom Sawyer, Huck's friend, plays an important role in freeing Jim by creating a complex escape plan. When Huck first asks Tom to help him save Jim, he is surprised that Tom agrees to break the law with such a taboo crime. He exclaims: “I must say that Tom Sawyer has fallen considerably in my estimation. I just couldn't believe it. Tom Sawyer a nigger thief!” (Two 218). Tom's partnership with Huck is incredible to Huck because of the danger they would be in if they were caught. At first, it seems that Tom truly cares about Jim's freedom, but later it is obvious that Tom is only in it for the thrill in this adventure he has created, "Tom begins to hatch his elaborate, self-centered and therefore bogus plan to civil disobedience" (Evans). Tom's plan to free Jim is not an example of civil disobedience because it was a selfish desire for adventure, not an admirable act. When it is later revealed that Jim had already been freed before their plan was executed, Huck questions Tom's motives: "Then what the hell did you want to free him for seeing that he was already free?" (Two 276). In which Tom replies, “Why, I wanted adventure” (Twain 276). Since Tom's elaborate plan was for his benefit more than for Huck and Jim's, he has no true civil disobedience. Among the other characters in…Huckleberry Finn, Huck is the only one who acts in pure civil disobedience. As Huck's adventure along the Mississippi River continues, he can see that Jim is no different from the white men. As he learns more about Jim, Huck begins to sympathize with him because Jim is “…a man who never hurt me. I was sorry to hear Jim say something like that, it was such a debasement of him. My conscience began to trouble me more than ever…” (Twain 92). Because Huck is a rebellious boy, “he is willing to break the law to obey a higher and contradictory law, although he is not aware that it is a higher law” (Johnson 123). The main conflict of the novel involves Huck pondering whether to send Jim back to slavery or help free him. His dilemma centers on the uncertainty about which morality to follow, whether the one taught by society or the one dictated by his conscience. Huck thinks that helping Jim would mean damnation because it's like he's stealing property, "One of the major thematic strands in... Huckleberry Finn is Huck's struggle with his conscience and his decision to "go to hell" rather than help return Jim. to servitude” (Yates). After making the decision to help Jim, he shouts, “‘All right, then, I'll go to hell’… They were terrible thoughts and terrible words, but they were said.” (Twain 207) It is evident that “Huck is not an irresponsible wanderer in his adolescence; he has a conscience. He knows that it is illegal to harbor a runaway slave, but his friendship with Jim makes him defy the law” (Cyclopedia). moment that Huck listens to his conscience, “We realize that by violating the laws and teachings of his society, Huck is actually doing the right thing. We understand that by transgressing the kind of 'conscience' that society has tried to instill in him,. actually”..