In these chapters I found many examples of social responsibility, one example is in chapter 16.  Huck is beginning to question if he should give Jim up. Huck decides he is going to since Jim belonged to a woman who was nothing but nice to him.  But Huck changes his mind when Jim says he is his only friend.  Here it can be seen the Huck it torn between what society believes is right and what he believes is right.  When he decides not to turn Jim in he is once again choosing his own judgment over society’s opinion.

                                                       

Another place that social responsibility can be seen is in the feud between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons.  From these people owning many slaves, to their responsibility to their families to hate the other family this situation is oozing with social responsibility.  There is also social responsibility tied between Huck and these families.  When Huck witnesses a gun fight between these families and does not tell anyone that he saw it he is once again going against his social responsibility in favor of his own judgment.  He is afraid and does not want to snitch. 

I believe that through this entire novel Huck is going to be struggling between his social responsibility to turn in Jim and his personal belief that he should allow Jim to escape and become free.

I was also thinking about the motivations Huck has for not turning in Jim.  While he said he was not turning him in because he said he was his only friend I believe Huck must have other reasons for not turning him in.  For example, could he be trying to be the opposite of his father?  Huck is afraid of his father, and could possibly be afraid of becoming his father.  By not turning in Jim is he attempting to be the opposite of his dad?

If anyone has other ideas please share them in your comment!  Looking forward to reading the comments.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Chapters 5-15
In chapters five to fifteen that largest social responsibility that stood out to me was the responsibility the Pap feels towards Huck.

Pap-

While Pap constantly beats Huck, refuses him education and keeps him hostage he does this purely out of responsibility he feels for Huck. Although he may not be the best guardian for Huck, Pap believes that he is the only one truly looking out for Huck and giving him the correct type of life. In the last paragraph on page 26 and into page 27 Pap says that he “would like to see the widow get me” aka Huck, because he would not let it happen. Pap said that they could run away to another cabin 6 or 7 miles away to stay away from them.

Huck-

In these chapters Huck also rejects his social responsibility by deciding he would not live with his father or the widow. He believed that life with the widow gave him more restrictions than he could handle, like clean clothes, praying, and school; while life with his father was bad because his father beat him. Here Huck is turning his back on his two social responsibilities, one to society at large, and the other to family.

“But by-and-by pap got too handy with the hick’ry, and I couldn’t stand it.” Page 25

“I didn’t see how I’d ever got to like so well at the widow’s, where you had to wash, and eat on a plate, and comb up, and go to bed and get up regular.” Page 25

Later in the chapters Huck again turns o social responsibility and after meeting Jim on the island he does not turn him in. This is a large conflict for any person living in that time period. Society says that white men are better than African Americans and that Huck should turn Jim in right away.

Contrary to this, Huck finds out that Jim is a suspect for Huck’s murder because Jim ran away about the same time as Huck’s disappearance. Rather than go back and clear an innocent man of suspicion Huck stays “hidden”. This is another example of Huck rejecting classic social responsibility for his own judgment.

In chapter 12 Huck debates about stealing food that they found. In this case Huck follows classic social values and does not steal the food saying, “We warn't feeling just right, before that, but it was all comfortable now” Page 72. A question that arises from this occurrence is, “Does Jim influence Huck in a positive way? , and “Is Jim a more moral person thank Huck, (or does Jim understand the expectations of society better than Huck?” This is an example of Huck choosing the “right” option according to society.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Social Responsibility in Chapters 1-5

Social Responsibility-an ethical theory that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act to benefit society at large. Social responsibility is a duty every individual has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the ecosystems.

In chapters one to five Huck experiences pressure from society, the Widow Douglas, Miss Watson, Tom Sawyer, and even himself.

Widow Douglas- Page 2 “She put me in them new clothes again, and I couldn’t do nothing but sweat and sweat, and feel all cramped up. Well, then, the old thing commenced again. The widow rung a bell for supper, and you had to come to time. When you got to the table you couldn’t go right to eating. But you had to wait for the widow to tuck down her head and grumble a little over the victuals, thought there warn’t really anything the matter with them.”

This quote from page two shows that when Huck is in the house with the widow she believes that she is making him cultured and he does not understand her way of living. The Widow Douglas is trying to make Huck into a respectable young man that conforms with society and her views on life.

Also on Page 2- “Pretty soon I wanted to smoke, and asked the widow to let me. But she wouldn’t. She said it was a mean practice and wasn’t clean, and I must try to not do it any more.”

This quote shows another situation in which the Widow Douglas tries to make Huck Finn conform for his own benefit.

Miss Watson- Page 11”Well, I got a good going-over in the morning, from old Ms. Watson on account of my clothes;”

This quote from chapter three shows that Ms. Watson wants Huck to be prim and proper. She believes in discipline and wants Huck to conform to society quickly. Although in this particular instance Ms. Watson did not scold Huck.

Tom Sawyer- Page 1- “But Tom Sawyer, he hunted me up and said he was going to start a band of robbers, and I might join if I would go back to the widow and be respectable.”

Here it is seen that Tom sawyer, Huck’s best friend is trying to look after him. While Tom is rebellious like Huck is with creative ideas like a band of pirates, Tom is a goody-two-shoe and knows that the best place is with adults. By looking out for Huck Tom is attempting to make him conform for the values of society and go back to the widow and “be respectable.”

Huck Finn-Page 15- “I had been to school most all the time, and could spell, and read, and write just a little, and could say the multiplication table up to six times seven is thirty-five,”.

In this excerpt Huck is beginning to motivate himself to be like society’s standards. He has attended school and made an effort to learn. He can now read, write, spell, and do arithmetic (almost). Huck is beginning to conform to society by his own volition.

Responsibility to Family tradition- Page 20 and 23 “’You think you’re better’n your father, now, don’t you, because he can’t?’” (read and write)

“There’s a hand that was the hand of a hog; but it ain’t so no more; it’s the hand of a man that started in on a new life, and ‘ll die before he’ll go back.”

These quotes show that Huck’s father believes that family should stick together, which is a societal value, but his father believes that Huck should not be better than him and should live the life that he (his father) lived. The second quote shows that Huck’s father understands the values of society. He knows that drinking himself to the point of being unaware is not accepted, that he should take care of his son, and find a job. On the other hand, later in the chapter, Huck’s father shows that he cannot follow the values of society when he leaves the house of the judge and begins to drink again.