Honesty and Deceit in Huck Finn

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Mitri Atallah Horton 4th period IB English Huck Finn Essay Final Draft In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, honesty and deceit play a crucial role in comprehending the plot and interpreting the essential events and their deeper meanings. There are a plethora of lies told throughout the entire novel. For Huck and Jim deceitfulness was necessary for survival. On the other hand, honesty is rarely told by the many characters in the story. The significance of honesty and deceit is evident in the novel and Twain excoriates human nature by showing that society requires honesty and deceit. Twain reveals that telling lies and truths can have positive or negative consequences and can be good or bad depending on the intention. Twain opens the novel "…that book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer… was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mostly." From the commencement it is apparent that truth, or lack thereof, is a key element in the book. Huck is adopted by the Widow Douglass in an attempt to “sivilize” him. Huck constantly discards the ideas of obedience taught to him. Due to his childhood Huck chooses to fake his own death and run away from his father, Pap. This is the first major deceit that appears in the novel. As Huck escapes he leaves behind clues to mislead his father and community, “I took the axe and smashed in the door. I beat it and hacked it considerable a-doing it. I fetched the pig in, and took him back nearly to the table and hacked into his throat with the axe, and laid him down on the ground to bleed...” (33). Huck deceives his entire community, but he does it with good intention in order to escape from his harmful father. The willingness of Huck to conform to violence highlights how badly he wants to escape his community and live freely. Twain’s diction is significant as it reveals a horrific tone and provides a sense of
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