Mark Twain examines the relationship between moral codes and their effects on society through the characters he develops in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain constructs a unique moral code for each individual character, based on society's expectations and treatment of that character and his personal experience. In this novel, morality revolves primarily around conformity or defiance, which respectively have the capacity to blindly support or artfully undermine any societal institution. Young Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, key characters in the novel, personify these moral opposites: one as a troubled societal outcast, the other as a typical white boy with an affinity for fun and games. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay Huck struggles with conflicts between his own conscience and society's moral expectations throughout the novel, particularly in this which concerns Jim and slavery. He knows he is breaking the law by helping Jim escape: "Conscience says to me: 'What did poor Miss Watson do to you, that you could see her nigger walking away before your eyes? and never say a single word? What did the poor old woman do to you, that you could treat her so meanly?'" (100). Huck does not realize that his sensitivity to freedom is what makes him want to help Jim, because she is more developed than that of the average white boy of the time. Huck's direct exposure to abuse, fear, and violent imprisonment at the hands of his alcoholic father "Pap" forces him to unconsciously identify with the horrors of slavery. of imprisonment, loneliness and violence Huck doesn't understand the underlying fact that he wants to help Jim because he knows the pain of oppression - all he perceives is. his own cruel assault on the stable set of morals that his society offers Huck's turbulent upbringing is hardly a basis for stable moral development, and the mores he developed independently during his vile life. life with Pap contrasts almost constantly with those of the antebellum American South; for example, the basic idea that black people are subhuman and undeserving. Huck tries in vain to find a reason to treat Jim as such: But somehow I couldn't find a place to get hard on him, only the other kind. I saw him put my watch above his, instead of calling me, so that I could continue to sleep; and see how happy he was when I returned from the fog; ...and [he] always called me darling, and petted me, and did everything he could think of for me, ...and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the only one he gets now... (227-228) Through his actions, Jim reveals himself to be not only a human, but a caring and loving human who has been more of a father to Huck than Pap has been to him. never been. Why should “rascals” like the Duke, the King and Pap – all abusive and hateful – be given more freedom and respect than lovable Jim? Such questions shake Huck's conscience early in the novel, but eventually settle into a rebellious, even subversive, ideal of equality and freedom based on merit rather than ethnicity; an ideal that, if it becomes widespread, could potentially shatter the economic and social structure that Huck's native South had known for decades. The character of Tom Sawyer, although less developed in this novel than that of Huck, presents a very moral code."(253),.