Written in 1884, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is the story of a young boy who seeks freedom from society and his struggle with his conscience at a time in the past when slavery was the norm of society. Huck, a rebellious boy, escapes from Pap, his abusive father, and embarks on a journey along the Mississippi River with Jim, a runaway slave who yearns for freedom in the North. Throughout their journey, Huck and Jim encounter various personalities, but everyone's opinion of African Americans is the same. Slaves were considered property and not real human beings. Unlike the rest of society, Huck's struggle with his conscience depicts civil disobedience in not adhering to society's expectations. Acting in civil disobedience means disobeying laws or accepted norms. Civil disobedience should not be confused with law-defying criminal acts based on selfishness, because “…every act of civil disobedience is rooted in a prior act of obedience to the individual conscience” (Evans). People who act under 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 obligated to follow higher laws or higher ethics… » (Evans). Twain uses Huck Finn's actions as an example of civil disobedience in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to show how defying society's norms can be morally correct. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Huck's journey is dangerous because of the crime he was committing while 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 obeying them” (Johnson 156). Disobeying this law meant penalties such as fines, imprisonment, and even execution. It is clear how twisted society was before the Civil War: "to help steal a horse or a cow was a minor crime, but to help a hunted slave, or to feed or shelter him, in his troubles, his terrors, his despair, or hesitating to hand him over quickly to the slave catcher when the opportunity offered was a much baser crime, and carried with it a stain, a moral stain that nothing could erase…” (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 their own. Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia states: “…Mark Twain rejects the moral blindness of the respectable slave society whose decaying social order is so vividly described 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-19th century society. Early in the novel, Pap seeks custody of Huck after discovering that Huck has money he can use to buy alcohol. When Pap is denied his request for Huck, he angrily says, "Call it government!" Well, watch it and see what it looks like. Here is the law ready to take away a man's son - a man's own sonman whom he had all the trouble, all the worry and all the expense to raise...And they call it government!..The law supports the old Judge Thatcher and help him to keep me off my property" ( Twain 34). Although Pap protests the government, he is not an example of civil disobedience because he speaks of Huck as if he were his property, much like a slave owner and his slave. With Pap's brilliance, "One might assume that any attack on governmental authority is a classic example of at least potential civil disobedience, but Twain makes clear that Pap is motivated not by claims of selfless conscience but by a pure and naked self-interest” (Evans). Unlike Huck, Pap does not possess the qualities of someone who acts in civil disobedience due to his selfishness. Huck's friend Tom Sawyer plays an important role in freeing Jim by creating an elaborate escape plan. When Huck first asks Tom to help him save Jim, he is surprised that Tom would agree to break the law with such a taboo crime. He exclaims: “I must say that Tom Sawyer has fallen a lot in my estimation. Only, I couldn't believe it. Tom Sawyer, a nigger thief! » (Douain 218). Tom's cooperation with Huck is unbelievable to Huck because of the danger they would be in if caught. At first it seems that Tom truly cares about Jim's freedom, but it is later evident that Tom is only participating for the thrill of this adventure he has created: "Tom begins to concoct his elaborate, self-centered plan and therefore false of civil disobedience. » (Evans). Tom's plan to free Jim is not an example of civil disobedience because it was a selfish desire for adventure and not an admirable act. When it is later revealed that Jim had already been released before their plan was carried out, Huck questions Tom's motives: "So why the hell did you want to release him when he saw he was already free ?” (Douain 276). In which Tom responds, “Why, I wanted adventure” (Twain 276). Since Tom's elaborate plan was more for his own benefit than that of Huck and Jim, he does not possess true civil disobedience. Among the other characters in… Huckleberry Finn, Huck is the only one who acts out of pure civil disobedience. As Huck's adventure on the Mississippi River progresses, he can see that Jim is no different from the white people. As he learns more about Jim, Huck begins to sympathize with him because Jim is "...a man who never did me any harm." I was sorry to hear Jim say that, it was so humiliating of him. My conscience ended up exciting me more than ever…” (Twain 92). Since Huck is a rebellious boy, “he is willing to break the law in order to obey a higher and contradictory law, even though he does not know that it is a higher law” (Johnson 123). The main conflict of the novel concerns Huck who is debating whether to return Jim to slavery or help free him. His dilemma centers on his uncertainty about which morality to follow, the one taught by society or the one dictated by his conscience. Huck thinks that helping Jim would mean damnation because it's like stealing property. “One of the major themes of...Huckleberry Finn is Huck's struggle with his conscience and his decision to "go to hell" rather than help bring Jim back. to servitude” (Yates). After making the decision to help Jim, he exclaims, "'All right, then I'll go to hell'...They were horrible thoughts and words, but they were spoken" (Twain 207). It is obvious that “Huck is not an irresponsible wanderer as a teenager; he has a conscience. He knows it is illegal to harbor a runaway slave, »..