Huck Finn's Conscience

Agony and Edification in Huck Finn’s Conscience English poet William Blake once wrote, “Conscience in those that have it is unequivocal.” In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the theme, man’s conflict with his conscience, is manifested through Huck Finn. While Huck is forced to confront the hypocrisies of society, he develops his own individual views of right and wrong. In his struggle with his morality, his insights ultimately lead him …

…his progression, Huck learns, most of all, that friendship and loyalty overshadow society and its pietistic values, and that he must trust his heart instead of social impulses. Thus, it is Huck’s morality that ultimately prompt his selfless acts, which in the end, he discovers is inevitable, “…it don’t make no difference whether you do right or wrong, a person’s conscience ain’t got no sense, and just goes for him anyway.”