st major dilemma when he comes across the wreckedsteamboat and three criminals. When Jim and Huck take the skiff for themselves, leaving thethree robbers stranded, Huck realizes that he has left them to die. Now was the first time that I begun to worry about the men I reckon I hadnt time to before. I begun to think how dreadful it was, even for murderers, to be in such a fix. I says to myself, there aint no telling but I might come to be a murderer myself yet, and then how would I like it? (76).This is the first time that Huck questions the effects of what he has done on other people. After he realizes that he could now be considered a murderer, he makes a plan to get acaptain to go investigate the wreck in order to save the mens lives. Even though the men hewould be saving are murderers and robbers, he can not justify being responsible for theirdeath, and makes it a point to correct what he has done wrong. This is the first major step inHucks moral progression. At that point, he establishes a set of standards that considersleaving the men to die as immoral.Throughout the book there is the recurring theme of Friend v. Society. This is a mainmoral decision that Huck is forced to make a few times in his journey. Upon arriving at Cairo,Huck must decide if he should go along with society and turn Jim in as a runaway slave, orkeep his promise to his friend, and see him through to freedom. Huck feels guilty not turningJim in when he hears him talking about hiring an abolitionist to steal his family. He does notthink it is right to help take away slaves from people that he doesnt even know. To turn Jim infor these reasons would be the influence of society on Huck. Hucks decision on this mattermarks another major step in Hucks moral progression, because he decides not to turn in Jimon his own. This is the first time he makes a decision all on his own based on his ownmorality. Both this...
