Society’s laws & values can conflict with personal morals.

1. Society’s laws & values can conflict with personal morals. • Topic: freedom, Huck, Jim, nature • Huck and Jim disagree with slavery • Huck thinks stealing anything you don’t need is bad (Wilks) • Huck thinks the feud is hypocritical and brutal

2. Freedom means different things to different people • Topic: freedom, Huck, Jim • Huck – getting away from Pap & Widow Douglas & Mrs. Phelps • Jim – freedom from slavery; being with family

3. People tend to behave irrationally & even cruelly in large groups. • Topic: nature, freedom • Grangerford/Shepherdson feud • Mob trying to bust king and duke • Col. Sherburn shoots Boggs and then the mob comes after him • King and duke are tarred and feathered • Mob chases Tom, Huck & Jim during evasion

4. The tension between freedom & conformity can cause inner conflict • Topic: nature, Huck, freedom • Huck – deciding whether to turn Jim in • Slave hunters • Letter to Miss Watson • Conflict between conscience and society’s values – or nature and civilization.

5. Society’s values & laws need to be examined, questioned, & changed if necessary. • Topic: nature, Jim, Huck, freedom, education, religion • Slavery is wrong • Practical learning should be valued –Huck vs. Tom • People should practice what they preach

6. The life of every person has value. • Topic: Huck, Jim, freedom, nature • Jim is clearly a human with feelings, intelligence, and compassion • G/S – poor Buck!! Innocent people shouldn’t be dragged into a stupid feud.

7. Belief in superstition is often strong in people who have little control in their own lives. • Jim, superstition, Huck • Jim, a slave, has little control and has strong belief in superstition (Huck, too) • Widow & Miss Watson don’t believe in superstition • Phelps’s slave also superstitious