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Huckleberry Finn Essay
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Dang 1Truong Quoc Thai Dang
Dr. Lim
CP English 3A
15 / January / 2024
Rights and Wrong
In society, everyone has a different opinion of what is right and what is wrong. Lawrence
Kohlberg, an American psychologist, has a theory about moral development. In the theory it
explains how different people respond differently to the same situation depending on their sense
of morality. This means that people see if their actions are right things to do or wrong based on
their perspective and opinions. In the story, Huck will have to face many decisions on what he
should do. Additionally, he is going to demonstrate and advance in his senses of morality
throughout the story.
Huck displays preconventional morality when he is faced with the decision to turn Jim in
for running away. After Huck found out that Jim was a runaway slave, he said “ain’t going back
there anyways” (Twain 54). According to Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development,
preconventional morality happens when someone is making decisions based on their
self-interest. Which means that they think whether they will be rewarded or be punished out of
their actions. In Huck’s case, he is not snitching on Jim because it will reveal that he’s still alive
and breathing. He is unwilling to undo all of the stuff that he had gone through just to plan out a
perfect fake death because he had found the freedom he wanted without being stuck. Huck’s
words reveal that his moral behavior is based on the concern for himself and not for Jim.
Therefore according to kohlberg’s theory, Huck’s sense of morality is only preconventional at
this moment.
Huck demonstrates conventional morality when he gets on the canoe and goes ashore
to turn Jim in. When Jim said that he was his best friend, Huck replied “it seemed to tuck all out
of me” (Twain 100). Another level of moral development based on Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory
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