Huckleberry Finn Chapter 31 AnalysisIn the story of Huckleberry Finn Huck is facing a constant battle within himself between following the laws of the land and doing what he knows is morally correct. There seems to be an underlying question of whether or not a person is born with morals and good character or if this is a learned behavior brought up in the story. The circumstances of Huck's upbringing were not such that he was a person with a good moral compass, in fact it should have been just the opposite, but he decided to go against the grain and do what he thought was morally correct, which was make friends with a runaway slave and tries to free him. Now we can question his motivations for wanting to help Jim, i.e., did he just want company so that anyone would do it, or did he genuinely see the good in Jim and want him to be a free man? If we explore the previous chapters of Huckleberry Finn we would come to the conclusion that Huck was simply lonely and bored and Jim was just good company, once we reach chapter 31 we see that Huck has become very fond of Jim and not only thought of him as a companion but also a good friend who he could no longer see himself living without. Chapter 31 is when Huck begins to question everything he has been taught and the morality of the laws of the land. Chapter 31 opens with the king, the duke, Huck and Jim on the boat and they find themselves going down the river and heading south where it is very hot. The Duke and the King are planning to plot more people in the small towns who are closing in on Huck and Jim hears both of them even though they are speaking softly to each other and Jim and Huck are problematic and uncomfortable. They are planning to rob... middle of paper......because he is committing an act against God and decides he would rather go to hell than accept what society says about slaves. While the resolution seems brave and noble, Huck ultimately disappoints. Even though in this case he managed to show a strong will and a strong mind, as soon as Tom Sawyer enters the story again, Huck seems to lose all the credibility and maturity he gained throughout the story. He accepts Tom Sawyer as the leader and authority in freeing Jim even though the way he wanted to do it was absolutely ridiculous. Even though Huck decides to follow Tom's plan, he never loses sight of freeing Jim, which would show us that the lessons we learned in chapter 31 are still there. What Huck and especially chapter 31 teach is that people are born with a moral compass and that no matter what the circumstances are