Pap’s Effect on Huck in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” Essay Example

the stubborn selfish man he is, puts his needs before the needs of his own son. He buys alcohol with Huck’s money.

Huck says “I borrowed three dollars from Judge Thatcher, and Pap took it and got drunk and went a-blowing around and cussing and whooping and carrying on” (26). Before this Huck was hesitant to give Pap the money because he knew what consequences would arise. Pap helps Huck mature in this way because Huck is forced to think of what happens next and is exposed to the horrors of the adult world such as alcoholism. Pap states “Who told you to meddle with such hifault’n foolishness”(26) when talking about Huck’s attempts to succed in school.

This shows Pap’s closed mindedness to new ideas and his inabilities to support his own son. When Huck says “ if I never learnt nothing else out of Pap, I learnt that the best way to get along with his kind of people is to let them have their own way”(147) This shows Huck as thinking of himself as independent from Pap and shows that he thinks of himself not as one of “his kind of people”. Huck has grown up enough to realize that he can create his own views on life and that there is something good to learn even in the worst of situations.

This is a big part of becoming an adult and it really shows that even though Huck was raised horribly, he has enough sense to form a steady identity. What are fathers but the fundamental basis in a young boy’s life? Huck therefore lacks the fundamental basis needed to have a

healthy relationship with the world. Pap’s views are constantly imposed on Huck, which make Huck despise them in general. His father is cruel and malicious and because of this situation, Huck usually does not need to be told what to do but comes to his own decisions based on his firsthand experiences.