The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn speaks deeply to anyone going through a moral crisis, trying to understand what right and wrong really means. Society and morality aren’t always quite on the same side of the scales as you’d expect. But the existence of free will encourages one to own our individuality and use the freedom to think for ourself, and that we learn from Huck.

The journey starts with Huck helping Jim, the runaway slave escape, at a time when this was considered a punishable crime. Throughout the journey, he debates on whether he should turn Jim into the authorities and even writes a letter to Miss Watson about him, but eventually decides against them. He betrays the con men- King and Duke, thus solidifying his moral growth. And finally takes us to the climax of risking his own safety to help Jim escape from captivity showing the ultimate rejection of societal expectation.

The evolving relationship between Huck and Jim makes him challenge the racist ideologies he’d been taught. The development of Huck’s humanity and understanding of what it means to be right comes from his internal sense of justice and empathy. Showing us that all is not lost in a world where free will exists.