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The conflict between society and the individual is a theme portrayed throughout Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Huck was not raised in accord with the accepted ways of civilization. He practically raises himself, relying on instinct to guide him through life. As portrayed several times in the novel, Huck chooses to follow his innate sense of right, yet he does not realize that his own instincts are more moral than those of society. From the very beginning …

…evil, and that society has been right all along. The ending is perhaps most disappointing because it seems as though through all the situations that it seemed he was growing up and accepting his innate ideas of right, he hasn't grown at all. When he is reunited with Tom, he once again thinks of Jim as property. Huck functions as a much nobler person when he is not confined by the hypocrisies of civilization. Bibliography . . .