In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain creates the feeling that Huck and Jim are growing closer and Huck may be starting to see Jim not as a slave, but as a human being. However, in keeping with his reputation for cynicism, Twain forgoes the expected ending – which would perhaps include Jim being elevated in the eyes of Huck and others to the status of a real human being – for a more anticlimactic and problematic ending in which Jim remains a superstitious boor and the people of Pikesville only grant him freedom through a legal technicality. Ultimately, no great moral journey compares to the great physical journey on the Mississippi River. Subtly, however, Twain inserts hints that, despite the lack of moral progress that has been made, there is hope for such progress in the future. With this ending, Twain imitates the state of the nation at the time of the novel's publication in 1885. Essentially, Twain indicates at the end that although he is unpretentious about the progress that has been made thus far toward the racial equality, he remains optimistic about the potential for future growth. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay To understand the ending, one must understand that, through a series of distinct episodes that clearly satirize elements of society, Twain makes Jim and Huckleberry's entire journey a commentary on ideological and moral extremes across the country. Pap's diatribe in which he refuses to participate in the government of a country "where they would let [a] negro vote" (Twain 20) is Twain's comment on the ignorance of die-hard southerners and other dissidents who attack the government, but lacks desire to actually change anything. However, erroneous political and ideological beliefs are just as damaging, as illustrated by the Grangerford-Shepherdson feud in which no one knows "what the argument was about in the first place" (Twain 82). With these two examples, Twain attacks Americans who are apathetic and indifferent to their country as well as the fierce nationalists who provoked the Mexican and Civil Wars. He also attacks the moral extremes of Americans, such as those who only come to the King and Duke show when "ladies and children are not admitted" (Twain 114) due to the graphic content. Conversely, he attacks those who believe that the nation can be transformed into an almost utopian state based on Christian ethics, as evidenced by what the new judge attempts to do with Pap when he "has said he would make [Pap] a man” (Twain 16), but Pap responds by “exchanging his new coat for a forty-cane jug” and getting drunk like a fiddler” (Twain 17). These and other episodes in the novel reveal the social corruption of the nation at the time and how many reform efforts failed or even allowed this corruption to continue due to its pretentious understanding of human nature. Overall, Twain attacks any extreme beliefs that were prevalent in the country at the time and points to these beliefs as being the root of many of the nation's misfortunes. While the novel addresses a variety of American issues, the key topic addressed by Twain is racism, which is accomplished by emphasizing the extent to which Huck questions the morality of Jim's slavery. No extensive reading of Huckleberry Finn is necessary to understand that on one level it is the story of a slave trying to escape to freedom. Where Twain reveals that the deepest meaning of history involves slavery is where Huck begins to ponder the questionsmorals regarding Jim. As he approaches Cairo, Huck seriously considers the implications of Jim's release and "feels so depressed and miserable that he wishes he were dead" (Twain 66). Later, when Jim is captured by the Phelps family and Huck decides to free him, Huck considered Jim a friend and "seemed to find no place to harden himself against [Jim]" (Twain 161). Basically, Huck faces a growing sense of morality towards Jim throughout the novel. Moral progression may not live up to Huck's early decisions to help Jim escape, as evidenced by his belief "He will go to hell" (Twain 162) for freeing Jim from the Phelps family, but the simple fact that all moral thought is put forward by Huck indicates that slavery is the central issue of the book. Throughout the novel, Huck lies, participates in schemes, and steals, but virtually all of his moral dilemmas revolve around slavery. Although Huck is unsure what to do for Mary Jane when the King and Duke attempt to steal the inheritance, slavery becomes involved after Mary Jane reveals her concerns to Huck about the slaves being sold to the extent that “she didn’t know how she ever could.” be happy… knowing that mother and children warn never to see each other again” (Twain 140). The extent to which Huck progresses morally is of little importance; the simple fact that he shows moral interest in the issue of slavery while he cares little for any other societal aspect reveals the importance of slavery in the novel's sense. Twain, however, does not ask Huck to think about widespread issues such as the justice of the nation's practice of slavery. Instead, before Huck tries to save Jim from the Phelps, Huck views Jim as someone who stood before him "sometimes [in] the moonlight, sometimes [in] the storms...talking and singing and laughing » (Twain 161). By emphasizing the human aspect rather than the political aspect, Twain shifts attention from the widespread problem of slavery to the racism to which individuals are subjected. The disappointing nature of the ending to a novel that deals with the moral and ideological state of the nation reveals that the author is unimpressed with the nation's progress on matters of race. One might expect a book written about race relations during the height of Jim Crow laws to be quite critical, and in the case of Huckleberry Finn the reader is not disappointed in this regard. Jim actually gained freedom at the end of the book, just as slaves were freed by the Thirteenth Amendment. He did not, however, gain the full respect of society because even after the doctor recounts the heroism he showed in saving Tom, he is still referred to as "not a bad nigger" (Twain 215) instead of a real person and the only reward he receives is that the townspeople “promised, frankly and heartily, that they would insult him no more” (Twain 215). Additionally, Twain ridicules the mistaken belief that simple freedom would elevate the former slave to equality by revealing to the reader that Jim still has his primitive superstitions. At the beginning of the novel, while still a slave, Jim “had a ball of hair as big as your fist…and he did magic with it” (Twain 13). After obtaining freedom and forty dollars from Tom—which is perhaps an allusion to the forty dollars and mule promised, but never delivered, to free slaves—his fundamental position did not change as his belief indicates that a hairy chest led to his newfound wealth. Essentially, Jim gained physical freedom but failed to gain intellectual and social freedom. Mark Twain uses the treatment given to Jim in Huckleberry Finn to »..