Moral force in the adventures of Huckleberry Finn and On the Rainy RiverIn both The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, and “On the River In the Rain" by Tim O'Brien, the main characters are faced with situations in which they must do either what they think is right, or what the rest of the world they know thinks they should do. Huck must choose either to save Jim and help him escape to freedom and remain loyal to his friend, or to do as society would dictate and let the runaway slave remain in captivity. Tim O'Brien must either flee a war he considers evil, or heed his country's call to arms. As Huck Finn and Tim O'Brien's morality is tested, only Huck is strong enough to stand up for his beliefs. Together, Huckleberry Finn and a runaway slave named Jim head south along the Mississippi River for a summer. During their adventures, Huck struggles with his conscience: he knows that Jim is a runaway and that the socially correct thing to do would be to turn him in and return him to his owner. However, whenever the opportunity to do so arises, Huck finds himself unable to do so. Near the end of the book, while Huck is wandering and Jim is still on the raft in the river, Jim is captured by an old man while he has run away and is sold for $40. It is here, at this point, that Huck faces his greatest moral dilemma. Should he let Jim remain captured, since he is legally Miss Watson's property, or should he save the true friend who has remained loyal and steadfast by his side? Huck does not want to remain "bad", as he calls himself, so he writes a letter to Miss Watson informing her that her slave is owned by a Mr. Phelps south of Pikesville. However, he cannot bring himself to send the letter. He ends up tearing the letter to shreds, with the comment: "Fine, then I'll go to hell" (p. 207). He is willing to sacrifice his soul and perform an act for which he believes he is damned, to save Jim, the escaped slave. It takes a character with great moral strength to do what he did. Tim O'Brien, on the other hand, has a somewhat different story..