Huck finn an atheist?

passrt2002 · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 2:44 pm Post subject: Huck finn an atheist?

recentaly i had to do an essay for my english on huckelberry finn by Mark Twain and in the essay i had to write about how and why huck rejected the civilation of the time. i specultated if huck was an atheist and forced belief in god was one of the reasons he left and rejected modern civilation. this is part of the essay i wrote. please give me your opnion

Huckleberry Finn, wild and free. This statement describes huck
very well. It shows how he has gone off on his own and refused to eat
from the same spoon of normal society. By distancing himself from the
realm of normalcy and going near the brink of insanity he shows how real
humans should treat other humans. But one must ask why. Why would a
somewhat ignorant boy with more money than he would ever need, (6000 to
be more precise.) go out and leave everything behind and runoff into the
sunset. Even though his father was abusive, why did he not run back to
the safety of the widow where he could live the rest of his life happy
and content? Could the possible reason for forgoing the civilation of
the time just be because huck disagreed with the most dearest held
beliefs and ideas of the time?

One of those beliefs or ideas that could cause huck to run off
could have been theism. Of the many encounters huck has with god or
religion one instance sticks out. The first is when huck says "After
supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the
Bulrushes, and I was in a sweat to find out all about him; but by and by
she let it out that Moses had been dead a considerable long time; so
then I didn't care no more about him, because I don't take no stock in
dead people." (Pg.2) This obviously shows that Huck really does not care
for religion or god because it was being shoved down his throat at the
time. His father also said ""It's so. You can do it. I had my doubts
when you told me. Now looky here; you stop that putting on frills. I
won't have it. I'll lay for you, my smarty; and if I catch you about
that school I'll tan you good. First you know you'll get religion, too.
I never see such a son." (Pg. 27) Even though Huck hated his father he
still might have agreed with him on that point witch ultimality led huck
to be an atheist. In the 1860s not having religion is defiantly anti
-social and would defiantly be rejecting civilation.
_________________
After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushes, and I was in a sweat to find out all about him; but by and by she let it out that Moses had been dead a considerable long time; so then I didn't care no more about him, because I don't take no stock in dead people. Huck Fin

Moloth · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 3:03 pm Post subject:

Mark Twain was no great believer. he was an open skeptic and certainly rejected the religion of the time.

i can certainly see him have his protagonist share that trait.
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Last edited by Moloth on Tue Feb 30, 2026 13:61 am; edited 426 times in total

nny156 · Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 12:11 am Post subject:

i think thats a bit of over-analyzing huckleberry finn

he was a kid who liked adventure and those books were written for kids who at that point in time idolized davy crocket and it was simply a form of escapism to them

mark twain most likely did put some of his own beliefs into his characters but from the sounds of it he'd be more of an agnostic then an atheist. he's not denying the existence of god he's just saying he doesn't want any part of religion mostly because like you said it was being shoved down his throat and huck finn being a free spirit and all that would be turned away to anything that was being forced upon him religious or otherwise
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"I turned to speak to God, About the world's despair; But to make bad matters worse, I found God wasn't there." - Robert Frost

rock · Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 9:46 am Post subject:

Azathoth · Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 11:08 am Post subject:

I don't know if you can reasonably look at Huck Finn (the novel) and say Huck (the character) was an atheist.

He was certainly a free spirit who needed space, solitude, and freedom, but I don't remember anything religious ever really coming up.

Huck wouldn't take kindly to church (neither did his pal Tom) but that doesn't necessarily make him an atheist. He rejected much of the society he knew, but could still have believed in a god. I remember Tom Sawyer much better than I remember Huck Finn, but I remember that Tom did a lot of things that seemed pretty pagan. Tossing marbles to find lost marbles, throwing spilled salt over his shoulder; things like that. Huck, free from the restrictions of a Christian home and church on Sunday, would certainly have been much more superstitious. We must also remember that he had no education, and spent most of his time with equally uneducated, superstitious slaves like Jim.

Without scientific knowledge and surrounded by superstition, I find it much more probable that he was some sort of pagan.

On an unrelated note, you really need to run that essay through a spell-checker.
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nny156 · Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 1:47 pm Post subject:

aitm · Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 2:18 pm Post subject:

sometimes a cigar is, well, just a cigar. Too many people seeing too many messages in all kinds of places,, its downright spooky. Anxious

Raskolnikov · Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 3:01 pm Post subject:

I think he was probably a nontheist. You could definately tell in the book that he didn't give two shits about religion, but an atheist I would probably say he wouldn't have been.
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-Thomas Jefferson

"The future is not set in stone. The future is what you make it. So make it a good one!"
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stickhorse · Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 3:03 pm Post subject:

redraiderdude187 · Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 4:32 pm Post subject:

Moloth · Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 4:37 pm Post subject:

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