Comparison of Three Different Novels - Essay Example

 The novels The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, Emma, by Jane Austen, and My Name is Asher Lev, by Chaim Potok, each have moral conflicts that arise within the protagonists. Huck Finn is a young boy who has not been exposed to the norms of society and is therefore able to make his own judgments between right and wrong. Emma, in contrast to Huck, is exposed to certain parts of society, but is also very sheltered which causes her to have problems accepting other peoples’ points of view. Asher Lev, like Emma, is very sheltered as a youth, as he grows up in a tightly knit Jewish community. Asher is similar to both Huck and Emma because he eventually learns to think for himself, but he is also different because he considers how his actions will affect his parents. Each of these characters is faced with an internal dilemma that helps to define who each of them is. Three very important literary elements that are used in these novels are characterization, theme, and conflict. Each of the protagonists in these stories is characterized in a different fashion. Huckleberry Finn’s actions characterize him and a rebel, Emma’s characterize her as an egotistical upper class citizen, while Asher is characterized as an obedient Jewish boy. Also, a prevailing theme in all three of these novels is the influence on society on peoples’ actions because of society’s expectations. Finally, each of these novels also has an internal conflict within the protagonist which greatly affects their actions. Each of these characters is shown to grow significantly through the use of these literary devices. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the protagonist and narrator is Huckleberry himself. The characterization that occurs in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is done in a variety of ways. Firstly, it is done by showing Huckleberry's lower class behavior. Huck is a boy who belongs to the lowest end of white society, as his father is a drunk and Huck is quite often without a home to sleep in at night. Huck is immediately looked down upon because of the class that he comes from. This has led to Huck missing out on many of the values that are necessary for a boy to grow up as a functioning part of society, which also leads him to question the things that he is told. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however, as Huck’s natural sense of right and wrong tells him that he should help Jim, even though he is legally the property of Miss Watson, as he says, “Now, the thing to study out is, how to get the things to Jim” (Twain, 2005, 223). Since he was not forced to grow up within the normal boundaries of society, Huck is able to make his own decisions in a number of situations. He does not apply the rules that society tells him he should, but he instead makes his own rules and, therefore, decides his own course of action. This is symbolic of a common theme in this novel, which is the expectations that are placed upon people by society, as Huck says, “she's going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can't stand it,” (Twain, 2005, 264) which shows that members of society are attempting to make Huck fit within its constraints. Huck Finn is symbolic of the free thinking individuals that each of us has the potential to be. He is not a puppet of society, but is his own person who, rightly or wrongly, makes his own decisions on how to act in every situation. This is also what causes much of the conflict within the novel, as Huck is unwilling to conform to how society believes he should act and this causes conflict throughout the novel and it is said, “what's the use you learning to do right when it's troublesome to do right and ain't no trouble to do wrong,” (Twain, 2005, 85) which shows that Huck does not understand why things are the way they are, Emma, like Huck Finn, is characterized as an independent thinker who does not wish to live her life constrained by doing what society thinks she should do, as she says, “a woman cannot have too many resources and I feel very thankful that I have so many myself as to be quite independent of society” (Austen, 2003, 275), which is the source of much of the conflict in this novel. Emma, quite often, looks at a situation from her own point of view and no other and then is very quick to impose her own will on the other characters, which is a stark contrast to Huck because he is only worrying about his own actions and not about affecting other people. Harriet is especially affected by Emma’s actions, as she is more suited to marrying a farmer than the men that Emma believes she should, as “she particularly led Harriet to talk more of Mr. Martin” (Austen, 2003, 22). Emma’s behavior causes conflicts throughout this novel because she is so used to having everything her own way that she finds is very difficult to look at things from another perspective, which means that she also does not conform to the expectations that society has of her, which is a prevalent theme in this novel as well. The main different between herself and Huck is that Huck learned to think for himself because he questioned the things that he had been taught, while Emma had simply always had things just the way she liked them and was unwilling to change this vanity for anyone, which shows the difference in the values between upper and lower class and in the characters’ characterizations, which is shown by that fact inethat “The Coles were very respectful in their way, but they ought to be taught that it was not for them to arrange the terms on which the superior families would visit them” (Austen, 2003, 184). All of this, however, eventually leads to Emma changing as a person, as she accepts her faults and works towards amending them. Asher Lev is another character who is faced with a conflict between the norms of his society and his own personal thinking. Asher grows up in a simple, Jewish community where his only concerns are to follow the religious beliefs that are set out by the community. This is a very sheltered like, much like the life of Emma, and outside influences are very minimal and he is characterized, much like Emma but in completely opposite fashion as Huck, as a loyal and obedient young man. Despite this, however, Asher begins to feel inspired by the art that he creates. He does not understand why he does what he does, but he feels compelled to act in a certain way which is shown when he says, “Nowhere in my family background was there any indication that I might have come into the world with a unique and disquieting gift” (Potok, 1972, 4). This causes an internal conflict within Asher, as he is torn between the values that were instilled in him by his family and the emotions that he feels coming from within himself and this conflict is explained when he says, “I am a traitor, an apostate, a self-hater, an inflicter of shame upon my family, my friends, my people” (Potok, 1972, 3). This is similar to how Huck behaves throughout his novel, as he does not know why he does things, but he has an innate sense of the difference between right and wrong. The difference between Asher and Huck is that Huck simply acts because he has no teachings to base his actions on, while Asher knows what his parents have taught him and has to decide whether to follow them or his heart. Since Asher was brought up in a very specific manner, he was expected to act in a certain manner by the society that he was raised in, as Asher says, “I am an observant Jew (Potok, 1972, 3). The theme of society’s expectations is even more important to him because it includes his religion as well. The characters in these novels are all very important because they face situations where they must be independent thinkers in a society where thinking for one’s self is the opposite of the accepted behavior in society. Huck does not know what is normal in society, so he uses his internal morals to decide how to act. Emma is too self-centered to consider other peoples’ opinions so she attempts to force her will on others because she is too sheltered to know that it is wrong to do so. Asher, on the other hand, is taught to act in a certain manner, but his heart pulls him in another direction. These characters are all free thinkers who make decisions for themselves, which is a very important trait for an individual to possess. The literary elements are a present in these texts show the changes that occur within these characters over the course of this novel. Each of the protagonists makes a significant change and these changes are vital in each of these stories. Works Cited Austen, Jane. (2003). Emma. New York: Oxford University Press. Potok, Chaim. (1972). My Name Is Asher Lev. New York: Knopf Publishing. Twain, Mark. (2005). The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Prestwick House. Read More