Throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain, the author, uses the protagonist character of Huck, to question humans and the hypocrisy of their actions depending on what society believes.
"It was according to the old saying, 'give a [African-American] an inch and he'll take an ell.' Here was this [African-American] which I had as good as helped to run away, coming right out flat-footed and saying he would steal his children - children that belonged to a man I didn't even know; a man that hadn't ever done me no harm"(pg. 98) Despite the fact Huckleberry Finn is a 12-13 year old boy, one can't help but realize the hypocrisy in this statement that he said to himself. It is hypocritical because what he is accusing Jim (the "African- American") of (stealing children from somebody he didn't even know) is the exact same thing slave owners did when they brought slaves from Africa. .
Huck has this "passing on of what he denies" attitude many times in the book. For example, Huck rejected the Bible but tried to teach Jim about it. Huck, later on, has an internal conflict about the question of turning his "friend", Jim, in. Huck also has various differences with authority, which includes Miss Watson, Pap, and social values in general.
Huck has a "desire" to turn in Jim a few times in the book. One instance is when they are on their way to Cairo and they think they see it. Huck takes the canoe by himself to talk to this "police" boat that patrols the area. He plans to turn in Jim, but Jim keeps on saying how much Huck means to him. Huck says, "I was paddling off, all in a sweat to tell on him; but when he says this, it seemed kind of take the tuck all out of me I warn't right down certain whether I was glad I started or whether I warn't."(pg. 99). The last sentence of this quote shows that Huck doesn't know what to do. He can either turn in Jim, and disregard everything he has done, or he can help Jim and acknowledge all he has done.