Huck makes it clear early in the novel that he does not appreciate the Widow Douglas' hospitality when he comments, "The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn't stand it no longer I lit out" (1)
Although Huck does not 'light out' to his father's house immediately, he soon thereafter is living against his will with his abusive father. Life with Pap, as Huck referred to him, is two-sided in every way. Huck is presented with long days of leisure, and frightening nights of abuse from his father. "[The leisurely days are] kind of lazy and jolly, laying off comfortable all day, smoking and fishing, and no books nor study" (24). This lifestyle fits Huck perfectly, but there is a price to pay when Huck returns home each night. In one scene, "[Pap chases Huck] round and round the place with a clasp-knife, calling [Huck] the Angel of Death, and saying he would kill [him]" (29). The abuse soon becomes too much for Huck to handle, and Huck fakes his own death in order to begin his new temporary life on the river.
Huck uses the river to escape from his moral dilemma and ironically encounters more situations that add to the burden on his conscience. At this point in the novel, the primary moral dilemma is created when Huck and Jim, a runaway slave, join together to travel from their problems. The two runaways spend a few relaxing days on the river until they become lost while looking for the city of Cairo and Huck ends up at the Grangerford's home. Huck soon becomes a part of the family and learns of the ancient feud the Grangerford's have with a rival family. One of the first examples of Huck not giving in to the pressure of someone else is shown when Huck refuses to participate in the deadly confrontations between the Grangerfords and their rival family.