Moral development can come from personal observations of other people. Huck's observation of how wrong the lying which the Duke and King do, when they are pretending to be the brothers of the dead Mr. Wilks to get his daughters" money, is a major moral development for Huck. It is such a large moral development for Huck because lying has been a major part of his life and it has been essential in his survival to this point. Another reason this is a major moral development for Huck is because he is feeling sympathy for the innocent people involved rather than the con men, contrary to his past, in which he used to have a soft spot for criminals. Huck's realization about harmful lies motivates him to try to do something to stop the Duke and King's scam. .
"I says to myself, this is another one that I"m letting him rob her of her money. And when she got through they all jest laid theirselves out to make me feel at home and know I was amongst friends. I felt so ornery and low down and mean that I says to myself, my mind's made up; I"ll hive that money for them or bust." (175).
To help the Wilks Huck confronts Mary Jane about the lies and exposes the King and Duke. Turning the King and Duke in and trying to help bring them to justice is the final, major step of Huck's moral development in the situation with the Wilks.
Through Huck's run away, moral journey he makes many observations on religion, and how it takes many different forms. Huck observes Miss Watson's strict religion with its rules, rigidity, and emotional dryness. He also observes the opposite of Miss Watson's religion at the camp meeting, with the overly emotional mass of crying and screaming. Huck sees the hypocritical behavior of the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons, who set their guns and hate for each other aside during church service, then immediately afterwards go back to killing each other. In the organized religions he observes Huck is able to see the practical flaws they all have.
