Huckleberry Finn is not your ordinary boy. He has led a very difficult and adventurous life up until the beginning of this book, and he continues to have many adventures throughout the book. He proves to be a complex character, from the way he perceives himself, the way he deals with others, and what he values.
Huck describes himself as "ignorant, and so kind of low-down and ornery." (p.21). This displays that he does not have much self confidence. He feels that because he is not educated, and has just begun going to school, that he is always wrong. For example, he admires Tom's way of doing things because Tom's ideas often come from the books he has read. Therefore, Huck always goes along with Tom's ideas, because he thinks Tom is smarter then him. He displays this same lack of confidence with Jim. In society at that time, a white male was always seen as smarter and superior to a black male. However, Huck does not feel that he is smarter than Jim, because he lets Jim win arguments that they have. For example, "I see it warn't no use wasting words- you can't learn a nigger to argue. So I quit." (p. 85). I think there is an explanation for why Huck is so low on himself. I think it is reflected by the way he was treated by his father. Huck never saw what a stable family was until he lived with Widow Douglas, and by then the damage was done. He grew up with an alcoholic father who was often not there for him, and would beat him for no reason very often. Through constantly being beat, Huck probably perceived himself as worthless trash, because his father acted like he was just that. However, as one reads this book, they see that he is not that at all, and that he is actually a very bright young man who just came from a bad past.
Huck often communicates with others by lying. At first, it seemed as if he would not lie, because he had Judge Thatcher buy his $6000 from him for a dollar, just so that he would not have to lie to his father. However, this was soon proved wrong because he lies all the time throughout the book. He even lied to his father one time. Pap wakes Huck up, wondering why Huck is sleeping with a rifle, and rather than tell the truth Huck says, "Somebody tried to get in so I was laying for him." (p. 38). I found it very odd how Huck could so easily lie to his father in this situation. However, upon analyzing it, I concluded that Huck does not want to lie, but he does when it is necessary so that he can protect himself. In this case, he was protecting himself from his father, because if he knew the truth, Huck probably would have been beaten. In another case, Huck lies to the lady who's house he visits dressed as a girl. When the lady becomes suspicious of him, he tells her an elaborate lie about why he is dressed as a girl, so that she will never suspect that he is Huck Finn.
If I had to choose the one thing that Huck values most in his life I would have to say that it is freedom. This explains why he is so happy whenever he is on the river. When Huck is on the river he is free, from all the people in his life, and any problems that he has. He is able to just relax and be himself because he has no problems when he is floating along. He is able to just think about anything that comes to mind, and he does not have to be afraid of harmful things, because to him, all harmful things are on the shore, so he is free of them.
Huck is a very interesting character to hear about. I generally enjoy listening to his points of view because they interest me, however I do find it boring when he gets too into detail about descriptions of things that he discusses in the story.