Most people in this world are hypocrites in some way. Mark Twain's novel Adventure of Huckleberry Finn shows the hypocrisies in early 1800s society. Many people pretend to have high virtues, but in reality they are doing things that oppose what they believe. But the sad thing is that most of the time they don't even realize that they are acting against their principles. It is important to know how to distinguish good from bad. And Huck's experiences teach him how to live in this dangerous society. Although slavery had already been abolished when Mark Twain wrote the novel, racism still existed in America and especially in the southern states. The author uses hypocrisy to show the harmfulness of racism and social conditions in the 1800s. Huck is greatly influenced by his father and his hypocrisies throughout the book. Huck's father is an alcoholic. He always beats his son when he is drunk, gives Huck negative impressions, and causes Huck to have low self-esteem. He is the antagonist of the book. The idea of ​​borrowing not stealing appears many times and originally comes from the father. The first time, however, occurs when Huck goes to the corn fields to look for food. He says that "Pap always said it wasn't bad to borrow things if you were going to pay them off, eventually..." (102). It is true. Borrowing is obviously not stealing, but if a person borrows and never pays it back, it is absolutely theft. Yet Huck doesn't act this way at all. When he and a runaway slave Jim were drifting on a raft down the Mississippi River, Huck "snuck into the corn fields and borrowed a watermelon, or a cantaloupe...or something..." (102 ). It is impossible for Huck to return these foods. They float down the Mississippi River and... middle of paper... are harmful to lesser breeds. Slavery is a huge mistake and he wants to appeal to equality between blacks and whites in a euphemistic way. Mark Twain can't directly tell people that racism is bad because people would oppose him and the KKK could get him in trouble. Writing this novel is a good way to indicate what he thinks about society. The author uses hypocrisy to reflect the negative side of slavery and racism. Racism and slavery, as well as social conditions, are exposed by hypocrisy in the novel. Because social value in the 19th century is different than today, people at that time do things that are controversial to what we think is correct. It is difficult to distinguish good from bad. So, people should do self-examination to improve ourselves, which can also lead us towards a better future. Works Cited The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn