Sound Heart vs. Deformed Conscience

LaRochefoucauld’s quote, “The intellect could always be fooled by the heart,” directly correlates with the main theme expressed in Mark Twain’s novel Huckleberry Finn. In this picaresque style book, Twain shows the journey of a young boy- Huck- from his severely deformed conscience to a purely sound heart. Throughout the novel, Huckleberry’s conscience constantly challenges his efforts to achieve a sound heart. While some may argue that this never gets accomplished, Twain clearly proves that Huck’s adventures in fact show the victory of a sound heart over a deformed conscience, especially through his experiences with the Duke and King, the Grangerford family, and Jim.
First, the rapscallions known as King and Duke help form Huck’s sound heart. They board Jim and Huck’s raft to journey down the Mississippi, eventually claiming themselves as, “…the rightful Duke of Bridgewater,” (123), and the, “…rightful King of France,” (124). While their stories ...