Huck Finn's honest perceptions of religion serve as a sad warning to those who claim to be Christians, because the characters trying to teach him about religion are presenting a Christ-less Christianity. I wonder what Twain (or Clemens, whichever you prefer) really thought about Jesus. What we can know for sure from the text, though, is that Huck sees through the falseness and inconsistency and discerns hypocrisy. Also, he expresses how he would rather be with Tom in Hell (where Miss Watson said he would go), than be in Heaven with her, which show us that he doesn't really understand the seriousness of these issues. He hasn't been taught very well. But additionally, she tells him to do good things for other people and he concludes after some thinking that he'd rather just look out for himself. It's sort of cute and funny, since it's coming from a little boy and all, but at the same time it's pretty sad and sobering. First, he's being presented merely morality - not Christianity; it's not by our kindness to others that we'll reach Heaven. Second, he doesn't realize how important these religious topics really are for his soul - one way or the other, he doesn't seem to care much. Twain is cynical, but honest. I'm still wondering what he really thought....
~Huckleberry's Friend
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