In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain illustrates themes prevalent in society in the early 1800s, as well as in society today. Huckleberry Finn is the son of an abusive father and his mother is no longer alive. He decides to leave “civilization” and go down the river. He meets many people along the way, but the most important is Jim, an escaped slave from Huck's hometown. Huck realizes early on that “human beings can be terribly cruel to one another” (Twain174). Most of the people Huck and Jim encounter on their journey down the river are inhumane to others. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain believes that human beings treat their peers cruelly by seeking attention, greed, and self-preservation. Abusive fathers show great cruelty towards their children. Pap is heartless towards Huck even though he is his son. He is very greedy and doesn't care about Huck's physical or mental health, he only wants Huck's money. Pap and Huck are a family, but Pap is still mentally and physically abusive towards his son. Huck is afraid of his father while drunk, he states that "little by little Pap got too good with his hick'ry, and I couldn't stand it." I was everywhere with marks” (Twain18). Even though Pap and Huck are father and son, Pap is still inhumane to Huck simply out of greed. The way people treated slaves or even the way they treated free black men was exceptionally cruel. Jim constantly had to stay on the run to deal with the brutality of the situation. Tom Sawyer even played Jim by making him believe that he was still an escaped slave when in reality he was a free man. Miss Watson “freed him in her will” (Twain277), but Tom still claims that he is not a free man. Even Huck plays several tricks on him middle of paper......depicts the cruelty of man's inhumanity to man in the novel, but doesn't do much about it, as we still live today in an inhumane world. in 2014. Works Cited Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: CL Webster & Co., 1885. Print. Martin, Jay. “American civilization threatens to destroy Huck.” Harvest of Change: American Literature, 1865-1914 (1967): Rpt. while reading about The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Ed. Katie de Koster. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1994: 105-110. Nyirubugara, Oliver. "CHAPTER II VIOLENCE, CRUELTY, AND BRUTALITY" MARKS TWAIN'S SATIRIC APPROACH TO MID-19TH CENTURY AMERICAN SOCIETY, AS DESCRIBED IN THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBNERRY FINN. University of Bangui, 2001. Web. March 14, 2014. Lunsford, Pat. “The Effects of Child Abuse on Society” The Effects of Child Abuse on Society. Yahoo Contributor Network, October 1, 2008, Web, April 1, 2014.