I really think that Twain wanted to show just what kind of transformations people can go through; how much they can grow from one point to another.
For example, when the Widow Douglas first takes Huck in, he's a wild kid who likes to sleep in the woods, go on adventures, smoke, and cuss. He can't stand life there at first. However, slowly but surely, he buys into the life and decides it's not that bad. He learns how to read and write, dresses nicely, and doesn't swear. He is totally transformed in his lifestyle.
Of course, once Huck got a taste of his old life, he quickly decided that that was a better way for him. He couldn't understand how in the world he had ever become accustomed to the Widow Douglas' preferred way of life.
Perhaps the most major change in Huck is his view towards those around him, especially Jim.
In the beginning of the book, Huck doesn't see the Widow Douglas' reasoning in caring so much about other people. He doesn't see what good could come from it. That is, with the exception of the benefit for the other person.
This obviously changes by the end of the book because Huck lays everything on the line for Jim. It just shows you that in facing tough issues such as racism and what not, Huck was completely transformed in his way of thinking. He wasn't the same Huck we see at the beginning of the book. He grew up a lot.
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It is foolish of us to think that we'll know who we'll be in a year, a month, or even a week from now. We never know what will happen in our day to day lives that could change us. I think that may have been one of the ideas Twain had in mind.
Life has a funny way of throwing things our way that force us to wrestle with the tough issues, but grow every step of the way.
And that's exactly what Huck did.
I have to agree on the part at the end. We won't know who we will be in life. We could turn out totally different than expected, even though a week or a month isn't a long enough time (in my opinion) to notice major changes.
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