Using Tom and Huck to Develop Moral Reasoning

Brief Description

Demonstrates how to use dilemma situations for literature to develop

adolescent moral reasoning. Dilemmas involve

questions of responsibility, fairness, rightness and wrongness, empathy and

caring, and motive or intention. Sample

activities focus on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Adapt these activities

to any piece of literature that involves

making value decisions.

Objective

Using fictional dilemmas provides a larger context within which students may reason.

Students reflect in great depth on moral dilemmas without being threatened by the examination of their own personal

problems.

Students relate to stories rich in problems faced by fictional adolescents,

helping them to develop awareness of personal strengths and weaknesses in preparation for adulthood.

Students identify with a hero or heroine who represents a strong, noble force, and who achieves success in a

threatening world.

Procedures

Your students read Huckleberry Finn, by mark Twain. You identify a moral

problem in the story, and ask questions

leading your students to reflect on the problem. They reflect individually,

first, then in small groups which try to

achieve consensus, and finally within the whole group for comparisons.

One situation worthy of examination is the question of why Huck went along

with Tom’s plan to “free” Jim even though the plan caused many people to suffer.

What do you think were the reasons Tom was willing to carry out his

plans, even though he knew Jim had been set free?

What were some potential consequences of Tom’s decision?

What were the actual consequences?

What are some possible alternatives to Tom’s decision?

Should he have carried out his plan? (Back up your answer with reasons.)

Another episode in the story worthy of examination concerns Huck’s decision not to tell Huck that his father is dead,

and the behavior of Colonel Sherburn.

Results/Benefits

Students gain experience in answering some of the moral questions they

encounter in their own lives by analyzing fiction, a step toward developing their own value systems.

Source

Mills, Randy K. “Using Tom and Huck to develop Moral Reasoning in Adolescents:

A strategy for the Classroom,” Adolescence v23 n90 Summer 1988: pp. 325-329.

– From Teaching Values through Teaching Literature