Pynchons Problem

[Albert Rolls]

>contextually, Huck was raised mostly by a single, alcoholic, male
>parent...narrative reasons for choosing that - imho - was to maximize
>his outsider status, and, yes, freedom from societal conventions
>which, sure, were often emphasized by females who embraced those
>conventions such as slavery

But Huck isn't free--or he is and isn't free--from those conventions, particularly the ones related to slavery. He may not follow them but thinks he is wrong not to. At one point, he accepts that he's going to go to hell for helping Jim but helps him anyway. He may not be doing what he's been taught is right but he accepts that he's in the wrong. And when Tom agrees to help free Jim, Huck loses considerable respect for him. Of course, the reader should see that Huck is right when he does wrongs, but Huck doesn't see that.