“That book was written by Mr. Mark Twain and told mostly the truth. There were things he exaggerated, but above all he told the truth” (1). These are among the first lines of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, so it's obvious from the beginning that truth, or lack thereof, is a major theme of the book. Huckleberry Finn is a liar throughout the novel but, unlike the other characters, his lies seem justified and moral to the reader because they are meant to protect himself and Jim and do not want to hurt anyone. Mark Twain shows four types of lies in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: vicious and selfish lies, harmless lies, childish lies, and Huck's noble lies. An example of lying is presented right at the beginning. After Tom and Huck play a prank on him, Jim lies to all the other slaves about how his hat was taken off his head and placed on a tree branch above him while he slept. He tells an incredible story about some kind of spirit that visits him, earning him near-celebrity status among the slaves. Some might argue that this is a self-serving lie. While it is harmless to others, it is certainly not a noble lie. Another series of harmless, somewhat clever lies that Jim tells involves his famous furball. He states that he can predict the future and only he can tell what it says. Not only that, but this furball doesn't work unless Jim gets paid first. The king of childish lies would definitely be Tom Sawyer. Through Tom's ridiculous lies, Mark Twain makes the reader begin to hate this impractical, unrealistic, and unoriginal teenager. His immature lies serve to gain a sense of adventure like in his books and occasionally hurt people. Tom tricks Huck into coming with him to see the caravan of "A-rabs a...... middle of paper...... get some money too, and no one will get hurt. Once again, the lies of Huck's are noble, Tom's are childish, Jim's are harmless, and the Duke and King's are cruel and selfish. The above are not the only lies told in this story. Huck is actually quite good at telling lies and keeps going to tell them until the end of the story, but what most of Huck's lies have in common is that they protect both him and Jim from the Southern society he has turned his back on. His lies are noble, when not they are the lies of no other character in the novel. Huck chooses to follow what he feels in his heart rather than what he has been taught by those around him. The lies he tells are told so that he can continue in his pursuit of happiness , truth, and freedom. For the most part, Huck's lies are morally good, which may seem like a contradiction, but as Twain shows, it is not..