Twain throughout the novel is commentating on real life society, through the eyes and thoughts of Huckleberry Finn. Huck’s decisions between right and wrong commonly express people’s decisions in deciding which matters are right and wrong. The mob gathering wanting to lynch Colonel Sherburn show how people’s minds are manipulated when a lot of people think alike. Sherburn is commenting on human nature - the ease with which little people fool themselves into thinking they're bigger and braver and more important than they actually are or can be. Sherburn gives a speech to the mob, which causes the mob to diminish and rethink their motives.
A key aspect that Sherburn implied about human nature when talking to the mob is that mentally humans are cowardly. The mob only arranged because their solo leader acted powerfully, but once the crowd was left for their own thinking, they cowered and “ran” away from the true threat they were facing. Once Sherburn challenged the crowd on why they wanted to lynch him, the true fact came out, Buck Harkness wanted to lynch Sherburn. People …show more content…
Sherburn continued to lecture the group on its inability to stand on its own and to exercise any degree of courage in the face of true adversity. "The pitifulest thing out is a mob; that’s what an army is—a mob; they don’t fight with courage that’s born in them, but with courage that’s borrowed from their mass, and from their officers."(146) Sherburn indirectly implies that lynch mobs are a result of fear over courage, but when a huge group of men come together their false bravery hood shines. As the men metaphorically looked at each other they realized how fallacious their attitudes of bravery