In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck uses knowledge from both books and life experiences to impact his decisions that he's faced with throughout the book. In the beginning of the book, Huck talks about his education, "Well, three or four months run along, and it was well in to the winter now. I had been in school most of the time and could spell and write just a little, and could say the multiplication table up to six times seven is thirty five." Books were important. They could tell about the past and teach people whatever they wanted to know. For example, when Tom Sawyer was making his gang he did it according to the book. "Why, blame it all, we've got to do it. Don't I tell you it's in the books? Do you want to go to doing different from what's in the books, and get things all muddled up?" Tom Sawyer as well as others felt that the book was right, they were going to do what the book said even if they did not know what was meant. "Don't you reckon that the people that made the books knows what's the correct thing to do? Do you reckon you could learn 'em anything?"

Although book learning gave Huck some useful information, nothing can replace life experiences. Huck uses his wit and the materials around him to his advantage. For example, when he escaped from the cabin he made it look like he had been killed. This gave him the option of doing whatever he wanted without anyone looking for him. In addition, Huck probably learned what food to eat and how to survive from other people and from trial and error. Furthermore, after being with the Duke and King for some time Huck wanted to leave them. They were sketchy and selfish, but before Huck and Jim, a black slave could leave, the King sold Jim. Huck's experience with Jim and his conscience told him to try to save Jim. Jim, because he was black was supposed to be low and unimportant, but Jim was kind to Huck and they became friends. To Jim, Huck was the only white man who did not lie to Jim and he was his only friend.

Personally, I can learn from my mistakes and from the mistakes of others. Books can teach people a lot of facts and history that will help them be successful in school. But what they don't teach is how to interact with other people, how to speak to different age levels, and how to be involved in sports or other activities. These are taught by parents, and from trying and learning from one's mistakes. For example, once you get hit with a softball a few times you realize that this is not your sport or that by catching it in your glove it does not hurt you. Also, by learning it yourself you are less likely to repeat it. For example, if you touch a fire you are not going to touch it again because it hurt, but if you have read it in a book, you may have touched it to see what was going to happen. Universally, when people run for election they talk about issues that they know are important to everyone. They know what not to say from listening to other people. Also, as a country we learn who to be allies with because of previous battles or threats made to our country.

In addition, Huck and Jim think that life experience is more important than book learning. Jim knows what to eat and who to trust by trusting his instinct and by learning from his mistakes. He was not properly educated because he was a black slave, yet he can still survive in the world he's living in. Huck is more diverse, he has been taught about religion, has attended school, and yet he still makes a lot of decisions based on his ideas, friendships, and experiences.

Miss Watson thought schooling and behavior was very important. She continuously corrected Huck's behavior saying, "Don't put your feet up there and set up straight." She also worked on spelling with Huck, proving that she cares about his education. On the other hand, Huck's pa thought the opposite. He threatened Huck and told him not to return to school. Pa felt that an education was unnecessary and it was causing Huck to think he was better than his pa because he could not read or write. The author Mark Twain felt that life experience was the most important. This is seen through characters such as Jim, who was kind, hardworking, and wise even though he did not have a proper education. Learning from books is one sided. For example, in mathematics there is one answer 2 +2=4. In life there are many choices with many different answers and conclusions.