Huck Finn-- blog 4 (chpt 31-43)

               As The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn came to a close, the themes and symbols were apparent and full-circle. Remarks about society, slavery, and morals helped add to each of the themes. Also, different characters that Huck and Jim encountered throughout the book assisted with symbols and themes.

                To begin with, Huck always discussed how he wanted to live his life in a similar manner as Tom Sawyer. Huck wanted to be out on an adventure since Tom Sawyer was always looking for an adventure. Huck always seemed to relate himself to Tom, until Huck and Jim run into Tom beginning in chapters 32 and 33. Tom agrees to help free Jim only because he wants to turn it into an adventure and game, while Huck is very serious about freeing Jim. After spending quality time with Jim, Huck has developed a strong bond with Jim and an adventure or game is the last thing Huck wants it to develop into. These chapters that cover the relationship between Huck and Tom prove their main difference of morals and maturity. Starting out as a young and immature boy, Huck begins to mature while on his adventure with Jim and becomes dissimilar from Tom. Tom Sawyer’s character helps relate to the theme of morals especially after Twain reveals that Tom knew throughout the entire story that Jim was freed. Tom’s secret, though, also contributed to the book. If Tom would have told Huck and Jim the truth earlier in the book, Huck and Jim would not have gone on their adventure down the river. Huck would not have developed into the character that he was at the conclusion of the book, and his and Jim’s relationship would have remained as acquaintances. Therefore, even though Tom Sawyer’s character began to grow rather differently from Huck, he still helped develop a major part of the book with the relationship between Huck and Jim.

                Slavery was also a major factor in this book. At the end of the book Huck tells, “and when Aunt Polly and Uncle Silas and Aunt Sally found out how good he [Jim] helped the doctor nurse Tom, they made a heap of fuss over him, and fixed him up prime, and give him all he wanted to eat, and a good time.” Finally, these people realized that Jim was not a bad man and actually helped Tom after he was shot in the leg. This situation represents racism and slavery. Just because Jim was a black slave, people expected him to be a bad man and were always set out to try to catch him and turn him in. People never realized that Jim is actually a selfless, caring man with good intentions. This specific theme still relates to society today. Even though slavery is no longer a part of our society, some people still have poor views of blacks and other races. The theme helps address the fact that all races should be seen equally.

                Jim’s superstitions that he brought up throughout the entire book appeared once again in the last chapter. As Jim told Huck previously, hairy arms or a hairy chest are a sign of good luck and also signify that the person is rich. Jim told Huck that he was rich before and would eventually be rich again. In the final chapter Jim tells Huck, “what I tell you up dah on Jackson islan’? I tole you I got a hairy breas’, en what’s de sign un it; en I tole you I ben rich wunst, en gwineter to be rich agin…” At the beginning, Huck hesitates to believe Jim and his questionable superstitions. Jim telling Huck about this particular superstition should help foreshadow that Jim will be free and rich at the end of the book. Jim’s superstitions also prove that Huck begins to put trust into him and they gain a close bond.

                The final chapters of the book helped recognize the themes and symbols that the book exemplified.  

Huck Finn blog 3 (chpt. 23-30)

Huck has continued to struggle with his internal conflict of whether or not he should turn Jim in since people are out searching for him. Throughout the entire book, Huck has been faced with making the choice of whether he should be morally correct and turn Jim in or if he should be a valuable friend and pretend Jim is somebody else and not turn him in. Huck decided not to turn him in. Eventually Huck will be faced with more challenges and this internal conflict will grow, developing into the theme of not having morals, which brings up the next topic.

Huck’s experiences on the river versus on land have begun to grow into a theme. While rafting down the river, Huck and Jim hardly faced any problems and their lives were literally smooth sailing. On the contrary, every time Huck and Jim were off the raft and onto land, they had run-ins with people that have brought them to trouble. Since Jim and Huck never had to worry about anyone catching Jim while on the raft, Huck began to believe that there were no rules or necessity for morals on the raft. Because of what Huck adapted to on the river, he continued to make the decision to keep hush about Jim. These experiences add to the reasons why Huck continues to make poor decisions when it comes down to deciding which choice is morally correct. Huck’s morals may eventually develop by the end of the book as he continues to mature and is faced with other struggles dealing with Jim.  

Alcohol and drinking has appeared in the book a few times and has helped add to one of the themes as a whole. To begin with, Pap was always a drunk and took poor care of Huck because of his drinking problems. Huck even told earlier in the book, “The judge he felt kind of sore. He said he reckoned body could reform the old man with a shotgun, maybe, but he didn’t know no other way.” The king and the duke also relate to this topic. In chapter thirty, the duke and the king begin to bicker, accusing each other of moving the bag of money into Peter Wilks’s casket. Their fight results into them drinking alcohol. Huck tells on page 260, “So the king sneaked into the wigwam and took to his bottle for comfort.” The duke and king are replicas of Pap, not only because of the fact that they drink their problems away with alcohol, but also with the way they treat Huck. Pap always put Huck down and never had any encouragement for him, and the king and the duke were threatening Huck and questioning him after he tried to ditch them. None of them treat Huck well. The king and the duke will never change in the way they treat Huck, and also tricking people into believing them. Lying and tricking people into believing them is one of their main hobbies and adds to the theme involving corrupt society.  

Huck Finn blog 2-- through chpt 22

The first topic of discussion includes Huck’s father, Pap. Being an extremely hypocritical man, he adds to the theme of judgmental and disoriented society. He is definitely not the definition of a good parent since he is a drunk and usually stays out of Huck’s life. Most parents would want their child to be in good care and receive a good education, but Pap is the complete opposite. In chapter five, Pap shows up complaining about Huck’s “starchy clothes” and also tells him, “you drop that school you hear?” Pap will never learn to be a father and will always be a drunk. In fact, the judge states that the only solution to fixing Pap would be to shoot him. He could easily represent the poor morals of society since he has no idea how to be a good parent and is continuously drunk and getting into fights. He also is very hypocritical since he tells Huck how he should be living his life, yet he hardly stays in contact with Huck.

Other characters that also represent hypocrites in society were the Grangerford and Shepardson families. Both families are frequent church-goers and also believe they are very religious, yet they are continuously fighting each other as if they are battling in a war. Even though they go to church, they hardly follow the Commandments or beliefs of the church. The families kill one another as if killing is not a horrendous crime at all. They always brought their guns everywhere, even to church, as backup if the families were to get in a feud. These families are considered hypocritical since they believe they are extremely religious, yet they commit sin after sin and still believe they are perfect saints.

Adventures of Huck Finn contain multiple superstitions that Jim always tells Huck throughout the reading. Jim is always introducing new superstitions. A few examples are on page 61, where Jim tells that the birds flying overhead are a sign that rain is coming and also to not count the things you cook for dinner or else it will bring you bad luck. Bad luck will also come with shaking a tablecloth. On page 63, Jim tells one of his superstitions and states, ‘”Ef you’s got hairy arms en a hairy breas, it’s a sign dat you’s agwyne to be rich.” Jim has hairy arms, and tells Huck that he used to be rich at one time and eventually will be rich again, making the appearance that the superstition is true. Jim’s superstitions tend to help Huck at times too. When Huck and Jim see a dead body floating down the river, Jim recognizes that the body is Pap, but does not want Huck to see so he tells him to look away while Jim covers the body. Later, Huck has the urge to see the body, but Jim tells him that looking at the dead body would bring bad luck. Jim is saving Huck from having to see his father dead. So, whether all of Jim’s superstitions are true or not, some of them can help Huck in a way.

What theme is Twain building in this chapter when Huck chooses not to turn Jim in for the reward money? Once Huck found out that people are searching for Jim and even including a reward for whoever finds him, Huck is in a predicament. He has to choose between turning Jim in or being a true friend and not telling a soul about Jim.  Even though Huck knows that he is making the wrong decisions by not turning him in, he still chooses to do it. He thinks he will go to Hell for not turning Jim in, but he also wants to be a companion. This situation adds to the theme of morals. Even though Huck knows that turning Jim in would be the right choice, he goes against his will and does not tell anyone about Jim. Huck repeatedly choosing to not tell anyone about Jim proves that he has poor morals and goes against his gut in what he should truly do.

The Duke and the dauphin were introduced in chapter 20 when they come aboard Huck and Jim’s raft. They have a knack at tricking people into believing their lies. A few situations include the dauphin receiving money donations from people when he tells people that he is going to be a missionary. Another situation is when the duke comes up with the plan of tying Jim up whenever they see other people on the river to pretend as if they caught the runaway slave (Jim) and will receive the $200 reward. The Duke and dauphin should eventually add to a theme and might teach others not to believe everything they hear. 

chapt 1-7 -- Huck Finn

Chapters 1-7 of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn introduce Huck as a young, mischievous boy whom resides with a widowed lady named Miss Watson, and the reader instantly learns that Huck Finn lives his life in the same manner as Tom Sawyer.

A few different instances within these chapters help reveal a few symbols and themes that come along with the time period and location. One section of the reading that seemed rather peculiar and symbolic occurred on page 8 where Huck wanted to smoke, but the widow told him no. The widow, Miss Watson, lectured Huck with reasons why he shouldn’t smoke, yet she uses chewing tobacco herself. This situation makes the reader assume that Miss Watson is a hypocrite. This specific situation represents how judgmental society has become, and still is. Even though Miss Watson uses tobacco in a different form, she judges Huck for wanting to smoke. Miss Watson seems to be a character that could potentially add to a theme about judgmental society.

Another part that stood out to me in these chapters occurred in chapter 3 on page 21. Huck tells a story about him and some other boys running around in the woods and meeting Tom Sawyer. Huck tells, “One time Tom sent a boy to run about town with a blazing stick…and then he said he had got secret news by his spies that next day a whole parcel of Spanish merchants and rich A-rabs was going to camp in Cave Hollow with two-hundred elephants.” Huck always believed every story that Tom Sawyer told, and all of the boys in their gang lived by the same rules as Tom Sawyer. After Tom told the story about seeing A-rabs, elephants, and more, Huck thought he had better go see it all for himself. Huck wrote, “I wanted to see the camels and elephants…and when we got the word we rushed out of the woods and down the hill. But there warn’t no Spaniards and A-rabs, and there warn’t no camels nor no elephants.” Huck learns that he can’t always believe everything that somebody tells him, as he writes on page 23, “So then I judged that all that stuff was only just one of Tom Sawyer’s lies.” This incident also relates to life and has a thematic meaning. We eventually learn that a person can’t always believe what everyone else is telling them and they also need to live their own life.