(For Comp, Intermediate Comp, Lit, and Advanced English)
Things for all students to think about
when reading Twain’s first few chapters.
- There are many references to magic, religion, the supernatural, and witchcraft in the first chapters. How do these issues help to shape the story? What kinds of conflicts do they represent (conflicts such as truth vs. falsehood, sacred vs. profane, good vs. evil, superstition vs. knowledge)? How do these conflicts shape the meaning of the text? How does Jim profit from his claim to supernatural knowledge? What can we say about Huck’s view of each of these conflicts?
- In the first chapters the issue of slavery and the status of slaves also crops up many times. Jim’s status in relation to other slaves (via his special knowledge of Magic) speaks of power and status within slave communities: what does Jim’s status tell us? Also what does Jim’s worry about being sold imply about slavery and the new conditions slaves could expect upon being sold?
- The book is a resolutely male-oriented novel; the Narrator is a young boy who tells a tale largely devoted to a friendship between two male characters. Huck’s tale opens with a variety of portrayals of women, but they always appear as obstacles to Huck’s desires and ambitions. How are women portrayed in general in Twain’s novel? What they have to say about themselves, and what they mean as underrepresented characters? The book is after all a representation of a major set of issues in American culture, so why/what does it mean that the women are so marginalized in this representation? In what specific ways are they marginalized and what specific roles do they play?
Hi, this is Stacy, in 10th grade, and one of the first things I noticed about Huckleberry Finn was that he is very strait forward. He tells the reader what happened, and what he thinks about it, and that is it. He doesn't try to stretch what happens to make himself look better. I also found that he's smart, because he sits down to think about things, and asks questions about the things he doesn't understand.(Please ignore my username. It's from a long time ago.)
ReplyDeleteWell said, Stacy. Username ignored. :) Huck's straightforward, guileless storytelling is important to his characterization and the overall tone of the novel, adding a good deal of humor and irony. For example, when Huck talks about hell as preferable to heaven, we know he is not being sarcastic or trying to shock us; this is just an honest assessment after careful reflection, which makes it all the more humorous. Huck does not always understand the social conventions around him, which leads him to make false assumptions (while the reader is aware of what is really happening). At the same time, he is definitely a thinker and often has insightful realizations.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to focus on Huck's differences, or lack thereof as compared to the stereotypical american youth of the modern day and age. Huck seems to be around the age of 13, and while his adventures thus far in my reading have been limited, he seems to learn much quickly. Like the stereotypical american teenager, he is slow to warm to those older than him. However to the points at which I've read, Huck has come to accept, for the most part, living with both the widow, and as well as with his father. In both situations he finds both the positive and the negative, and is not satisfied ultimately, with either. Huck has huge desire, if yet un-described in detail by him, to find his own balance of urbanized, "sivilized" life, with the pleasant simplicity presented by the countryside.
ReplyDeleteOne thing to keep in mind is that Twain intended Huck to be older than he appears in the illustrations. Huck is actually around "thirteen or fourteen or along there"(see note 134.10-12 on page 415). The illustrations make him look much younger than that (between eleven and twelve), and he even shows up as much shorter than other children who are said to be his age (see the illustration of Huck with Joanna Wilks on page 224). Twain was dissapointed that the illustrator portrayed Huck as so much younger, but he didn't feel like he could get Kemble to change them, and he had other comlaints that he thought were more important.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the background information on Twain's disappointment with the artist, Michael. I think people sometimes associate all parts of the finished product with the author, but the author's intentions are not always considered in the art, cover, or even genre listing.
ReplyDeleteGuthrie: interesting comments! Huck does seem extremely adaptable, yet conflicted about his surroundings. What do the rest of you think about Huck as compared to modern day teenagers? Obviously people vary and I realize you can't speak for everyone, but what are your impressions? Can you relate to Huck?
Compared to Huck, I think most modern day teenagers would fall short. Huck is not quick to make assumptions, can actually live off his surroundings, and faked his own death successfully. I feel that most teenagers these days are dependent on the things provided to us like grocery stores, and other such things. I also feel that Huck handled his kidnapping rather well, adapting to the change, while most teenagers now would probably not do as well, especially if it was by an abusive parent. I feel that I can relate to Huck in the way that he feels more comfortable in the outdoors, but we both have different outlooks on school. That reminds me, another way Huck differs from the teenagers now days is that he views school as something he should do, and the widow makes him go to, and now days, it's mandatory. Most teenagers these days follow up with college, which was not so much an option back then. Most teenagers now would be daunted by running away only with what Huck has in the book, while it doesn't seem to bother Huck at all. But I think it's just as well that Huck was back then, and teenagers now weren't back then, because Huck would be completely baffled by what has become of his river, and the world. Teenagers now would probably adapt better to going back, because we know what is was like, then Huck coming to the future, because of the extreme difference. -Stacy
ReplyDelete(in the process of getting a new account. ugg)
Throughout the 16 chapters I've read in the last week or eight days, what has continued to strike me is the relationship building between Jim and Huck. When they meet on the island, Jim, after initially being terrified of Huck, is very warm and accepting of him. this leads me to believe that they knew each other at least slightly while they both still lived with the widow and Miss Watson. However, their relationship got more complex as the story progressed, particularly in the latest chapter. Huck's guilt over helping Jim escape wars with the affection and camaraderie he feels towards him. When given the chance to reveal Jim to slave-hunters, he instead protects him, and even though he feels guilty about it, he realizes that he would feel equally bad had he turned Jim in to the authorities. This indicates that his friendship with Jim clashes with the ideas he was born and raised into, which is that African Americans were supposed to be inferior. The fact that Huck's father went on a drunken rage against a free black man he met in town illustrates where Huck got his ideals from. It will be interesting to see how their relationship changes as the story goes on.
ReplyDeleteIn response to what everyone has been saying about Huck compared to today's typical teenager: I say there isn't much of a comparison to be made. Huck is both a cut above and a cut below our generation now-a-days. His sheer adaptability, as Katie and Stacy have brought ups, sets him apart immediately. The rapid-fire change in environments (from Pap to the widow to Pap v. the widow back to Pap and finally when he takes to the river) is not only startling but very telling as well. He is much more accustomed to living with less than we are, and he is much more knowledgeable about his environment. We read that he often took to the woods during his short stay with the widow.
ps: Wow. I just made that gmail account, and I feel really dumb for spelling my name wrong.
I’ve had a rather fun experience reading Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because of its innocent sense of humor and the general narration itself. One of the subjects that I have found particularly interesting is Huck’s uncanny ability to make up stories and easily stretch the truth, whether it be for a good or bad reason. As far as I have read Huck has made up at least 5 stories to cover his identity or the identity of Jim, and he has managed to come up with quite a few different names. Some of the names he comes up with are “Sarah Mary Williams” (as a girl), “George Peters,” “George Jackson,” and “Aleck James Hopkins.” The names were a mere cover up for his stories that got him and Jim out of quite a few tight situations. (Addressing the issue that Guthrie brought up) I believe that in some ways this makes Huck very different from other modern day teenagers because of his ease of lying which is now strongly frowned upon and because his lack of guilt after a lie. Although, on a good note I do believe that Huck has only lied or stretched the truth for good reasons throughout the book. An example of this is when he left the “murderers” on the wreck he found with Jim in the middle of the Mississippi River, but he felt guilty so he sought out a ferry boat to help save the men and told the captain a story so that the men might be saved. This story and several others that Huck created saved Jim and him from many tight situations and demonstrated Huck’s vast imagination.
ReplyDelete~Zoe
Hi I am Amado an incoming 10th grader. I have looked over the other posts on this blog and noticed that most of you think Huck is extremely mature and intelligent. I read this book for the first time when I was eleven or twelve and I thought that Huck was much older than he is in actuality. I thought he was somewhere around sixteen to seventeen but now that I’m rereading the novel I’m shocked to find that Huck is a young boy of about twelve. Huck is very intelligent for a twelve year old but he also does childish things. For example, he is unable to perceive the bigger picture of Miss Watson’s religious beliefs. Another example is when he actually believes Tom’s claim that there will be elephants and A-Rabs. Huck lives in the present, he doesn’t seem to look far into the future just like most kids his age tend to do. I’m just wondering did anybody else read this story when they were younger and also think Huck was much older than he actually is.
ReplyDelete-Amado
Just to reiterate what I already pointed out Amado: Huck is supposed to be 13 to 14 according to Twain's notes. (See my last posting from July 11th above.) On another note, everyone's postings should show some effort to quote the text or provide evidence with page references to support their points. Also they should show that you have read the other postings so that a conversation, an exchange of ideas and facts about the book, can take place.
ReplyDeleteHi, everyone!
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed reading all of your comments so far and especially like this conversation about how Huck compares to younger teenagers today.
Amado, welcome to Maybeck! I, too, last read this novel when I was a kid. I always find it interesting to notice what parts of books I remember and what feels entirely new to me when I read a novel for the second time.
Zoe, I'm glad that you brought up Huck's lies. In the novel's first paragraph, Huck tells us that Mark Twain "stretched" the truth in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, a statement that brings up questions about lies in relation to storytelling (1).
What do you all think about the opening paragraph, especially regarding the importance of both lies and storytelling in the novel?
I would also like to adress Huck's appearance and state of mind. The illustrator portrays Huck as looking very very young. When I first looked at the pictures, I also thought he would be around maybe 10 or 11. However, when I found out that he was actually 13 or 14, I re-read passages in the first few chapters and realized that what Huck thinks about is a lot more mature than what today's 13-14 year old's think about. He strongly asserts his beliefs in heaven and hell throughout the book and other opinions. His opinions are much more developed and thoroughly thought of compared to today's teenagers.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the two posts in a row, but I would like to talk about the superstition in the novel, specifically when it relates to Jim. Huck often talks about Jim's supersticous beliefs and how he, in a way, relies on them to predict the future. For example, when Jim takes out the hair-ball for Huck, Jim tells him it is not saying anything because it needs money. "Jim got down on his knees and put his ear against it and listened. But it warn't no use; he said it wouldn't talk. He said sometimes it wouldn't talk without money... Jim put the quarter under the hair-ball and got down and listened again. This time he said the hair-ball was all right. He said it would tell my whole fortune if I wanted it to" (21). Huck believes in this because of how confidently Jim relays information to him. The hair-ball does not lie, in Huck's eyes. Huck also believes Jim because he has known him for much of his life. If someone were to just hear Jim talking like this, about how a hair-ball could predict your future, one might just think, what a bunch of nonsense. But Jim and Huck strongly believe in this superstition.
ReplyDeleteThis is Josh, 10th grader. I also think it's interesting to pay attention to the family relationships in the book. Huck’s father is greedy and thinks he deserves everything his son has (money). He is only with Huck once in a great while and he spends that time beating him and drinking. Yet when the widow and Judge Thatcher tried to get custody of Huck away from his father, the other judge said, “the courts mustn’t interfere and separate families if they could help it” and that he’d “druther not take a child away from its father” (26). These days the courts tend to do the same thing to keep families together, although sometimes kids have to be separated from their families when they can’t take care of them. Huck’s dad only cares about alcohol, money, and himself. To Huck, he didn’t like the beatings his dad gave him, but he didn’t want to go back to the widow either because he didn’t want to study or keep clean. To him, the best option seemed to be to get away on his own.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, everyone!
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to see that two new topics of discussion have been introduced: the belief in superstition and the (primarily troubled) family relationships.
Also, Hero and Josh, great use of quotations!
It's great to see this blog begin to take off! Nice work so far, everyone.
ReplyDeleteJosh: good point about Huck's father. Rather than wanting the best for his son, Huck's father wants him to remain uneducated, saying, "You're educated, too, they say; can read and write. You think you're better'n your father, now, don't you, because he can't? I'll take it out of you . . . I'll learn people to bring up a boy to put on airs over his own father and let on to be better'n what he is" (24). I don't know how to italicize on here, but "he" is in italics (referring to the father) which shows that Pap's focus is not merely on his son's rise in status, but on how his son's status compares to his own. He believes a son should not surpass a father in any way (he mentions money, clothing, and education during this conversation) and attempts to make Huck feel guilty. This directly opposes the once prevalent ideal of each generation becoming more prosperous than the last. I doubt social mobility ever exists without some form of guilt or apprehension, but when a parent tries to hold back a child through guilt it is particularly disturbing.
Yo,
ReplyDeleteThis is Omar, and I would like to start off by discussing Huck's life (background) and personality.
From the beginning I immediately got the impression that Huck is around the age of 13 to 14, (lucky guess). I see other comments above mine talk about how Huck is mature and very intelligent for his age. You have to take into consideration that Huck was abused by his father and had a different life than other kids during that time and somewhere in the novel it said that most kids envied Huck for his freedom. With all this freedom and time away from his drunk abusive father, Huck's lifestyle/surroundings were mature for his age which caused him to gain the personality he has now. I'n not disagreeing with the comments above mine, just pointing out the cause for Huck's being who he is (if that makes sense).
Hi, this is Rose and I would like to address the topic Guthrie started about Huck in relationship to modern teenagers.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part I agree with what people are saying about Huck being mature for his age, and it is this is indeed true in regards to his lines of rational thought and his ability to adapt to whatever situation he is thrown into, whether it be living with the widow and getting an education, or being kidnapped by his father and living with him. However I feel that at least in regards to Huck’s emotions and actions based on feelings rather than thought Huck is actually quite similar to today’s adolescents. For one thing when modern teens get frustrated or annoyed with their parents they sometimes lash back by doing things they know annoy their parents just to spite them. Huck can be seen to do the same thing with his father: “I didn’t want to go to school, much, before, but I reckoned I’d go now to spite pap” (29). Huck does not like his father coming into his life just after he is beginning to get used to it, and is now doing what he can to spite him, hoping in vain that this will get Pap to leave him alone.
Also there is the fact that without company of some sort Huck gets lonely, the way a teenager today would if they didn’t have friends to talk to. Not only this, but he also attempts to tell the readers that being lonely doesn’t matter to him and that he just ignores the loneliness until it goes away, saying “by and by it got sort of lonesome, and so I went and set on the bank and listened to the currents washing along… there ain’t no better way to put in time when you are lonesome; you can’t stay so, you soon get over it” (48). Like many teens today would do Huck doesn’t want to admit how much he longs for the company of another human being.
Hi, it is Henry
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amado, Huck is immature but in a different way than Tom. Tom can’t tell the difference between the world of books and the real world, while Huck is immature in his thoughts on slavery. It’s in the same way as most of his area of the country though, he believes that taking Jim is stealing. Over the course of the book this changes, but even when he makes the decision to save him he says“ I am going to hell anyways so I might as well help him”(273).
Up-coming 12th grader Sophie G here (I know my name is misspelled up above).
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Henry in that Huck's views on slavery are 'immature'. They are racist and often derogatory, true, but what he is pinning on immaturity is actually just the prejudice he was brought up with. Pap has been shown to be extremely racist, particularly on pages 33-34, during his drunken rant, and Miss Watson and the widow owned slaves, no matter how comparatively 'well' they were treated. The fact that Huck is able to rise above the opinions of those around him and form a bond with Jim based on affection and mutual respect is due largely a) to their journey together down the river, and b) Huck's ability to look at situations pragmatically and realistically. These traits not only allow him to play his cards ingeniously well in almost any given situation (there are countless examples of him lying his way out of a sticky scenario), but also allow his to see beyond the color of Jim's skin. And in response to Josh's comment about Huck being mature because of his father's abuse, which in effect, made him grow up faster than his peers: I fully agree. Huck may admire Tom Sawyer and see his imaginative feats as a level of greatness to aspire to, but one glaring difference stands out to me: Huck's schemes and lies and typically practical, and usually work. Amado brought up the A-rabs and elephants shenanigan on page 15, and this is a perfect example of how while Tom's creative enterprises may be spectacular, and many look up to him for them, he hasn't got a mature or practical bone in his body. In this way, Huck outstrips him by a mile.
Hi this is Erica. I want to talk about Huck’s views on lying. From what I have read so far I can tell that Huck has very strong opinions of what is right and wrong. He is able to lie at the drop of a hat if he thinks it is important or for a good cause. For example when he lies to the watchman about the boat wreck with the murderers and says it is his family who is stuck on the wreck instead (89-90), he strongly thinks that the lie is necessary (which it is) to save lives while still keeping himself and Jim safe. At the same time he does not appreciate lies that are useless such as the ones Tom Sawyer tells for his games. Huck doesn’t like lying unless it is needed and he never lies if he thinks harm will come from it. When speaking to Judge Thatcher he says, “and don’t ask me nothing – then I wont have to tell no lies”(19). Although he does it a lot, he won’t lie if he can avoid it. I feel like people generally think of lying as a bad thing but Mark Twain seems to give Huck his ability to lie so easily not as a flaw of character but as a gift.
ReplyDeleteGenevieve speaking!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Erica's comment above. Huck is an extremely clear thinker and surprisingly morally upright, considering the facts and nature of his upbringing (or lack thereof). He seems to have a very good perception of when lying is necessary but harmless and when lying is used just to get ahead and stomp on other peoples' faces, such as when the Duke and King lie so abhorrently to scam the Wilks family. He instantly feels that their lies are simply bad and that he'd rather not have a part in them: "Well, the men gathered around, and sympathized with them, and said all sorts of kind tings to then, and carried their carpet bags up the hill for them, and let them lean on them and cry, and told the king all about his brother's last moments, and the king he told it all over again on his hands to the duke, and both of them took on about that dead tanner like they'd lost the twelve disciples. Well, if ever I struck anything like that, I'm a nigger. It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race (210)."
Bizarrely, I'm reminded of a martial arts movie where the masters tell their pupils "in order to master this skill you must respect its dangerous potential" (or something along those lines). Huck is a gifted liar and knows it, but he has never intentionally used this to hurt others - only to save his own skin. Seeing the king and duke carry on as they are doing is disgusting to him.
Hi this is Rose and I, too, believe what other have been saying about Huck only lying about things to help, and not harm, other people. Even when he lies to Jim about himself getting lost in the fog being only a dream he didn’t actually mean any harm by it, as shown by his regret about it later when he says “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger–¬–but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards, neither. I didn’t do no more mean tricks, and I wouldn’t done that one if I’d a knowed it would make him feel that way” (105). In this case Huck is just trying to lighten the mood after their ordeal, not be unnecessarily spiteful to Jim. I think it is for this very reason, the fact that Huck only ever lies for what he believes to be necessary, that despite his lies one never thinks that there is any falsehood in the story he is telling. One never doubts what Huck has to say because he has no reason to lie and whenever he does lie he always narrates the truth first and then tells the lie to somebody else in the story. Some examples are when he pretends to be a girl getting medicine for her mother in chapter eleven, and when he tells the watchman about the nonexistent family stuck in the shipwreck in chapter thirteen. In both cases readers are already aware of the truth: they already know that Huck is not, in fact, a girl as well as his real motive in coming to town, and that the only people stuck on the wreck are the threesome of murderers.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how Huck himself lies when he believes it necessary, when in the very beginning he is annoyed by the stories and beliefs of others because he sees them to be lies. Taking everything literally, without considering the possibility of stories, was a quirk of his. Originally it seemed as if it was caused by a lack of understanding and was therefore a handicap, but it seems that it is also a way for Huck to see the world in a way that makes sense to him, and benefits him. He is able to focus on what is vital to him, without the fantasies of reality that boys his age would have, that could get them harmed in the situations such as the ones he finds himself in. This way of thinking also tied into religion, in that when his caretakers tried to teach him of their own beliefs he disregarded it, examples of this are on pages 13. He saw it as unimportant for reasons such as the influential person of the religion was dead, or when he prayed as they told him to he never got anything in return. Once he realized that the only benefit of the religion was spiritual, and that he could not use it for an actual gain, he stopped caring about it. Huck’s interest in superstition, however, is strong. Perhaps because, from his view, many unlucky things happen so it seems likely that a supernatural force would cause some of the occurrences. This gives people like Jim power over him.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the double post...
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that Huck seems to respect Jim, perhaps because of his witchcraft, while his father is an avid hater of the slaves who are free. He describes his hatred in a drunken rant, spouting curses at the idea of an “educated nigger”. It seems like his hatred is partly at the thought of someone so ‘low’ being more intelligent than he. Despite Huck’s similar situation and the influence fro his father, he treats Jim as a person. At first the treatment seems like a mere tolerance. But as Jim assists him in his escape he grows to become a sort of friend. And when Huck chooses to play tricks on Jim, such as pretending the separation and chase through thick fog never happened, he is actually able to apologize to Jim despite his ‘nigger’ status. Huck says, “ It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger – but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards, neither.” Huck himself describes the difficulty he has in going to “humble himself” to Jim, but in the end he does, because he recognizes him as an individual, and a person with feelings who he wants to be friends with. Unlike most of the people around him, Huck is able to see the individual in people like Jim.
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ReplyDeleteThe majority of Huckleberry's story is on the river, which means that examples of women and the way they are portrayed are scattered throughout. This in itself is interesting, as it shows one part of life that women seem to have no place in, in this story, which is rafting and living on the water. All of the people on the rafts are male, and while there are likely women on the large traveling vessels, they are not found living on the rafts, as many men are. On land, the women are expected to be child raisers and home keepers. Hucks own caretakers in the beginning of the story are good examples of the expected behavior of women. They attempt to teach him, take care of him, and mold him to the society they know. Later in the story, however, Huck comes across other examples of women, who he seems to respect more, perhaps for their unconventional attitude. When Huck ends up staying with the Grangerfords for a period of time, he experiences different behaviors from women. Emmeline Grangerford, though dead, earns Huck’s respect with her odd interest in honoring the dead and her unique art. Though poetry and art were likely expected activities for women at that point, the added attention to the dead was likely not. In this way Huck learns more about the people around him, how they differ, and how he can respect that.
One group theme that is constant throughout the story is the river. When traveling on the river, fortune is defined by its behaviors. The currents, wrecks, and other rafters that inhabit the river dictate many of the twists in Huck’s journey. From the start, Huck uses the river to his advantage when he wants to fake his death and escape. It both hides the evidence of his faked murder and carries him away from his prison. Later the river shows its disadvantages. The fog in combination to the rivers currents repeatedly separates Huck and Jim, whether they are both on crafts or swimming away from a ferry collision. The wrecks that the river brings to the pair either help or hinder them. Finding the loose canoe, and later other helpful items, was a turn for the better for Huck. While coming across a large wreck, and with it the scene of a murder in progress, was a turn for the worse. Other rafters were either a source of information, though often a poor one, or an enemy to be escaped from with tricks and lies. Throughout the book, the river reflects the trials that Huck and Jim go through in their travels.
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