Chapter 1-16 Trinity Gomez
Slavery and Racism
"when they'd told me there was a State in this country where they'd let that nigger vote, I drawed out. I says: I'll never vote agin as long as I live...I says to the people, why ain't this nigger put up at auction and sold?" (32)
Slavery and Racism are significant topics in the novel. The narrator is a young, white boy who grew up with slaves all around him and the socially accepted use of the word "nigger." In the first 16 chapters, the audience sees Huck's struggle with whether slavery and racism is something that is right or wrong. He believes it is right because it is something that the people around him have seen as normal and acceptable. Yet, he believes it could be wrong because he has seen that slaves and blacks have feelings that he too can connect with. This inner struggle with slavery is seen when Huck contemplates turning Jim in. He says "I Begun to get it through my head that he was most free---and who was to blame for it? Why me."(98) He thinks he is the one committing a true injustice because not turning in a slave is bad, but he later realizes "s'pose you'd a done right and give Jim up; would you felt better than what you did now? No."(103)
Chapter 17-21 Margo Irie
Dishonesty
“It didn’t take me long to make up my mind that these liars warn’t no kings nor dukes, at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds”(141).
Throughout chapters 17-21, Huck Finn and Jim raft down a river with two “low-down humbugs and frauds”(141). These two men pretending to be of royalty spend the chapters taking money from people and claiming to be “kings (and) dukes”(141). Huck Finn realizes their dishonest nature early on, however lets them continue their scheme and he and Jim try to trick the lies out of them. This topic of lying and dishonesty is spread throughout the entirety of the novel as Huck Finn also lies and manipulates people to get what he wants.
Chapter 22-28 Natalie Fung
"there was considerable whiskey drinking going on, and I see three fights" (Twain 143-144)
A strong topic throughout the passage of the reading was that of alcoholism. During this scene a character named Boggs has drunk a little too much and wondering around the town drunk. He is also considered the town drunk. Mark Twain has past experience of dealing with alcohol, yet not that much to actually call himself an alcoholic.
A strong topic throughout the passage of the reading was that of alcoholism. During this scene a character named Boggs has drunk a little too much and wondering around the town drunk. He is also considered the town drunk. Mark Twain has past experience of dealing with alcohol, yet not that much to actually call himself an alcoholic.
Chapter 29-35 Carmen Mascarenhas
Topic: Personal vs. Societal morality
“I was letting on to give up sin, but away inside of me I was holding on to the biggest one of all. I was trying to make my mouth say I would do the right thing and the clean thing, and go and write to that n——— owner and tell where he was; but deep down in me I snowed it was a lie- and He snowed it. You can’t pray a lie- I found that out” (237)
Once when I was younger, I stole a piece of candy from the pantry on a Tuesday night when I wasn’t looking. See, I wasn’t allowed to have candy on weekdays because my mother said it would give me cavities. And as I stared at that lollipop, I felt guilt wash over me, because everyone knows it’s bad to lie to your parents. But I also knew that eating one piece of candy on a weekday was not going to land me in the dentist’s chair. So what did I do? I actually can’t remember, but the important thing here is that this is actually thinly-veiled commentary on the morality of slavery. Bet you didn’t see that one coming. Here’s the deal: besides being a good-for-nothing runaway, Huck is also a criminal because he is the accomplice of a runaway slave. Society frowns upon slaves running away from their masters, and helping such a crime is considered a sin. So Huck is in this place where he feels really guilty and as if he has committed a personal offense against Mrs. Watson. But when he tries to repent and pray, he finds he cannot, because in reality, he’s not sorry. His personal conscience is telling him that he wants Jim to be free because Jim is his friend and why should he have to be a slave anyway? But Huck is wracked with guilt because he’s also technically helped steal someone’s property. Our protagonist is stuck in this awful dichotomy between what he thinks is right and what he feels is right. And when society is telling you one thing but your heart is telling you another, what do you do?
Chapter 17-21: (comment)
ReplyDeleteMargo I completely agree with your topic. Huck Finn is practically a professional at lying to people. This reminds me of the time where Huck lies to the Grangerford about his true identity.