English 3318 students:
For our Week Four blog, before midnight on Saturday, September 17, please submit a comment describing what Huck learns about human nature in these two chapters of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:
1. Chapter XV (pp.170-4)
2. Chapter XXXI (pp. 251-6)
Your comment should be at least two well-developed paragraphs, containing direct quotations from these chapters.
After you post your comment, please reply to at least one of the other students' comments. (Make your reply at least one well-developed paragraph.)
Reminder: please finish reading Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by the end of this week. We will be moving on to regionalism next week.
Thank you,
Dr. K
In chapter fifteen of Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, the human nature that is described occurs when Huck finds Jim after being separated by the currents and the fog on the water. Huck first goes through what other people would’ve gone through in that situation; Huck begins to get worried and tries to find his companion through the form of sounds made by both men in order to meet each other. Huck and Jim do this for a while and Huck tries to paddle to Jim’s raft until they both doze off into sleep. When Huck finally finds Jim, he sees that his raft is in disarray and the ore he used was destroyed. Huck’s struggle with human nature fully takes place when he decides to play a prank on Jim; he acts like all of the trouble and hardships Jim went through weren’t real. “Gone away? Why, what in the nation do you mean? I hain’t been gone anywhere. Where would I go to?” (Twain, C-192). Huck then goes on to convince Jim he was dreaming and Jim believes him. Huck fully lets Jim go on with thinking this and even lets Jim start trying to find meaning behind the dream. Huck then reveals the debris on Jim’s raft that was there the whole time and Jim starts to realize what Huck had done. Jim then goes on and explains that he was extremely worried about him and was so happy to learn he was safe; he then walks away to be alone for a bit, leaving Huck to his own thoughts. Huck’s human nature comes through when he begins to feel bad for what he did. “It made me feel so mean I could almost kissed his foot to get him to take it back,” (Twain, C-194). He then worked up the courage to apologize to Jim and promised he wouldn’t play any tricks like that again.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 31, human nature overtakes Huck so much that he puts his own well-being at risk to find Jim. Jim was picked up by Silas Phelps after he found out that Jim was a runaway slave; when Huck finds this out, he is completely distraught. He goes through his own personal battles just to figure out what would be the best option on how the get Jim back. His morals completely shift and while he has to act like he doesn’t care, he’s doing everything he can to find as much information in order for him to draft a plan to get Jim back. “Once I said to myself it would be a thousand times better for Jim to be a slave at home where his family was as long as he’d got to be a slave, and so I’d better write a letter to Tom Sawyer and tell him to tell Miss Watson where he was,” (Twain, C-273). His human nature is coming out and Huck is actually allowing himself to act on that human nature for the benefit of Jim.
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DeleteHey Bailey! Every week you do such an efficient job of summarizing the assigned reading and chapters. This is incredibly helpful when backing up your ideas and observations to answer each week's questions. Other than that, I found your very last sentence, and ultimate observation of chapter thirty and the events that followed within the chapter, quite interesting. You stated that Huck is allowing himself to act on his human nature for the benefit of someone else, and really, that's such a beautiful conclusion. I did not conclude chapter thirty in the same way, but now after reading yours, I found it very insightful and perplexing, not just the story, but the character development in Huck as well.
DeleteBailey, you did a great job explaining and developing your ideas about this weeks reading! I totally agree that Huck's character traits change and have been changing throughout the story. He seems to have gained some empathy for Jim as he tries to come up with a way to get Jim back.
DeleteIn chapter fifteen, the roles of a child, and parent are almost assigned, but reversed. Huck was put into the role of a child, and Jim an adult. This can be assumed by both reactions from Jim and Huck. With this being said, the first point of human nature that Huck discovers in this chapter, is when he realizes that the trick he played on Jim, upset Jim immensely, which ultimately led to Huck feeling upset. Now, Huck did not necessarily regret playing the trick, he enjoyed it, but he did not like the fact that his good friend was upset with him. The fact that Huck was more emotionally affected by how Jim was feeling, can lead the reader to conclude that Huck is more mindful and self-aware of not just himself and his own emotions, but also the others around him at this point in the novel. A direct quote from the story that can lead the reader to conclude this about Huck, is when Huck states, “I didn’t do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn’t done that one if I’d known it would make him feel that way,” (Twain 194). Even directly before this quote, Huck’s brief, but effective, encounter with his human nature told the reader that he was not going to apologize or feel bad for saying sorry to an individual of a different skin color. He believed this and stood by it because he felt that it did not matter who it was, but because Jim was such a good person and friend to Huck, that that alone deserves respect and kindness.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter thirty of this novel, Huck’s choice of obedience to his natural morality is faced with and compared to society’s morality. Throughout the chaotic events of chapter thirty, Twain shows that Huck, ultimately, does not care about what society’s opinion on Jim are. Now, Huck’s natural morality tells him that he needs to rescue and save his good friend, Jim. Society’s morality is telling Huck that because Jim is a slave and that he ran away from his original owners, that he should forget about him and move on. The society even goes as far to gather as a mob, and approach Jim, in hopes to murder him. This example goes to show how intense and influential society’s norms were in that time period. In this chapter, Huck learns about his own human nature, as well as the power of a community's nature. Huck learns about himself that he would rather do what society deems as immoral, and keep an amazing friend in his life, because his friend deserves reciprocated love and kindness. This can be seen when Huck states, “Thinks as long as he can hide it, it ain’t no disgrace. That was my fix exactly. . . the more my conscience went to grinding me, and the more wicked and low-down and ornery I got to feeling,” (Twain 273).
Abbie, your comment provided me with a different perspective on chapter 15. In my own reading, I got the feeling that Huck was regretful of his actions towards Jim; but after reading your comment and going back to that chapter, Huck wasn't sorry he played the trick on Jim at all; he just felt guilty of it after seeing Jim's reaction to it. I think that guilt ultimately helps feed the feelings Huck felt in chapter 31. That guilt comes back to him and he decides to do what is morally correct to him, which would be to save his friend from danger. Even more than that, Huck even thinks about sending a letter to Miss Watson just so Jim could be with his family again. Great insights overall; I love reading your comments!
ReplyDeleteI agree. Abbie, this was a good deep analysis of the material. I had not thought about that societal, merely focusing on the personal. I really like your connection with society vs personal morality, and how Huck has to grapple with those two conflicting things in his mind. Not to mention, connecting the two chapters and looking at them in whole, was an excellent choice. I do wonder if Huck's propensity to disobey the societal order has any roots in his own situation as an outcast, already estranged from the rules and customs of 'respectable' society. It's interesting to see how something like that is often negative, but here, could be a positive attribute allowing him to see the faults from an outside perspective in that 'respectable' society.
DeleteIn these two chapters, Huckleberry learns two lessons about human nature- one positive, and one not so much.
ReplyDeleteFor Chapter XV, Huck attempts to fool Jim about their separation, claiming that it was all part of Jim’s imagination. Jim most likely, does not believe this, and instead calls out Huck on his trick. Huck feels extremely guilty and goes to apologize to Jim, or in his words, “humble myself”. The lesson that Huck learns here is personal. It is the idea that anyone- or in this case, Jim, cares about him enough that when he cannot find him, he “didn’ k’yer no mo’ what become er me en de raf.” Huck is almost startled to hear such a confession, and afterwards is extremely ashamed. It is enough to the point where Huck breaks an unspoken rule and defers to a black man- a reversal of the racial roles of his time. Huckleberry learns about guilt, and here the caring nature of humanity- so strong it can cross racial barriers.
However, in Chapter XXXI, the lesson here is very different. Huckleberry finds out that the Duke and the King gave up Jim to the authorities as a runaway slave for money, despite “after all this long journey, and after all we’d done for them scoundrels.” He is recognizing that in some cases, human nature is inherently selfish. Here, the conmen are thinking of only their own survival for which money is necessary, and are willing to get it anyway they can- even if that means betraying those who have helped them.
Jim and the conmen are thus, two very different studies in human nature that Huck learns from. One is compassion for those who have helped them, and the other is complete selfishness in the interest of personal survival. An additional reading of it, more focused in the racial roles and rules of the time, could see it as Huck learning to look past skin color. Jim, is black, but can feel compassion and is not simply a piece of property. The conmen are white, but are inherently selfish and have no innate nobleness in them.
Hi Daisy! I liked how you broke down two sides of human nature that Huck sees. I liked hearing your take on Huck's response to Jim's offense. To break it down to where we understand the times is very helpful and definitely needed. For the next chapter, I had not even considered the conmen's survival, so I liked hearing your perspective on that as well, on seeing both sides. I really like your breakdown at the end, it is so important in this period for them to see this. I really appreciate your perspective, it helped me to take on another lens as well!
DeleteDaisy, I really loved reading your interpretation of the chapters and the sides of human nature Huck sees. I like how you mention how Huck feels ashamed of his actions towards Jim and how the whole situation was a good lesson about guilt. I also like how you compared the lessons from Jim and the Conmen because I'd agree they are both very different lessons. I think these chapters show how important Huck and Jim's relationship is, regardless of their skin color.
DeleteIn chapter 15, the first area of human nature that I see Huck learning about is loneliness. Out lost in the fog, trying to find Jim, he gets frustrated from calling back and forth. He will stop trying every now and then, but then an eeriness sets in. He doesn't have much to do or think about except how he doesn't think he's moving, but he knows he is. He says, "If you think it ain't dismal and lonesome out in a fog that way, by yourself, in the night, you try it once-you'll see." So the fogginess begins to set in inside as well as outside. After falling asleep, even though he did not want to, he finds Jim. Jim is frantic and bewildered as Huck wakes him up from his sleep. Jim rambles on about the events they just went through, but Huck acts as if it was all just a dream. Jim assumes it must have been if Huck says so, but when he realizes it was actually real he becomes offended and gets hurt. Here is another area of human nature that Huck realizes. Huck was just joking, maybe trying to shake off the event and lighten the mood to move on; but Jim was still too caught up in it and was really shaken about the thought of losing Huck. Huck says, "I didn't do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn't done that one if I'd knowed it would make him feel that way."
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 31 Huck finds out that some people took Jim, and he sees a part of human nature that disgusts him. He sits there, perplexed, thinking, "After all this long journey, and after all we'd done for them scoundrels, here was it all come to nothing, everything all busted up and ruined, because they could have the heart to serve Jim such a trick as that, and make him a slave again all his life, and amongst strangers, too, for forty dirty dollars." Huck begins on his own journey to find Jim and rescue him himself. He finds a man who he tells that Jim was his slave, wittingly playing on this man's known human nature. The man begins to tell him where Jim is, then changes his mind mid sentence. Huck says, "You see he started to tell me the truth; but when he stopped, that way, and begun to study and think again , I reckon he was changing his mind. And so he was. He wouldn't trust me..." Poor Huck saw a lot of human nature that was not very pleasant in this chapter.
In chapter fifteen of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim are separated for a period of time when their rafts drift apart. Huck and Jim make sounds to try and find each other and eventually there is a sense of relief between the two when they are reunited. Huck decides to play a trick on Jim, saying that everything had just happened in Jim’s head. This trick ultimately leads to Jim becoming very upset and confused. Huck, although not necessarily remorseful for playing with Jim’s head, does seem to feel bad for tricking Jim. Huck says, “I didn’t do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn’t done that one if I’d a knowed it would make him feel that way” (Twain 194). This is a great example of Huck truly embracing human nature. Although Huck wasn’t sorry for what he did to Jim, he was still emotionally affected by seeing Jim so hurt. I think this shows how Huck truly does develop as a character over the course of his time with Jim. There’s a level of emotional maturity that Huck shows through this encounter with Jim however, it’s obvious that Huck isn’t totally mature yet considering that he “warn’t ever sorry” (Twain 194).
ReplyDeleteIn chapter thirty one, Huck realizes that human nature truly isn’t always positive. After Jim is taken to authorities as a runaway slave, Huck becomes upset with the Duke and the King for giving Jim up so easily. Huck says, “after all this long journey and after all we’d done for them scoundrels, here was it all come to nothing, everything all busted up and ruined, because they could have the heart to serve Jim such a trick as that, and make him a slave again all his life, and amongst strangers, too, for forty dirty dollars” (Twain 273). Huck realizes that not every human is a good human, especially on the matter of skin color. Huck had grown to love Jim, and see him as a fatherly figure, but society still saw Jim for the color of his skin. The people of the town even go as far as gathering a mob in an attempt to harm him. Huck goes through a very real battle in this chapter. He can do what he sees is morally right, and save Jim, but at the same time, he’d be going against the rest of society, and the way they perceive Jim. This leads to another very important development in Huck’s character, he goes against the norms of society, something that not everyone is brave enough to do.
Both of your points about Hucks human nature play an important part in each scenario. Whether Huck realizes it or not he is becoming fond of Jim and has built a relationship with a man despite the color of his skin. His moral responsibility to Jim after their voyage together plays a huge part in how Huck is starting to see Jim. Acknowledging Jim as a human being and not just a slave. Allowing Huck to make decisions that he believes to be morally injustice, for the fact that his relationship with Jim outweighs what he believes to be wrong, and decides that he would rather go to hell and help Jim than to let him remain in slavery.
DeleteIn Chapter 15 of “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, Huck learns about Human Nature after being separated from Jim in a fog where they cannot see anything in front or around them. Huck makes many attempts in trying to get back to Jim but is unsuccessful. After many attempts, Huck becomes tired and lays down at the bottom of his canoe where he soon drifts off to sleep. When Huck wakes up the fog has cleared, and the darkness has fallen. Huck can see a “black speck” and starts towards it, soon finding out that the speck was Jim and his raft. Huck works fast to get up under Jim while he is sleeping and plays a joke on him, saying that nothing had ever happened at that Jim had only dreamt it. Jim tries to make sense of the events that had occurred, thinking that Huck had died in the fog, Huck reassures Jim that he had only dreamt all of what had happened. Jim, confused states, “Dad fetch it, how is I gwyne to dream all dat in ten minutes?” (The Norton Anthology, Tenth Edition, Vol. C, p.193, para. 2) After a while, Jim starts noticing the trash and debris on the raft, Hucks says, “But when he did get the thing straightened around, he looked at me steady, without ever smiling” (The Norton Anthology, Tenth Edition, Vol. C, p.193, para. 10). Jim had realized the horrible fact that he had thought Huck had died in the fog. Jim was so upset with Huck for lying to him that he tells Huck, ““Dat truck dah is trash; en trash is what people is dat puts dirt on de head er dey fren’s en makes ‘em ashamed.”” (The Norton Anthology, Tenth Edition, Vol. C, p.193, para. 11). Huck’s human nature is seen when he realizes how he has made Jim feel. Huck feels “so mean” for playing such a joke on Jim that he states that he finally was able to “work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger- but I done it.” (The Norton Anthology, Tenth Edition, Vol. C, p.194, para. 2). Huck decides to never play anymore mean tricks on Jim, for the fact that he never wanted to make Jim feel the way he had done at that very moment.
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 31, Hucks human nature can be seen when he finds out that Jim has been taken away by “Silas Phelps” after discovering that he was a runaway and had been sold. Huck realizes that it would be better for Jim, “to be a slave at home where his family was, as long as he’d got to be a slave, and so I’d better write a letter to Tom Sawyer and tell him to tell Miss Watson where he was.” (The Norton Anthology, Tenth Edition, Vol. C, p.273, para. 1). However, Huck begins to have guilt for the fact that if he did tell Miss Watson where Jim was that she might go ahead and sale him because he had run away in the first place. Troubled and unsure what to do, Huck begins to write the letter to Miss Watson but tears it up and decides that he would rather “go to hell” (The Norton Anthology, Tenth Edition, Vol. C, pg. 274, para.3), than tell on Jim. Huck decides that instead he would “go to work and steal Jim out of slavery again” (The Norton Anthology, Tenth Edition, Vol. C, p.274, para. 3). Ultimately, Huck’s human nature comes from being loyal to Jim and wanting to help him to get to freedom, rather than turning him into Miss Watson and him being sold and sent away.
In chapter 15, the human nature that is described occurs when Huck and Jim get separated by the strong water currents and the thick fog. Huck wakes up the next morning and finds Jim asleep. He wakes Jim up and realizes how relieved he was to find Huck alive and well after their terrible night. Huck begins to trick Jim into thinking their night was all a dream. Jim began to reflect long and hard about the so called dream Huck told him he had, so much to where Huck starts to feel bad, "It made me feel so mean I could almost kissed his foot to get him to take it back..... I didn't do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn't done that one if I'd known it would make him feel that way" (p 174). Hucks seems to have grown as a person in the fact that he is feeling empathetic of Jim's feelings.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 31, Jim gets taken by conmen, even “after all this long journey, and after all we’d done for them scoundrels, here was it all come to nothing, everything all busted up and ruined, because they could have heart to serve Jim such a trick as that, and make him a slave again all his life, and amongst strangers, too, for forty dirty dollars" (p 252-253). The unfortunate human nature in this chapter is not a good one; Huck begins to realize how selfish people can be and he does the right thing and takes it upon himself to find his friend, Jim.
I think you did really well in highlighting the main points of Hucks actions and human nature. I like the end of your second paragraph and how you pointed out that Jim found it within himself to realize what selfish people are like, and how he wanted to become a different person well done!
DeleteWhen reading chapter 15, from the beginning we see a metaphor used as freedom when talking about the “Free States” for Huck and Jim’s adventure. During their traveling they do get separated by Fog and while Huck may have been scared and was trying to think of different things he could do, he did give up, and sat wondering what could happen if a snag came along stating, “If you think it ain’t dismal and lonesome out in a fog that way, by yourself, in the night, you try it once—you’ll see” (Twain, pp.171).This quote shows his thoughts on being alone and how it is not always easy. As we read furthermore into the chapter, we learn that Huck tricked Jim into thinking he was dreaming, not long after, Huck comes to realize he feels guilty for what he did to Jim which was a childish act. He does take accountability for his action, and it was in his human nature to apologize to Jim which made him realize, “I didn’t do no more mean tricks, and I wouldn’t done that one if I’d know it would make him feel that way” (Twain, pp.174).
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 31, we find out The Duke and King took Jim, and this made Huck very emotional. Hearing what had happened to Jim made Huck angry and it was in his human nature to realize that everything him and Jim had done was all for nothing. Soon after Huck tries to think of what to do, part of him was thinking of what could happen to Jim and what he should tell Miss Watson, the other part of him was thinking selfishly and how he would be shamed by the town for helping. but he realizes this when he says, “I’d be ready to get down and lick his boots for shame, that’s just the way: a person does a low-down thing, and then he don’t want to take no consequences of it” (Twain, pp.253). Huck ends up being stuck in deciding to either help Jim or leave, so he made the courageous decision to go back and try to help Jim, because that’s his good conscience speaking for him.
Bresa, I agree with your interpretation. Huck places emphasis on the human nature of his and Jim’s emotions, such as loneliness when he was stranded in the fog by himself and remorse for gaslighting Jim. Moreover, in chapter 31, Finn struggles between doing the (legal) right thing or the wrong thing and follow his intuition (human nature). He wants to help Jim regardless of the consequences even though according to society, the right thing is to abandon Jim and for Huck to wash his hands off the whole thing. In the end he follows his good nature and says, “…I’ll go to hell” (p254).
DeleteIn chapter 15 Huck and Jim are separated from each other when the fog came in. Huck begins to feel lonely while trying to look for Jim in the fog which is human nature taking over. When we feel alone we try to search for the other person or persons to make ourselves feel relieved. “Huck – Huck Finn, you look me in de eye; look me in de eye. Hain’t you ben gone away? Gone away? Why, what in the nation do you mean? I hain’t been gone anywhere. Where would I go to?” (192) And another part that shows the human nature is when Huck plays a trick on Jim by making him think that he was dreaming the whole time. “What do dey stan’ for? I’s gwyne to tell you. When I got all wore out wid work, en wid de callin’ for you, en went to sleep, my heart wuz mos’ broke bekase you wuz los’, en I didn’t k’yer no mo’ what become er me en de raf’. En when I wake up en fine you back again’, all safe en soun’, de tears come en I could a got down on my knees en kiss’ yo’ foot I’s so thankful. En all you wuz thinkin’ ‘bout wuz how you could make a fool uv ole Jim wid a lie. Dat truck dah is trash; en trash is what people is dat puts dirt on de head er dey frens’ en makes ‘em ashamed.” (194) This trick on Jim make Huck feel so bad that he could almost kiss his foot.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 31Huck finds out that Jim is not on the raft anymore when he snuck away from the King and the Duke. “Set her loose, Jim, we’re all right now!” (272) “Jim was gone! I set up a shout – and then another – and then another one; and run this way and that in the woods, whooping and screeching; but it warn’t no use – old Jim was gone. Then I set down and cried; I couldn’t help it” (272) Human nature takes place here to show that Huck does care about Jim as he is his only true friend he has. Huck was told by another boy that someone had turned in Jim and despite Jim being a runaway slave Huck refused to follow society’s rules by not turning him in and wanted to figure out how to help Jim free.
Huckleberry Finn learns about human nature, not only by reflecting about himself but also from interacting with Jim and the people he encounters through his adventures. For example, Finn says, “If you think it ain’t dismal and lonesome out in a fog that way, by yourself, in the night, you try it once—you’ll see” (p 171) in such way he reveals his human emotions and anyone else’s under the same circumstances. Moreover, when he tries to gaslight Jim and makes him believed that he had dreamed the whole thing, Jim gets upset and tells Finn that his manners are trash, which in turn makes Finn reflect on his behavior and feel ashamed and remorseful.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter XXXI, Finn understands that King and Duke are desperate for money and are acting suspicious, thus they are planning to commit a crime which Finn and Jim want nothing to do with. Also, Finn reflects on Jim’s good-natured disposition when he is contemplating whether to help him or not. Moreover, when Finn is trying to decide whether to write to Tom Sawyer to send a message to Miss Watson, Finn comments about the nature of the people from his and Jim’s hometown, as well as Jim’s since he says, “...everybody naturally despises an ungrateful nigger, and they’d make him feel it all the time and he’d feel ornery and disgraced” (p 253). He also understands the human disposition, including himself, to try and hide their wrong doings to avoid dealing with the consequences as he states, “That’s just the way: a person does a low-down thing, and then he don’t want to take no consequences of it. Thinks as long as he can hide it, it ain’t no disgrace. That was my fix exactly” (p 253). Finn is aware of Duke’s criminal nature and realizes that he lied because he does not trust Finn. Finn uses his knowledge of Duke’s human nature to his advantage by anticipating that he wants to get rid of Finn and that he will watch him but only for so long, which Finn says, “But I knowed I could tire him out at that" (p 256).
In chapter 15, readers can see that Huck had sort of a break through and became more aware of not only his own emotions and human nature, but others as well. After Huck and Jim are separated by the currents out on the water, Huck decides that it would be a good idea to basically act as if nothing happened, and that Jim imagined it all in his head. When Jim questions Huck about what happened, the boy brushes it off and proceeds to attempt to convince Jim that he is seeing things and crazy. "Well, I think you're here, plain enough, but I think you're a tangle-headed old fool, Jim," (Twain 172). Once Jim realizes that Huck was just pranking him and playing jokes, Jim becomes upset with Huck. Seeing Jim's reaction to what he had done Huck begins to also feel upset himself, and musters up the courage to go to Jim and sincerely apologize to him.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 31, Huck's human nature and understanding of emotions develops even more in order to feel other emotions. Within this chapter Huck puts himself and his wellbeing at risk to find and save Jim, after finding out that the man has been turn in for a "runaway slave" reward. Here Huck learns that humans can and will be selfish and they will do whatever they have to do to survive and get money, even if that means turning your back on those that have helped you in the past. Huck seems to go through different stages of emotions throughout this situation such as panic, sadness, and betrayal. "But there warn’t no answer, and nobody come out of the wigwam. Jim was gone! I set up a shout—and then another—and then another one; and run this way and that in the woods, whooping and screeching; but it warn’t no use—old Jim was gone. Then I set down and cried; I couldn’t help it," (Twain 252).
Huck’s human nature at the beginning of the book is pretty much self-preservation, and being the kid that he is, jokes and good times just come with the package. Jim has been just a travel accomplice, but when they get separated in the fog in Chapter 15, Huck feels genuinely alone for the first time and says, “If you think it ain’t dismal and lonesome out in a fog that way…” (Twain, 191). Human nature tells him to whoop and holler in the fog to find another human, being Jim. Once the two are reunited, all worries and troubles now gone, Huck acts like his old self by trying to convince Jim that none of it happened. Jim is not at all happy with him because he cares for Huck in a way that Huck does not realize. I think what really got to Huck was when Jim says, “en trash is what people is dat puts dirt on de head er dey fren’s en makes ‘em ashamed.” (Twain, 193). Afterward, Huck goes to Jim and “humbles himself,” even though he does not mean it. What I think happened in Huck’s head was that the person who has done nothing to him but helps just told him joking and acting like that makes him ‘trash’ and a bad friend, which Huck did not realize until now. Even though Huck tells us that he does not feel sorry, I think he is because he swears from doing any more mean tricks.
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 31, Huck learns the other side of human nature. Now that Huck has grown closer to Jim, he is in disarray when he finds his black companion gone. He later learns that the King had sold him for drinking money. Huck’s conscience now has a battle of its own. He starts to believe he will go to Hell for helping a runaway slave because you don’t help a slave. He tries baby steps first to back up his thoughts of helping Jim by saying, “I tried the best I could to kinder soften it up for myself, by saying I was brung up wicked.” (Twain, 273). However, he later realizes he is lying to himself and finally breaks free and says, “All right then, I’ll go to hell” (Twain, 274). Now that he knows the true nature of the King and the Duke, he leaves them out of his plans to help Jim and now wants to be done with them.