HUCK FINN - SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CHAPTERS 14-22)

~Map of Huckleberry Finn's Adventures~

***So it's safe to say I most definitely needed a map to help me read Huck Finn. Huck seems to be absolutely fearless of the Missouri/Ohio/ Mississippi River so it tends to get hard to keep track of all his adventures.***

****Social Responsibility****

In Chapters 14-22 soooo much social responsibility is presented. For starters we see that Huck and Jim rob from robbers. Was that even correct to do? Would that be morally right since they were robbers anyways? Probably not. In a way it makes Huck and Jim just as bad as them doesn't it?  In Chapter 15, when Huck apologizes to Jim it shows he is still influenced by society. Society has told him that "niggers" are beneath him and to humble himself to one would be unheard of. Yet, he went against society once again by apologizing to one seen as beneath himself. 

When they are approaching Cairo and Huck has second thoughts, he again shows how much society has influence over him still. Their ideas are so deeply ingrained into him that he believes for Jim to want to get his own children back and out of slavery would be a crime. Huck cannot fathom a slave having a family he wants with him and his wife. He cannot see that the slave owner is the one that's wrong.

In the next chapter, when Huck goes to the Grangerford estate and he meets the family he finds extremely pleasant, he sees nothing wrong with them owning so many slaves. Even after spending days and nights with a slave as his sole companion it seems he has learned nothing. For a smart boy, Huck seems to not be able to put two and two together that slaves are just like everybody else.

In the next few chapters we meet the "duke" and the "dauphin" who are really con-artists. Huck and Jim seem to cater and wait on them almost like servants. These two, especially Jim who has been on a quest to freedom, are stuck being slaves to two men who are lower than either one of them. Oh, the irony.

In the very last chapter (22) we read an extremely moving speech given by a murderer, Sherburn. The murder talks about the cowardice and deplorable nature of humans and how they only find their courage in a mass of people (society). Although all said could be true, we again must see the irony that the speech so strongly voiced was said by a man who has just shot a defenseless drunk. Is this not enough to show how corrupt this story's society truly is? 

NOTE: Here is the end of the social responsibility section. The next section is just a summary of each chapter and doesn't necessarily need to be read, but it does touch on the main points and quotes of the chapters. 

In a "quick" summary of chapters 14-22 here's what happens: 

CHAPTER 14: Jim & Huck find a wreck with robbers on it and end up robbing the robbers of their skiff when they lose their raft. They talk about kings - mention of King Solomon from the Bible - and Jim seems adamant that he knows what he's talking about. Huck gives up trying to make him see any other way but his own.

CHAPTER 15: Their goal is to get to the Ohio River to the Free States. Huck gets separated from Jim on a foggy night but finds him the next day. He plays a prank on him telling him he was never lost to begin with. Jim finds out and gets extremely upset. Huck apologizes in the end. 

" It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself to go and humble myself to a nigger - but I done it, and warn't ever sorry for it afterwards, neither," (Twain, 94).

CHAPTER 16: As they approach Cairo, Huck begins to have second thoughts about helping Jim because he is a slave that belonged to Miss Watson and she was nothing but good to him. Jim talks about his plan once he is free. Huck plans on giving him up, but later changes his mind when Jim tells him he is his only friend. Men come looking for escaped slaves but Huck makes up a story about a family with smallpox that scares them off. The raft gets broken apart by a steamboat and the two are separated. 

"Here was a nigger which I had as good as helped to run away, coming right out flat-footed and saying he would steal his children - children that belonged to a man I didn't even know; a man that hadn't ever done me no harm," (Twain, 110). 

CHAPTER 17: Huck arrives on shore and is surrounded by dogs but they are called off by a man, Buck Grangerford. He ushers him into his home where they give him clothes and offer him a place to stay as long as he wants. 

CHAPTER 18: There is a feud between the Grangerfords' and Shepherdsons'. They are constantly trying to kill one another. The Grangerfords own many slaves on their estate. A slave from the house takes him to the river and he finds Jim. Jim followed Huck ashore the night they were wrecked. Huck witnesses a gun fight in the woods between the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons and the Grangerfords are killed. Disturbed, Huck leaves and finds Jim; they leave on the raft. 

CHAPTER 19: Huck and Jim continue down the river and Huck comes across two con-artists running from trouble. The two con Huck into thinking they are royalty and Huck and Jim begin to wait on them (almost like slaves?). Huck figures out they are liars but doesn't let them know. 

CHAPTER 20: The "duke" and the "dauphin" ask Jim if he is a runaway slave and Huck makes up a story. They reach a town that is away on a religious revival meeting and the dauphin makes up a story of his own and cons the townspeople who give him money as he claims to be a pirate turned missionary. The duke takes over a print office and makes his own money selling advertisement, subscriptions, etc. He puts out a handbill offering a reward for Jim so they can travel freely during the day. Jim tries to get the dauphin to speak French but he says he has forgotten the language

CHAPTER 21: The duke and dauphin practice scenes from plays. They come along to a town in Arkansas where the duke posts handbills for their performance and Huck witnesses the killing of a man by another named Sherburn. The crowd goes to see the dying man and then go off to lynch Sherburn.

CHAPTER 22: The lynch mob goes to Sherburn's house and greets them with a rifle. He delivers a speech about human nature and the mob leaves. Huck goes to the circus. 

Huckleberry Finn (Chapters 6-10) - SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Huckleberry Finn (Chapters 6-10) Pages 24- 61

CHAPTER 6

Fact: Huckleberry gets kidnapped by his father. He is taken to a cabin in the woods and is forced to revert back to his old ways of living. Progression -> Regression.  

Quote: “I guessed I wouldn’t stay in one place, but just tramp right across the country, mostly night times, and hunt and fish to keep alive, and so get so far away that the old man (pap) nor the widow couldn’t ever find me any more.” (Twain, 27) 

Opinion:  So I think I’m going to start this post with the first question that came to mind when I first started chapter six. That question was: WHO IN THERE RIGHT MIND KIDNAPS THEIR OWN CHILD?? But I guess that’s the point. If you were in a right state of mind you wouldn’t be kidnapping anyone now would you? I was more than upset reading this chapter because as I continued to read, I felt more sympathetic to Huck and his father’s constant “hidings” on him. Poor, poor Huckleberry.

 His father talks about unjust society and “govment” and yet he here is, mistreating his all too-innocent son. Huck didn’t deserve the treatment he got from his father and the fact that he witnessed his drunkard father hallucinating must be frightening. To have your own father try to kill you is traumatic as it is, but to have it happen as a kid is even more appalling. Having even endured his father for so long was more than surprising, but I guess it turned out that patience had its reward after all.

His idea to escape brought great relief from the horrors of this chapter. In the ways of social responsibility we see Huck has evolved rapidly in just one chapter. He has gone from good school-boy back to grimy, gritty Huck and altogether leaves both behind to become “Huck 2.0”. He no longer cares about the lives he has lived, he plans to start his own life alone and away from both of them – who have both essentially caused all the problems in his life.

CHAPTER 7

Fact: Huckleberry makes his escape. He stages his own ingenious, fool-proof death (slaughters a wild pig, sticks pieces of his hair on the blood, disposes of the carcass in the river, and leaves a trail to throw them off) and then makes his great escape on a drift-canoe.

Opinion: In our readings thus far, chapter seven is my favorite by far. Chapter 7 brought about the freedom Huck has needed for quite some time. This Huck throws society and its morals out the window and becomes his own person outside the boundaries of the society he has known. His escape from his father is a sort of beautiful and poetic symbolism. Huck escapes from the stern and harsh hand of his father and the stern, yet nurturing hand of the widow (GOVERNMENT/SOCIETY)and stages his own death before leaving on a canoe (ABSOLUTE FREEDOM-ONLY TRUE FREEDOM COMES THROUGH DEATH)down a river (rivers=ever flowing and changing/ water=full of life, potential; purifying). As no more than a child, Huck finds his own way of living, completely on his own. He becomes self-sufficient with not a need or care for a society bound by rules or responsibility. The only responsibility he has is to himself and for himself. As long as people believe him to be dead, he is 100% a free man.

 

CHAPTER 8

FACT: Huckleberry wakes up on Jackson’s Island to the sounds of cannons. Boats of people from the town are looking for him in the river. They don’t find anything and leave. Huck finds Jim on the island. Jim confesses he has ran away. He also brings with him many superstitions and talks of luck and money. He says he will one day be rich again.

QUOTE: “Yes – en I’s rich now, come to look at it. I owns mysef, en I’s wuth eight hund’d dollars. I wisht I had de money, I wouldn’ want no mo’.” (Twain, 49)

OPINION: Nothing in this world, not even your weight in gold, is worth what freedom is – priceless.

CHAPTER 9

FACT: There is a storm raging and Huck and Jim seek shelter in a cavern. Huck asks why lightning has no shadow if it’s light and Jim reckons it’s made out of ghosts or the ghosts are made out of lightning. He tells him a story of a run in with a dead body (not a real ghost). Days go by and they find a house with a dead body (man shot in the back) and a bunch of miscellaneous supplies and things.

CHAPTER 10

FACT: Huck has “bad-luck” after handling snake skin and Jim gets bitten by a rattle snake. He is healed after a few days. Jim says there is more bad luck to come. Huckleberry is bored and decides to go to town to see what’s going on. He goes in disguise as a girl. 

OPINION: Jim is influencing Huck’s thinking little by little. Jim’s superstitious ways are seeping into Huck’s mind and although Huck doesn’t give much credence to it at first he slowly begins to follow him on his beliefs.

Huckleberry Finn Blog #1 - Social Responsibility

Huckleberry Finn Blog #1

(Chapters 1-5, Pgs. 1-24)

Theme: Social Responsibility

Social Responsibility: an ethical theory that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act to benefit society at large. 

*In these chapters we see a few aspects of social responsibility represented:

-        We see the Widow Douglas and find her an endearing and “god-fearing” woman. She is a good Christian and sweet lady… yet she owns a slave, Jim. Jim is known as a “big nigger” and is a well-treated servant, but a slave nonetheless. We see the irony in this when she tries to moralize Huckleberry and show him how to be civilized. Is it truly moral to own a slave??

-         Another aspect shown is in Huck’s “Pap” and how he tries to be a “good father” yet only brings trouble to Huck’s life. As a father he should be nurturing and encouraging, but he seems to be only everything but that. He warns Huck to stop reading and going to school “or else”. 

-         It is not only Pap’s responsibility to be a better father, but also the Widow’s responsibility. As Huckleberry’s unofficial guardian, it is her job to protect Huck from all types of abuse and steer him right as a minor easily swayed by bad judgement. She has done half her job, but it is her responsibility to protect him from his unfit father as well.

CHAPTER 1-5

*** So, in chapters 1-5 we basically had an intro to the book where we meet the main characters and become familiar with them. We learn who they are and how they react to situations (Ex: Jim is superstitious and the Widow is extremely religious). We are transitioned into the mindset of Huckleberry with his simple point of view and southern twang accent in dialogue.***

Introduction to MAIN CHARACTERS:

HUCKLEBERRY FINN: main character and narrator of the story. He is taken in by a widow and her sister. His time with her changes him into a “sivilize” and smart kid. He learns to read and write and wears clean clothes. He becomes agitated occasionally and on one occasion “lit out”. He is the center of the novel and we see the story through his eyes.

WIDOW DOUGLAS: widow that took Huck in as a son. Tries to teach morals and religion to Huck in an attempt to “sivilize” him.

MISS WATSON: Widow Douglas’ sister that came to live with them. Seen as a “tolerable slim old maid, with goggles on”. Stern and more tough on Huck than the widow.

TOM SAWYER: Huck’s friend who he sneaks out at night with. Tom is a mischievous boy that reads too many pirate books. Makes the “Tom Sawyer’s Gang”.

JIM: the widow’s slave introduced as a “big nigger”. He is seen falling asleep on “watch” during the night as Tom and Huck escape past him. After Tom plays a prank on him he is seen as superstitious and begins to stretch the truth of the tale becoming a proud slave.

“Jim was most ruined, for a servant, because he got stuck up on account of having seen the devil and been rode by witches.” (Twain, 7)

JO HARPER, BEN ROGERS & TOMMY BARNES: friends of Huck and Tom’s that join in their night adventures and join “Tom Sawyer’s Gang”.

HUCK’S “PAP”: Huckleberry’s biological father that is seen as the town drunk. He is almost 50 with long, tangled and greasy black hair and extremely white skin. He is an unpleasant and uneducated man who was abusive as a father. He hadn’t been seen for over a year when the town finds a dead body by the river and thinks it’s him. It turns out not to be him and he comes back into Huck’s like unexpectedly. He discourages Huck from reading and school as he does not want his son smarter or “better” than himself. He wants Huck’s money.

“Ain’t you a sweet-scented dandy, though? A bed; and bedclothes; and a look’n-glass; and a piece of carpet on the floor – and your own father got to sleep with the hogs in the tanyard. I never see such a son. I bet I’ll take some o’ these frills out o’ you before I’m done with you. Why there ain’t no end to your airs – they say you’re rich. Hey? – how’s that?”(Twain, 21)

JUDGE THATCHER: Judge from “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and gives money to Huck and Tom from their finding of money stolen by robbers.