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.
Gabby, once again you have gone above and beyond with your assignment! This is fantastic! We don't get a lot of insight into Pap's past, but what kinds of things do you think happen in someone's life to drive them to do such a horrible thing? Is there blame to be had on society for the treatment of the poor or those who are a "minority"? These are ideas also to think about as you read "The Bluest Eye". You are going to once again read about parents who do horrible things to their children - but in that novel Morrison is going to provide you some insight into WHY...
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 8 the townspeople shoot cannons into the island waiting for Huck to come out and show himself. In a way this could be seen as a social responsibility for Huck because if he does show himself then it is a benefit for the townspeople. Huck wants to be free and once again goes against social responsibility by not revealing himself and staying in the island until the boat left. This also shows that he really does not want to go back and wants to just start a new life on his own.
ReplyDeleteHow do you post pictures to your blog? I feel like I’m the only one who doesn’t know :s. Anyways back to the subject at hand, I totally agree with you that Huck doesn’t deserve the treatment his father give shim even with his talk of unfairness and all. I was hoping Huck shot his father, Huck wouldn’t really have been punish since they were far away from town, and if he was found dead the town would think someone with a grudge shot Pap instead. Nice finding with the river: flowing and changing and the water: full of life, it brings a new light to the chapters to come.
ReplyDeleteI love the picture and the way you set up your blog. Its helps keep your ideas organized and makes it very easy to read! I feel that these chapters are all one big conflict within Huck in terms of his social responsibility. He is conflicted, as many people would be in his situation. Every conflict he encounters he debates, and ultimately he goes with his own gut. That is one thing I admire about Huck, although he doesn't stay with the widow, which I would believe to be the best choice, Huck follows his heart and knows what he wants and thinks and goes with that. Huck's strong will deserves admiration.
ReplyDeleteI really like the layout of your blog posts! So organized, easy to understand, and straight to the point! I completely agree with how you view Huck in Chapter 6. In a way, he is a conformist; his behavior depends on who he's with. With Miss Watson, he learned to go to school and church and not to curse. With his father, he goes right back to the ways of being a drunk man's son. I think that's a huge part of Huck's struggle in this book. And then, he is easily influenced by Jim and his superstitions.
ReplyDeletethis is really cool
ReplyDelete