Huckleberry Finn Blog #4 - Social Responsibility (Chapters 23-30)

Instead of my usual extensive blogs I'm hoping to try something a little different. 
~Might want to stop at 2:26 in the video if you don't want to hear the end to the story.~

So, on to Social Responsibility!!

    In these chapters social responsibility is portrayed in a few ways. In chapter 23, the duke and dauphin continue to swindle the good townspeople of their money and Huck says nothing. He clearly knows they aren't royalty and he understands them to be con-artists when Jim says, "...dese kings o'ourn is regular rapscallions; dat's jist what dey is; dey's regular rapscallions" (Twain, 179), though he knew long before what they were. Yet, he does not speak up and even convinces Jim that this is the way kings usually act. Even in the next two chapters when the two rapscallions go on to do another con job by disguising themselves as relatives of a dead man come to collect money, Huck does not say a word. The only way we know he finds these schemes horrible and repulsive is when he tells the reader of his emotions and thoughts toward these actions. In the end of chapter 24 he says, "It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race" (Twain, 189).
    In chapters 26 and 27, we see the better side of Huck resurface when he steals the $6,000 in gold from the duke and dauphin. Even by his own accident, he ends up keeping the money from everyone and it seems that the problem is solved. After the family sells all its estate and slaves, Huck is comforted that the slaves will be reunited after the con men are exposed, yet he goes on to blame the missing money on them. It goes to show that the slaves are so below Huck that he uses them as his scapegoat instead of any of the other members of the Wilks family.
      Then finally, FINALLY, Huck tells the truth. Granted, by accident, but still. It's a hard thing, too when he finally tells the truth. "I reckon a body that ups and tells the truth when he is in a tight place, is  taking considerable many resks, though I ain't had no experience, and can't say for certain...it's so kind of strange and unregular," (Twain, 213). Obviously Huck doesn't tell truths often. He tells Miss Mary Jane the truth and tells her to wait to give him time to leave because someone else's fate is on the line, too - Jim. Nice to know he's thinking of Jim.
    In the next chapters the real brothers come back and in the excitement of finding the real frauds of the set of brothers, Huck escapes once they reopen the coffin and find the $6,000. Even though we are happy to see him escape, I was a little upset that Huck didn't just expose the duke and dauphin. I think that really would've cleared a lot of issues. So, when he goes back to the raft and leaves with Jim he is ecstatic thinking they got away free. Sadly, the duke and dauphin find them again. The duke and dauphin have a fight on who hid the money and even admit that they had both though to hide it for themselves. Honestly, I think the only innocent person in all of this is Jim.