Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Huck Finn - Discussion #2 Chapters 14-16 (due Wednesday, November 12)

Choose one of the following prompts and respond to it in the comments section.  Your answer should be at least three paragraphs in length.

1) At the end of chapter 15, after Jim realizes the joke Huck has played on him, Jim provides Huck with an unexpectedly powerful response.  What is different about this statement (compared to Jim’s other dialogue)?  What does it reveal about Jim’s character?  About Huck’s perception of Jim?  About Twain’s portrayal of Jim as an African American slave?

2) Huck has assumed various false identities since his ‘death’: Sarah Mary Williams in ch. 11, a boy whose family is on a wrecked steamboat in ch. 13, and a boy whose father has smallpox in ch. 16.  How are these assumed identities (in essence, lies) used?  What are some common themes you see among these identities/situations?  What does this ‘acting’ reveal about Huck’s character?

3) In chapter 14, Huck and Jim engage in a series of arguments/discussions in which Jim is made to look like a fool, and after which Huck makes some comments to himself about Jim (he makes generalizations about Jim as a slave).  It is often unclear the extent to which Huck’s thoughts are solely the musings of his character, and how much they reflect either the thoughts of the author himself, or the thoughts the author believes society to hold.  With this in mind, how might these comments be seen as a criticism of racist thought (considering who wrote the novel)? And conversely, how might these comments be seen as the thoughts of the author, Mark Twain (reflecting on his own opinions or those of society)?  Support either/both arguments with evidence from the text.

*your writing must include claims, evidence, and warrants*

19 comments:

  1. Huck's joke that he played on Jim turned into a turning point in the story. Jim became more mature with his words and Huck realized he was wrong. Jim's sentence that he says to Huck about his joke, was more mature than how he usually talks, and he shows Huck how he really feels. He was very hurt by what Huck did and took it as a lie, which it was. Jim's character changes from just a slave who ran away to an understanding man. Huck's perception of Jim has changed because he knows he has hurt Jim's feelings and feels ashamed. He no longer sees Jim as a slave, but as a friend. Twain's perception of Jim as an African American in this scene provides a clear example of Huck looking down on Jim and thinking that he is better than Jim. Huck realizes he is wrong for that through this scene, where Jim stood up for himself.

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    1. I believe you're right in saying this is a turning point in the story. There are character changes and this is important.

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    2. I think this really shows how much Jim was holding back what is truly on his mind before this.

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    3. I like how you noticed Jim's character change and recognized it as a turning point. I also agree with Mitch and that scene is very important to realize because after Huck feels bad for hurting Jim, he then realizes that Jim is no harm and they become friends.

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    4. I think that Huck has definitely Changed as a person because its a big step to say that Jim is no longer a a slave but just another African american man.

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  2. Huck's various false identities are used for him to save himself and get out of trouble. A common theme used in these identities is huck playing the poor innocent child that needs help for or from a family member. In chapter 16, Huck plays the role of a kid needing to get help to his sick father in order to save Jim from getting caught. In the beginning he was going to turn Jim in back himself because he felt guilty for "stealing" Mrs. Wilsons slave but he seems to realize that doing that isn't the right thing which leads him to lie to the 2 police officers about Jim being his father. By Huck having made up these characters to save both himself and Jim it shows that he is a very smart and manipulative liar or con artist

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  3. Jim's reaction to Huck is different because he says he worried about Huck where as other dialogues he only talks about his benefits and how much he cares about his freedom and not including Huck. This reveals that Jim is starting to develop a friendship towards Huck and that he cares for his safety. This also shows Huck perception of Jim being he only saw him as any other african american man until after Jim's statement in which Huck later feels bad for Jim and apologizes. Twains portrayal of an african american is that they are uneducated and very manipulative but they also still care for people they care about whether they are white or african american.

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    1. This is very similar to Riley's comment therefore i agree that this part of the novel is a turning point and its really important to understand. Before Huck thinks of Jim as a bad influence and a slave, but now he realizes that he is a good man and they are now friends.

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  4. Huck uses many false identities in order to keep himself out of trouble and possibly to get help or aquire information. In chapter 11 Huck works as a girl and aquires a little bit of information from a new woman in town and he learns that they are all on the lookout for jim and pap. In chapter 16 he uses it in order to manipulate two white men from finding jim in his floating raft, and from this he is given 40 dollars in two gold coins. Commonly his characters that are portrayed are innocent children who have an either dead or sick family. This is great at getting sympathy and help for his journey and it makes him highly believable. The acting in itself shows how Huck is always in it to stay away from being in trouble or getting caught and he will do what he can to protect his freedom and more and more jim's freedom.

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    1. All these identities show how creative Huck can be and how he is open minded

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  5. When Jim realizes that that Huck played a joke on him he expresses how he felt about it. This made Huck feel so bad for hurting Jim that at the end of the chapter he even says: "It made me feel so mean, i could almost kissed HIS foot". His response in many ways showed Huck that the joke he played wasn't really a joke to the point where he mentions that he didn't play anymore tricks on Jim. Jim's reaction shows that he really does care about Huck which he didn't exactly show before. He really cared about Huck. Twain's portrayal of Jim as a slave showed the contrast of what people believed back then. African American slaves and their feelings and views didn't matter to the owners, but this passage shows how he is a human being like all of us.

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  6. Huck has many false identities and all these identities get him out of trouble or bad situations and can get him some good information when he needs it. In chapter 11 when he uses the identity of Sarah Mary he learns that people are looking for Jim and Pap, he almost compromises his identity by changing his name by mistake but Huck was smart enough to convince the girl that it was his middle name. In Chapter 16 he claims to be a boy and his whole family has small pox and the people that were looking for slaves didnt want to come into his boat because they didnt want to get infected. In return he was given 40 dollars in two gold coins. His characters are commonly involve sick people or he is a small boy or girl and these characters typically can receive sympathy. His acting is good and he is always looking for away to get out of trouble and to get what he wants.

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  7. During chapter 14, Jim and Huck get into an argument about king Solomon from the bible. Also many little other fights such as how their is different languages for different people. Huck insults Jim and says, "I never seen such a nigger" (Twain 81). This made Jim look like a fool for not knowing anything Huck was telling him. I think Huck's thoughts reflect the author himself and also the beliefs of society. There are so many stereotypes for different races and Mark Twain portrays this by his writing. Also, society does the same to this day as well as back in the late1800's when the story was taking place. In the end of chapter 14, Huck tries teaching Jim about different languages but gives up when Jim does not understand the concept. Huck states, "I see it warn't no use wasting words- you can't learn a nigger to argue. So I quit" (Twain 83). These comments from Huck could be seen as thoughts of the author reflecting on his own life. I predict that Twain might of tried teaching someone in his life and gave up once they didn't get it just as Huck did to Jim.

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  8. When Huck is pronounced "dead" he takes on many different roles or characters in the book. In chapter 11 he takes the role of a little girl named Sarah Mary Williams. Also in . Then in chapter 16 he is the son of a father with small pox. He uses these identities to find out information about things. In chapter 11 he used his identity to find out people are looking for Jim and Pap. In Chapter 16 he was the boy whose whole family had small pox and when the people looking for slaves came to their house they didn't want to come in because they didn't want to get small pox. In chapter 13 he takes the role of a boy whose family died in a steam boat crash. In these identities i see that there are some common things Huck looks for while picking one he is usually a little boy or girl with a family that is dead or slowly dying. Except for on little problem when Huck almost gave up his identity in chapter 16 Huck is a very good actor when it comes to this he never breaks character and is clam if he is almost getting caught.

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  9. Huck takes on multiple identities in order to get information, and he's very good at it. He also uses these identities to help people such as the robbers who he and Jim had left stranded on the ferry wreck. Huck then took on the identity of a boy who had a father with small pox in order to keep Jim from being caught, and he also got two twenty dollar gold pieces in the process. This shows that Huck is very smart and manipulative as well as convincing. It also shows that he's willing to lie to get what he needs.

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    1. I agree with all the points made in this comment.

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  10. Huck used ll of his identities to protect himself and get new info. despite Huck's lack of book smarts Huck is proven to be very clever and book smart. He could assume almost any roll, even that of a female for a time. despite being manipulative he also uses it to help others. one example is when he uses his boy with sick father identity to save Jim. But he isn't entirely selfish he knew he needed Jim and he ended making some money along the way. Huck is a very good actor who uses his lies to further and protect himself and Jim.

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  11. 2) Huck used his fake identities to protect himself and Jim. In these instances Huck shows himself to be a very proficient liar with no feeling of remorse for those he lies to. He uses his identities to gain information on the town he visited when the town and pretended to be the girl. He also used the excuse about having a father with small pox to protect Jim. The instances he lies in aren't necessarily bad and if he had told the truth he could've found himself in major trouble, however he still lied and did not feel as bad about it as maybe someone today might or someone with better morals.

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  12. Jim provides Huck with an unexpectedly powerful response after Huck played a joke on him. His response was unexpected because Huck had seen him as only a run away slave with no education nor knowledge but only a servant. Jim's old dialogue lacks of grammar and knowledge. His new dialogue revels his true character which is understanding. Twain portrayal is the same as another other white man during the time as like Huck when he played the joke on him. Clearly, Huck was wrong for what he did, for hurting Jim's feelings. Huck realizes his fault and treats him as a friend.

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