Discussion Questions On Huck's 'Two Providences'

There are moments in life when one has to decide doing the right thing, or doing the thing that will benefit them individually. Similar to Huck's decision, many times it is beneficial to you and others to do what is necessary as opposed to what is right. Had Huck confessed that Jim was a slave, not only would Jim be taken away and sold back into slavery, but Huck would also face serious charges for taking care of a runaway slave. There are times when the necessities of others and oneself takes precedent over the universal concept of right and wrong.

Many times that Huck could’ve told the authorities about Jim, but he didn’t. On the other hand, Jim could’ve done the same thing to Huck. Both men, did what they think was right. Jim protected Huck from seeing his dead father. He didn’t let Huck see his father’s dead body because he didn’t want Huck to get hurt. For example, when Huck wanted to talk about the dead man and wanted to know how he was killed, but Jim didn’t want him to know all that. “It would fetch bad luck; and besides, he said, he might come and ha’nt us; he said a man that warn’t buried was more likely to go a-ha’nting around than one that was planted and comfortable” (Twain 137).

His concern for Jim is and remains irrational. Huck finds many reasons for giving Jim up and none for stealing him. To the end Huck sees his compassion for Jim as a weak, ignorant, and wicked felony.

Huck has a chance to turn Jim in, and hopefully make his conscience feel better, but he does not. Finally, Huck decides to stick to his own opinion of Jim. Huck decides, at least for now, to help Jim. Huck starts listening to himself: “Once he was confronted with a mighty decision, when he had to choose between being respectable and returning Jim to Miss Watson, and being himself, listening to the voice of his heart, not returning Jim- and going to hell” (“The Adventures…”18-19). Huck is thinking of sacrificing himself to continue to help Jim find freedom.

     There is a major argument among literary critics whether the adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, is or is not a racist novel. The question focus on the depiction of Jim, the black slave, and the way he is treat by Huck and other characters. The use of the word “nigger” is also a point raised by some critic, who feel that Twain uses the word too often and too loosely. Mark Twain never presents Jim in a negative light. He does not show Jim as a drunkard, as a mean person or as a cheat.

Miss Watson would constantly bag on him to pray and to be religious. But as hard as he tried he just didn’t get it. “I says to myself, if a body can get anything they pray for, why don’t Deacon Winn get back the money he lost on pork?” (page 14) This is an important piece because it shows that Huck is beginning to make his own choices on who he is. It shows that he doesn’t understand how praying works, and that if it did, wouldn’t Deacon Winn get his money back. Although Miss Watson wants him to be religious, he follows his own beliefs and disregards

Huck feels bad letting anyone die, even murderers and sends a captain to go get them, he did lie to the captain but he reasoned it was for the greater good. Huck and Jim then escape move on. Later, they meet two men running from a town. The men claimed to be royalty, but Huck knew better, showing he has intellect and a brain. But he doesn’t tell Jim because Jim didn’t know any better, and he’d rather not start an argument. Which shows Huck would rather keep something to himself to benefit others than to be right.Now, some would say, “He lies and cheats all the time! How would you explain that?” Well, he is still influenced by Pap and he says his father told him that it can help. And whenever he does lie, it always helps someone who needs

The macro and micro perspectives on slaves being viewed as property have much in common. Both slaves, in general, and Jim either are sold or have the intent to be sold just like any other material object. History and Twain's narrative both show opinions from certain sides that slaves aren't people; they are tools to complete labor. Only on a micro level do readers start to see that slaves have the emotions and personal feelings that people do, and solely there do readers start to see a “tool” become more and more like a human.

Jim is a local household slave for Miss Watson but he is not your average slave in the South. There is more to Jim than meets the eye.

Mark Twain published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1884, and it has been a controversial piece of American literature ever since. In this novel we see Huck and Jim go through a series of events, on there adventure to freedom, covering different aspects of culture and society in the United States in that time period. One of the main aspects being slavery and racism, the reader’s interpretation of the theme of race is largely determined by how they understand the character of Jim. An uninformed reader may take Twain’s rendering of Jim as racist and uneducated. People may say Twain is being racist with how Huck or other characters talk about Jim, using derogatory terms like “Nigger”, but I believe that Twain uses Jim to expose

In the book “Huckleberry Finn” Jim is portrayed as a much more human character in the movie from the start and this really goes against what the purpose of the whole story was trying to do, develop his character, as seen from Huck, go from slave to an equal. Although we don’t like to show a stereotypical african american in the 1800’s it really helps to show Jim’s transformation from slave to

In this essay, Julius Lester talks about the morality of the story itself. Lester talks about how Twain wants the readers to believe certain things that are not credible or with emotions related to fiction stories. Lester mentions how the readers think that Twain is including into his story some sort of a connection between Tom and Jim, when Tom decides to help Huck to free Jim from slavery, but is not what it

Many argue that Twain’s use of “N*****’ is justified because it characterizes Jim as being a commodity. The word “N***** connotates an inferior and subhuman creature owned by and subservient to Euro-Americans (Smith 365). This message could have just as easily been conveyed if Twain had chosen to use the term “slave” in its place (Smiley 367). Not to mention, this term had been universally recognized as racist and offensive by slavery abolitionists since 1825— twenty years before The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published (Smith 367). The use of “N****” only helps to further prove that Jim is objectified throughout the

7) Many characters within the book and the time period saw colored individuals as property and lesser beings. The overall and recurring theme of “man’s inhumanity to man” is in part shown by the hatred shown towards individuals who were seen as property. Characters like Pap believed that it was not right for a black man to be able to vote. He thought it was absurd that a free slave was “a p’fessor in a college, and could talk all kinds of languages, and knowed everything” (Twain 39). By Twain illustrating the segregation between slaves and free men, it shows the large divide provided by man’s inhumanity to man. During the time period, slaves were seen as property, therefore money and a profit. Jim was seen as a big bag of money for his reward

Jim showing lots of remorse for Huck is very rare feature in this book which supports my view on the book.