Chapters 1-5 (1-V) pages 1-17: Status Quo and Conformity: Civilizing Huck 1. How and why does Twain establish Huck’s voice as storyteller? What do we learn about Huck from what he reveals of other characters’ assessments of him? 2. Make two columns, listing Huck’s clear likes and dislikes as he reveals them in these chapters. What things does he have trouble understanding? 3. What are Huck’s feelings about his adoption by the Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson? As a motherless boy, does he need their influence? 4. Huck’s upbringing is at issue in the book. what has he been taught that forms his core self? What do other characters want to teach him and how do they wish to change him? 5. These chapters establish components of …show more content…
Which do you like least and why? 3. Since Huck quickly understands the King and duke are con men, why doesn’t he confront them or tell Jim? 4. How and by whom is Jim betrayed? Have other slaves been similarly treated by this character? How does Huck respond to Jim’s capture? 5. Twain is a master of satire and of irony. List ironic episodes in this section and explain how Twain uses them to affect readers. Chapters 32-43 (XXXII-XLIII) pages 165-220: The Rescue and Happy Endings: Realism vs. Romanticism, Reality vs. Imagination 1. Define the words “adventure” and “heroism” as Huck would and as Tom would. Then compare each boy’s idea of how Jim should be rescued, according to these definitions. Who is the hero of this novel, Huck or Jim? List ways in which each has proven his heroism. 2. Why does Tom Sawyer so readily agree to rescue Jim, when Huck has understood the Tom hates abolitionists? Is Tom saved by his effort to save Jim? 3. How are heart and conscience in conflict in Huck’s seeing jim as his friend and family, and as a slave? What details of their trip down the Mississippi does Huch recall that soften him towards Jim? How has Jim helped Huck be a better person? 4. Compare Pap and Jim as father figures to Huck. How has their treatment affected Huck’s view of family? (Is Jim’s mistreatment of his deaf daughter comparable to Pap’s abuse of Huck?) 5. Several characters have kept secrets from others in the novel. Jim doesn’t tell Huck he is free
Huck's observation and reaction to the feud of the two families has reinforced his conscience about the chaos of white society in comparison to Negroes. Huck's reaction in regards to the King and the Duke is also an important point in Huck's development as a person. Huck, having been exposed and shown the immoral and corrupt products of society has grown strong enough to work against society in the end. This development has allowed huck go approach society in a more skeptical manner and to confront and accept that society and the world is not Widow Douglas' delusional mirage. This resulted in Huck to have more confidence in his relationship with Jim and loosened his bond with society's immoral
Throughout the incident on pages 66-69 in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck fights with two distinct voices. One is siding with society, saying Huck should turn Jim in, and the other is seeing the wrong in turning his friend in, not viewing Jim as a slave. Twain wants the reader to see the moral dilemmas Huck is going through, and what slavery ideology can do to an innocent like Huck.
The primary relationships of Huck with the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson as well as Huck with Pap and Huck with Jim are established. Throughout the novel, Huck takes on different identities to further his attempts at freedom. In this section three of these identities are seen. One is Huck, the dead boy when he “kills” himself in order to cover his escape from Pap at his cabin and the other is Sarah Mary Williams whom he disguised himself as when he attempted to get information and later George Peters emerges when Sarah is discovered to be a boy.
Jim is a typical slave yet he represents morality in the community. Located in the south, slavery was widely accepted and a part of southern culture. When people see him, they think of a slave, not a person. While on the Mississippi, Huck begins to realize Jim is just another human being. Both Huck and Jim are running from society towards freedom. This is what the Mississippi offers them, freedom.
Through the theme of rebellion against society, Huck demonstrates the importance of thinking for oneself and embodies the idea that adults are not always right. This is highlighted in his noncompliance when it comes to learning the Bible and in the decisions he makes when it comes to Jim, decisions that prove to be both illegal and dangerous. By refusing to conform to standards he does not agree with, Huck relies on his own experiences and inner conscience when it comes to making decisions. As a result, Huck is a powerful vehicle for Mark Twain’s commentary on southern society and
9. What does Huck’s father criticize about the government? What does Twain want the reader to feel about these issues?
I feel that there was much character development in these certain chapters. One of the most meaningful quotes in this section in the novel occurs at the end of chapter 23, when Huck and Jim have their conversation. Huck is clever enough to assume what Jim is upset about, displaying Huck’s ability to be in touch with emotions. The quote reads, “I knowed what it was about. He was thinking about his wife and his children, away up yonder, and he was low and homesick; because he hadn’t ever been away from home before in his life; and I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their’n” (Pg. 156).This quote also causes me to realize how much Huck truly develops as a character throughout the novel because I don't believe he would say something like this before. Although the small size of the quote, it carries much meaning, along with displaying Huck’s consideration for a friend like Jim. It also demonstrates Huck’s emotional side with is not shown very much in the novel. Huck knows more than what it seems like he would, and he does not fail to prove that. I think that a life of abuse and heartbreak caused for him to bottle up his feelings and keep them hidden, but like everyone else, he still has feelings. This quote also displays the certain connection that Jim and Huck have between each other, the reason being they had become so close. In my personal opinion, all I think he wants is someone to take care
At the beginning of Huck’s narration, he immediately mentions his previous adventures with Tom Sawyer; by instinctively introducing himself in terms of Tom’s story, Huck demonstrates that he thinks of himself more as a supporting character to Tom’s life than the protagonist to his own. This belief also compels Huck to listen to Tom’s advice. When the Widow Douglas decides to civilize Huck, he initially runs away in disgust, but Tom ultimately convinces him to stay. Huck explains, “But Tom Sawyer he hunted me up and said he was going to start a band of robbers, and I might join if I would go back to the widow and be respectable. So I went back,” (1). Tom’s influence outweighs Huck’s instinct to escape civilization, and Huck instead chooses to try to become “respectable” like Tom. Despite Huck’s multiple sets of ideologies, the values he adopts from Tom Sawyer prevail as the most influential and serve as a guide for many of Huck’s
Huck’s feelings about living with the Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson. Which of the ladies does he like more? Why? What does he feel about their attempts to “civilize” him?
The Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, sisters who adopt Huck, have a slave by the name of Jim who, on the outside, appears to be both unintelligent and foolish, as by the impression received when Jim first speaks, “Who dah?” (Twain 6).
Miss Watson and the Widow Douglas, two wealthy Christian sisters, relentlessly shape Huck’s life as devout Christians, restricting his freedom and
In order for Huck to challenge any of the values and assumptions of the time he must first be acquainted with them. And he is not only intimately acquainted with the values of his society but he holds many of its beliefs himself. But Huck longs for freedom away
One component of these chapters that I felt was extremely prevalent was the character development of Huck. There were multiple instances when Huck had to make certain decisions that would effect him in the long run, and with most of those decisions came a moral struggle. It seemed as if within these chapters, Huck is trying to find out who he truly is as a person. One example of these moments is in chapter 16 when he is having an internal battle, trying to convince himself that helping Jim gain his freedom is in fact the right thing to do. The quote reads, “I couldn't get that out of my conscience, no how nor no way. It got to troubling me so I couldn't rest; I couldn't stay still in one place…I tried to make out to myself that I warn't to blame, because I didn't run Jim off from his rightful owner” (Pg. 87). In the quote stated above you can clearly see the internal struggle that Huck goes through, trying to find himself along the way. He looks at the situation with 2 different perspectives, one of them being that taking Jim to gain his freedom is immoral and the wrong thing to do, the other being taking Jim to gain his freedom is the right thing to do. Although Jim knows that either way he will feel guilty but he ends up choosing to take Jim's side because of his loyalty. Jim shows his appreciation to Huck by saying things like, "Dah you goes, de ole true Huck; de on'y white genlman dat ever kep' his promise to ole Jim”(Pg. 92), causing Huck
The heart of the story begins when Huck meets up with the escaped slave Jim. Huck’s first step to overcoming society’s prejudice and racism occurs when he meets Jim on the island. "I was ever so glad to see Jim. I warn’t lonesome, now" (Twain 36). From this point forward, Jim is not a just a slave to Huck. He is a partner.
I can easily tell that Huck is a rebellious type of teenager who speaks in a humorous way. His perspective of society is completely different which is indicated by the Widow Douglas trying to