Well, lets just start off with saying that Chapter 16 is a huge deal breaker to the reader (or maybe just me) but basically Huck and Jim are headed to free Jim of slavery. ok. first of all, the internal conflict Huck must be feeling right about now is the one I have been waiting for all along. Before reading further into the chapters, I wondered what Huck thought of Jim, were they aquaintences? friends? The internal conflict of whether to turn Jim in must have been hard on Huck. "It most froze me to hear such talk. He wouldn't ever dared to talk such talk in
his life before. Just see what a difference it made in him the minute he judged
he was about free." this quote of Huck talking was right after Jim was embracing his free mindset and talking about his future and children, and here shows how Huck felt about "niggers" and how if you give them one inch of freedom, they will take a mile.
When chapter 17 rolls around and they are seperated my heart broke a little bit, maybe i am just a softy but I was not too fond of the family Huck later encounters. But, his lying and witty ways gets him out of situations once again (sorta), which I was happy about.
In chapter 18 nothing really significant happens in terms of "coming of age" I guess you can say Huck's admiration for a comfortable home could show some type of maturity, because it does show that he is aware of something he never had. Something signifcant that does happen in this chapter, however that after the gun fight and killing of the Grangerford's, he immediately seeks Jim for comfort. YAY FRIENDS! "I was powerful glad to get away from the feuds, and so was Jim to get away from
the swamp."
When they take in the two criminals, a part of me is almost happy, because Huck does not immediately say no because of their appearance and background. It's almost like his past experiences because of his father have changed him, in a good way. (skipping ahead a little bit here) but Huck lies about whether Jim is a run away slave to the men. So like, in summary, Huck has matured enough to know what to say and what not to say. He loves Jim! yay.
Okay the whole "Romeo and Juliet" thing was cool I guess, it was kind of random to me. Also a thing that stuck out to me, was that Huck and Jim stayed back most of the time when the criminals went to do all of that criminally (I don't know if that's a word) stuff, imagine Huck in his early years staying back from doing something bad? Absurd!
To be completely honest, chapters 21-22 did not really stand out to me with anything that has to do with coming of age. All of these chapters have to do with the readers perception of the relationship between Huck and Jim. In my opinion, they still have a little bit of the "father-son" aspect, but it's almost like they are best friends, which is great. Huck is maturing with every chapter, but in suttle and not always so obvious ways to the reader. But in all, Jim has been a really good influence on Huck and I am excited to see what happens in later chapters!
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Huck Finn chapters 6-15
So, this whole "coming of age" thing, it's a pretty big weight to have on the shoulders of a boy like Huck Finn (even though he doesn't feel the pressure). The big thing that happens in the beginning is that he fakes his death. In my opinion he does this in a pretty clever way, I would not have expected this in earlier chapters. He cuts the head off of a pig and sets off for Jackson's island. Even though it was a clever gesture, I believe that Coming of Age has a lot to do with matuirty, and personally I didnt think this was a completely RATIONAL decision, but he did feel it was best for him so I respect him for that.
In Chapter 8, there was a sense of guilt throughout Huck when he saw Judge Thatcher, and all of his friends on the boat talking about his murder. I see that as a sign of Coming of Age, why would he care if he didn't have SOME sense of maturity and morals? "I says, now I reckon the widow or the parson or somebody prayed that this bread would find me, and here it has gone and done it." guilt, guilt, guilt. To keep this short and sweet, I LOVE JIM AND I WAS SO EXCITED WHEN HUCK RAN INTO HIM ON THE ISLAND. Jim, I believe represents a father figure in Huck's life, i personally find Huck opening up to Jim throughout the book is a sign of Coming of Age. Imagine, your father is a drunk who never gave a darn about you, and you open up to someone who can do exactly the same.
In chapter 10, when the whole rattle snake episode comes in, this could be interpreted as one step backwards. Huck has been through so much, but regardless of his situation he still knows how to have fun! This is a sign of him still staying true to himself, not necessarily a bad thing. (even though it wasn't a fun result with a swolen leg). I think the relationship between the two of them was representing not only coming of age, but the courage to break down the walls of society. Jim is black, Huck is white, it was unheard of. Jim is a slave, even more unheard of. Their relationship has so many different themes behind it, but I think Mark Twain wanted that aspect.
In chapter 13, "I reckon I hadn't had time to before. I begun to think how dreadful it was
even for murderers, to be in such a fix. I says to myself, there ain't no telling but I might come to be a murderer myself yet, and then how would I like it?" This was a very powerful quote. He recognizes how his life could go in one direction, he could become a murderer. But thinking about it could change his mind (maturity).
Chapter 15 was HUGE for me, I think the fact that Jim was so greatful that Huck was alive, and Huck's reaction was typical. The reaction, may you ask? "What's the matter with you Jim? You've been-a drinkin?" wow. low blow. BUT, this shows that Huck has never felt that type of affection before, somebody actually afraid to loose him. Jim is breaking down Huck's wall. Long story short, Huck apologizing to Jim about hurting his feelings was a sign of consience, and maturity. "I didn't do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn't done that one if I'd a knowed it would make him feel that way." *claps for Huck* YOU HAVE FEELINGS, YAY! great way to end this chapter.
In Chapter 8, there was a sense of guilt throughout Huck when he saw Judge Thatcher, and all of his friends on the boat talking about his murder. I see that as a sign of Coming of Age, why would he care if he didn't have SOME sense of maturity and morals? "I says, now I reckon the widow or the parson or somebody prayed that this bread would find me, and here it has gone and done it." guilt, guilt, guilt. To keep this short and sweet, I LOVE JIM AND I WAS SO EXCITED WHEN HUCK RAN INTO HIM ON THE ISLAND. Jim, I believe represents a father figure in Huck's life, i personally find Huck opening up to Jim throughout the book is a sign of Coming of Age. Imagine, your father is a drunk who never gave a darn about you, and you open up to someone who can do exactly the same.
In chapter 10, when the whole rattle snake episode comes in, this could be interpreted as one step backwards. Huck has been through so much, but regardless of his situation he still knows how to have fun! This is a sign of him still staying true to himself, not necessarily a bad thing. (even though it wasn't a fun result with a swolen leg). I think the relationship between the two of them was representing not only coming of age, but the courage to break down the walls of society. Jim is black, Huck is white, it was unheard of. Jim is a slave, even more unheard of. Their relationship has so many different themes behind it, but I think Mark Twain wanted that aspect.
In chapter 13, "I reckon I hadn't had time to before. I begun to think how dreadful it was
even for murderers, to be in such a fix. I says to myself, there ain't no telling but I might come to be a murderer myself yet, and then how would I like it?" This was a very powerful quote. He recognizes how his life could go in one direction, he could become a murderer. But thinking about it could change his mind (maturity).
Chapter 15 was HUGE for me, I think the fact that Jim was so greatful that Huck was alive, and Huck's reaction was typical. The reaction, may you ask? "What's the matter with you Jim? You've been-a drinkin?" wow. low blow. BUT, this shows that Huck has never felt that type of affection before, somebody actually afraid to loose him. Jim is breaking down Huck's wall. Long story short, Huck apologizing to Jim about hurting his feelings was a sign of consience, and maturity. "I didn't do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn't done that one if I'd a knowed it would make him feel that way." *claps for Huck* YOU HAVE FEELINGS, YAY! great way to end this chapter.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Huck Finn chapters 1-5
Welcome back to blogger, long time no see! In Huck Finn, the theme my group and I are analyzing on is coming of age. This topic could be associated with a lot of books, but the theme could be underlying. In chapters 1-5 of Huck Finn I really did not notice any signs of "coming of age" in my perspective. For me, coming of age is the example of making mature decisions to better yourself. I did see that, however when he gave all of his money to Judge Thatcher. When I first read the chapters I would have not suspected him putting that much trust into anybody. In a way, that is coming of age. I am hoping that there will be more examples of this because I think this story has to do a lot with the transition of Huck's mindset. Another example I thought might have actually set Huck back was seeing his father. I think this must have set his mindset of maturity (if he was feeling mature about himself) back a little bit, probably was about 10 steps backwards. But this also could represent the factor in his life that is saying "hey, I am fine without my father" which could also represent coming of age as well.
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