Wednesday, December 30, 2015

What are are some text references for freedom, rebelliousness, and deception/trickery in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"?

Here are some more references:

Freedom on the raft, where Jim assumes the adult/parent relationship free from restrictions of society:  At the end of Chapter XVIII, Pip remarks

I never felt easy till the raft was two mile below there and out in the middle of the Mississippi.  Then we hung up our signal lantern, and judged that we was free and safe once more...Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't.  You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft.

Other chapters that refer to freedom on the river: VIII, XIV, XV, XIX

Deception involves Pa as he feigns his death in Ch. III.  In Ch. XI, Huck pretends to be a girl in Hookerville in order to learn if there is talk about his "murder" and Jim's having escaped/being accused of this murder.  In Ch. XIII, Huck uses deception for good, however, as he tells the ferryboat watchman that his family is on the ship, Walter Scott, so that the watchman will go the ship and catch the murderers.  His act of friendship in rescuing Jim from the treachery of the Duke and the King who sell him is deceptive, but again Huck's motives are good (Ch.XXXI

Of course, as mentioned previously, the greatest scoundrels, the King and the Duke, are criminally deceptive as they conduct scams in several towns along the river. Ch. XXIII has an example.

Rebelliousness is often in Huck's nature as he "takes up cussin'" with his Pa although he knows Miss Watson has forbidden his doing so.  He escapes from Pa in Ch. VII.  Huck also rebels against society when he rescues Jim from being caught as an escaped slave. In Ch.XXXI, Huck has an internal conflict: 

It would get around that Huck Finn helped a nigger to get his freedom....The more I studied it about this, the more my conscience went to grinding me, and the more wicked...I got to feeling.

Huck realizes that he "was playing double."  Jim is his friend; so, he saves his friend, despite the laws of society.

No comments:

Post a Comment

What is the main function of the fool in "King Lear"? What is the secondly function?

The fool as a character is confusing, but part of this is the difference between the 1600s and today, as well as the difference in place. If...