Huck Blog #5: The End & your Final Thoughts

In your final entry please discuss your opinion of the following:

- Does Jim really become free? Has he escaped? Did he free himself or was he once again at the mercy of the whites?
- Does anyone realize how terrible slavery is at the end of the story?
- What message have you extracted from Twain's satire (and "slavery is bad" is not an appropriate response)?

Huck Blog #4: Huck's Moral Progress

Twain utilizes Huck's ignorance as a way of employing Socratic irony, and this ignorance is most poignant in chapter 31, when Huck believes his choice to liberate another human being will damn him to Hell for all eternity because that other human being is an enslaved black man. In order to trace the evolution of Huck's morality, one must consider the following:

- Return to chapter 16. Consider: 1) Why would a young white racist boy go to such lengths to free a runaway slave? 2) In what way does the evolution of Huck's choices illustrate his coming of age?

- Chapter 27-30: Consider the manner in which Huck is behaving differently than in previous chapters.

- Chapter 31: Examine why Huck's decision is so crucial. Has Huck fallen backward or progressed morally at this point?

- Chapter 31: What is so ironic about chapter 31's "moral moment"?

Your Blog:

1. Reveal your findings in regards to the evolution of Huck's morality. Be sure to cite quotes to support your response.
2. Respond to one of your classmates’ responses.

Huck Blog #3: The Feud & Mob Mentality

Revisit Socratic irony just to be sure you have a grasp of the concept. Consider how Twain makes use of such a technique in chapters 17-18 and 22. Consider the following questions as you examine his crafting of such irony and what he is revealing about society.

- Why are the two families feuding in chapters 17&18? How long has it been going on? How did it begin?

- What comments are being made about the antebellum South and genteel North?

- How might Twain have used these two families to make statements about social culture or class.

-What comments are being made about conformity and mob mentality by Col. Sherburn (p. 146-148)?

- How does this episode parallel what Twain is saying in the episode of the feud?

Your Blog:

1. Reveal your findings in regards to how Twain makes use of Socratic irony in chapters 17-18 and 22; what is he trying to make readers see or question? Be sure to cite quotes to support your response.
2. Respond to one of your classmates’ responses.

Huck Blog #2: Jim's Minstrel Mask

Much of the controversy around Huckleberry Finn involves the portrayal and treatment of Jim. One side says that Jim is purposefully portrayed to look like a stupid slave while the other believes that Jim is simply playing a role.

“Twain fitted Jim into the outlines of the minstrel tradition, and it is from behind this stereotype mask that we see Jim’s dignity and his complexity”

Your reading for these chapters should focus on thinking critically about why Jim acts the way he does and whether has anything to gain or lose as a result of his behavior.

Passages for Consideration:

P. 5-7: Jim as a crazy black slave or a smart man that made the best out of a given situation. He ended up famous and got a little money out of it. What else could he have done?

P. 17-18: Jim as superstitious or again a smart man that not only appeared to be right all along but also got a little money and maybe even a little respect.

P. 41-47: Does Jim really think Huck is a ghost? Does Jim need Huck? Gun? Jim v. “Misto Braddish’s Nigger.”

P. 50-51: Why doesn’t Jim want Huck to see the man? Huck would have seen much worse.

Ch. 14-15: Huck’s feelings for Jim

P. 17 v. 70 & P. 84-86 v. 90-92: How does Huck treat Jim differently as the book moves along?

Your Blog:

1. Reveal your findings in regards to why Jim acts the way he does and whether has anything to gain or lose as a result of his behavior. Be sure to cite quotes to support your response.
2. Respond to one of your classmates’ responses.