This is a blog for Mrs. B.G.'s English class.
English Blog
Something I actually enjoyed about this set of chapters was that Jim protested Tom's unecessary plans and refused to do some of the stupid things Tom wanted him to do. Tom is a ridiculous child. Wanting Jim to carry a big chunk of millstone to carve words into because the wood wasn't sufficient enough (even though there's no logical purpose to be carving words into anything anyways); wanting Jim to plant a flower so he can water it with his tears (which is kind of sadistic and creepy, aside from being pointless). Jim and the boys could have been successfully long gone by now, but instead they are being held up by tom's foolish ideas. Go Jim for being smart enough to take some initiative!
I am very confused as to why Tom makes things so difficult for himself and others. There is no benefit to it. A specific question - why does he write the letter to the Phelpses that basically ensures their failure at freeing Jim? Tom basically told the Phelpses that they were planning to steal Jim. Why? He has no logic. None. Also, why did he basically gve his actual plan away? That idea turned out fabulously when he was running away with a bullet in his leg because the Phelpses were armed, thanks to Tom's weird letter. A take away from this set of chapters, for me, was that sometimes, taking the easy way isn't always a bad idea, and it doesn't always mean that person is lazy. There is no need to make a bigger deal out of a situation/task when it can be so much simpler. I say that mostly because I'm gifted at making siple tasks seem complicated.
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A question that came to my mind when I was reading these chapters was why, in Tom's mind, does everything have to be so stinking complicated? I guess he is a kid, and he has "read the books," and he wants to make it seem more "heroic.." It still makes little sense to me. Huckleberry's plan to free Jim was just as legitimate as Tom's was, but much less complicated and not nearly as dangerous. As a follow-up question, why is Huck conforming to Tom's nonsense? I don't think that Huck really needs Tom's help so bad that he has to follow through with Tom's ridiculous plan..
Something I wasn't too fond of through these chapters sort of follows the same idea as my question. It's frustrating to me that Tom dragged Huck into his shenanigans and wasted his time for no legitimate reason, but the book needs some contrast, or it wouldn't be interesting (yes, I do realize this isn't the only contrast throughout the book, nor is it anywhere close to being first in line for most important). I think that Tom's idea was a waste of time and effort and that Huck should've been independant with his plan and gotten Jim out "easy-peasy" on the first try. A take away, less from this section, and more from the entire book, for me at least, is all of the things about witchery and the devil and the odd little rituals that a lot of the characters in the story partake in. I don't understand why they are all so into that sort of thing. For example, Huck's dad, at the beginning of the book, had a weird X on his boot to ward off the devil, Huck wanted to throw salt over his shoulder so that he wouldn't have bad luck, and in these chapters, the boys convinced one of the men that they can cure his "witch-haunting" with a witch pie. I don't think that this really has too much significance to the story as a whole, but I, personally am interested in that sort of thing (in movies and books), so it caught my eye. I decided to put some pictures (courtesy of Google) to make my blog more aesthetically pleasing. Enjoy. :) A question I have had throughout most of the book, but particularly during these chapters is: why does Huck have so many "alter-egos?" The kid is constantly lying to someone and pretending to be someone he's not; he even pretended to be some random made-up girl once. Also, where did he get his impulse lying bug, because he lies with ease and does it often, too. I guess my real question is: why doesn't he maintain one fake identity instead of inventing a new one each time he decides to fake being someone else? Also, what is up with Tom? It makes no sense for him to help Huck go on a goose chase for some man Tom doesn't know, especially when the person they're looking for is a black man who wasn't of much worth to Tom. So why would he want to help?
I actually enjoyed these chapters. Mostly because Huck is accepting Jim now as a friend, and his viewpoint that Jim is (or ever was) a piece of property is changing. He is beginning to see Jim as a human being with feelings and desires just like anyone else, and I think it's a huge step in the right direction for Huck (even though he thinks it's a sin and that he's going to Hell now). I'm proud of where his heart is. A takeaway or theme from this chapter that stood out to me was that, when Jim was ransomed and Huck went back for him, this was Huck's subconscious way of showing his "unwarranted" friendly affection for Jim. The whole aspect of their forbidden friendship makes the storyline so much more interesting and kind of adorable. It's kind of like a love story, only it's friendly adoration rather than love, so it makes me curious as to how the story is going to end. From this section of the book, I took a bit away from the whole biblical argument about Solomon, because I never really knew that story. It's actually quite interesting. I think that Solomon had the same kind of weird street smarts as Huck. They both do odd little things to have their way. Huck was dressing as"Sarah/Mary Williams" to get information from a person in town without being recognized, and Solomon suggested sawing a child in half (even though he didn't actually want to) in order to find out who the mother of the kid was. Although, their quirky, strange ideas worked nonetheless.
Why, after Huck got lost in the fog then found Jim, did Jim play off the whole night like it was just a dream? I just don't see any benefit in it other than some kind of personal entertainment.. Or did he actually think he was dreaming (because I can't really tell)? I really enjoyed the scene where Huck is feeling morally wrong about "stealing a slave," because when Jim calls out to Huck and tells him how much of a great friend he has been, Huck seems to really start realizing that Jim is more than a piece of property - he's a person. He's Huck's friend. Although, I am frustrated that Jim and Huck keep getting separated. While reading these chapters, early on, I was wondering why the people of the town had automatically decided that Jim was a murder suspect. I mean, Jim is a nice guy, he did his job and was all buddy-buddy with Huck when they were still living with the widow. I guess they're just making a judgement based on his race (dang olden day people). Also - random thought - why was that lady in town so interested in the random little "girl" she was talking to? Are old ladies really that talkative (or am I just being judgmental)? One more question: how come they settled on THREE things to not steal anymore - why is it always three?
Huck clearly seems to look up to Tom Sawyer. He wants to be just as cool and just as brave as he believes that Tom is. I find it interesting that Huck looks up to a friend of his (who wants to steal things and kill people) more than he looks up to his father or the widow. I also feel like it would be a bit odd for Huck, a little, white city boy to buddy up with a much older, African American slave. It prides me to think that the boy has at least some level of respect for Jim because they are becoming friends who are co-dependent on each other rather than one being the other's master or care-taker. A small detail that I wasn't particularly fond of was the second Jim.. the robber Jim. The way this book is written is difficult even without two characters having the same name. But I sort of like Huck's little fibs. He's very creative. The craziness continues with Pap.. This man is just off his nut. I'd like to know why he's lashing out like he is. Is there a reason? Maybe Pap's dad was a psychopath, too, and that's where he gets it from. Hmm.. We already read that he is an abusive alcoholic, but now he has decided to demand money from his child, who is about eight years old? Ten? Pap needs a serious reality check, in my opinion. Oh, also, he kidnapped Huck, and locked the innocent little kid up in a riverside shack in the middle of the woods - why he thinks that is going to help his situation, I have no idea. With that big of an impact on Huck, I was surprised to find out that Pap died so early in the story.
There's a common theme with the angels and demons, when Pap is dreaming of being chased by the angel of death.. I wonder where that came from; and it's the same with the superstitions. Jim talks about superstitions of his people. For example, the birds and their hopping and how it supposedly means that it is going to rain. I have to give quite a bit of credit to Huck. He's very smart for his age (which is a bit strange since he doesn't really want to go to school or learn); the entire scene where he fakes his death so he can run away is genius. He did a lot of problem solving and decision making, and he did a very well job with it (it kind of makes me think of NCIS and CSI - my parents like those shows, so I guess you could say I'm an expert). I'm glad he escaped and found that island, and it's probably a good thing that Jim's there, too. I bet they're going to become the best of friends, and it's nice that they can keep each other company. Also - something random - I thought it was funny that Huck's disguise for going into town was dressing up as a girl (mostly due to playing dress up with my best childhood friend - who is a male). I also wonder about that, though. Why get dressed up as a girl? It can't be that hard to look different enough that people won't recognize you, Huck. I guess this was a different time period, though, so maybe it wasn't as easy to do back then. In chapters one through five, we are introduced to a couple characters, including Huckleberry's father, who - the way I see it - is a bit "off his nut." Huckleberry Finn's father is an alcoholic, abusive, grumpy, hairy (and sort of scary-looking, if you ask me) man, who seems to not care all-too-deeply about the well-being of his son. This is almost definitely a huge contribution to the reasons why Huck decides to run away. I mean, the poor kid doesn't know what to do. He's got The Widow Douglas and Miss Watson trying to push him towards getting an education and being religious, while his father is pulling him away from that and seems to only be interested in money and alcohol.
My question is: what in the Sam heck went wrong in this man's head that made him the way he is (because he's definitely not mentally stable)? Also, I think it's pretty safe to say that I (nor poor Huck) is very fond of Huck's father.. but even if he is a terrible parent, he is clearly an important character in the story because he is contributing to most of the problems that Huck is currently encountering. A take away I had from this section of the novel is some odd little things that spark my interest. I may be alone in thinking this, but Huck seems to be a bit superstitious, and he might even get that from his dad. I noticed that huckleberry was worried when he knocked over the salt shaker, so he immediately jumped to go throw some over his shoulder to ward off bad luck. Similarly, his father's boots have nails hammered into them in a specified shape to keep demons away. Supernatural things seem to catch my attention, so their little rituals seemed to stick in my head (although I didn't understand who was warding off what or why they thought they needed to at first). |