The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was pretty nifty I guess.

         Overall, I can understand why The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn became the classic novel that it is today. Not only is Mark Twain's writing undoubtedly masterful, his novel serves as a commentary on the society of that time, and the racial and political dynamics of that time, which can still be related to today. Mark Twain writes his story, not as an outside narrator, but as someone who actually lived in that time, and uses his personal experiences to further enhance the realism of the story. Huck, as far-fetched as he seems to be, still seems real to the reader, because his history is intertwined with the history of the region, the backwoods, which Mark Twain could easily serve historian as. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn captures the side of an America not commonly seen, and who else to tell the story but someone who lived that story. 

Huck's Escape

Huck is not an imaginative boy, but he does know how to survive and lie. His escape from Pap is a great example. It fooled Pap so people wouldn't go looking for him. It takes brains to come up with a plan like he did. He may not be book smart, but he is "street smart".

Superstition

In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn there is a lot of superstition. Huck is very superstitious even though he isn't imaginative. Pap has nails in the heal of his boot to form a cross to warn away the devil, which is ironic because Pap is not a good person. Jim, a slave, is the most superstitious. He'll believe anything if you can tie it in with one of his superstitions. Personally, I'm not superstitious, but I find people who are to be humorous.

Women in Huck's Life
Huck has the widow and Miss Watson who are both spiritual. The widow is the softer kind of spiritual person and if Huck lived with her long enough I believe that he would believe when he got older. Miss Watson is the harder kind of spiritual person, who Huck despises and will never want to go where she is.

Jim and Huck were pretty rad dudes.

                    Once the main plot sets in, the main plot being Huck and Jim's adventures down the Mississippi river, there begins a new friendship and partnership between the two that within itself contains some interesting dynamics. The duo themselves wouldn't have exactly been a common sight at the time of Huck's life, however, they would have been an unusual sight anyways looking beyond their racial differences. One of the most interesting dynamics in the novel is their behavior to one another.
            Other than race, two particular traits come into play in Huck and Jim's friendship and partnership, one being age, and the other being social status. Often these two traits clash. Looking at their friendship from an age standpoint, Jim becomes the father figure in the duo, the leader bred out of life experience, and a guardian to Huck. Jim talks of superstitions for Huck to watch out for, dangers to be aware of, and takes care of Huck. However, looking at the friendship from a social status standpoint, Huck becomes more of the leader, the adventurous boy who always drags Jim into trouble. Jim grew up as a slave, and for most of his life had to follow orders from his owners. While Jim is a free man now, this mentality still occasionally shows up around Huck, as often, Huck decides the path for their adventure to go, and Jim just tags along with him, protecting him. Due to their constant tradeoff of leadership, they are truly an equal partnership, with the roles balancing out among them.  
          Being as they were never truly friends before their paths crossed, this partnership breaks off from the usual story of a tried and true duo facing hardships together. Rather, we see throughout the novel, the friendship form, between these two strangers, who both must get to know each other, in this case, just as fast as the reader does. 

Style in Huck Finn

     I like the way this story is told and the style of the writing. It's from Huck point of view but it is also told in  a way that an illiterate child would tell a story. Most paragraphs are very long and are composed of one or two run-on sentences. It reminds me of how I used to talk when I was younger. Another thing that is very realistic ids the dialect of the story. It's a little hard to read the cut off words and slurred tongue sometimes but I have lived in Missouri all my life, and it's pretty accurate.

Different Situations

Huck and Jim have both runaway from their homes for one reason or another. But the difference is that if Huck get caught, people would be shocked but most likely happy (with the exception of his father...maybe). And I would guess that if he did come back, he would be taken away from his dad and into a better home. Where as if Jim was caught, he would be beaten severely and probably put to death. The severity of the punishment ( if there was any for Huck) would have been very different. Even though they were kind of running away for similar reason, Jim was a black slave and Huck was a white boy. Back then, it was okay for black slave to be beaten but if a white person got beaten, it was unacceptable. That was just their way of thinking.

Children Then, Children Now

We've Seen It, Huck is much smarter than he looks. It's not easy to stage your own murder, or run away on a floating pile of logs, or act out a part of a girl to lie to a town, but he's done it. Huck has proven to be very resourceful, and I don't think a 13 year old in this day would be willing or able to do any of those things. True, the book is fiction, but still-- one cannot say things are not changing. Perhaps it's due to the facility it is to accomplish difficult tasks now and the demand to get things quick. One thing's for sure, I am definitely not as brave or quick on my feet as Huck is. What do you all think, isn't Huck the Einstein of this book, considering his lack of "education"?

To Be Seen or Not To Be Seen

          Jim and Huck are both runaways, however, the urgency of not being caught is very different for the two. Huck is able to go into towns to buy supplies and food or "borrow" food. Huck is able to be seen, and even if he is caught he could just run away again because he's a young white boy. On the opposite side of the spectrum, it's imperative that Jim is not seen at all. They can only travel at night because if Jim is seen he will be lynched because he's a runaway slave. This is why Jim is hesitant to go explore the shipwrecked steamboat with Huck. Jim's life depends on it but Huck doesn't quite understand that so he pushed Jim into saying yes. Jim went with Huck onto the crashed steamboat simply because he is a slave and Huck is white, totally disregarding his own safety because of society norms.

Dialect Accuracy

           Today in America our literacy rate is 99% so we don't exactly see a lot of illiterate people here, like the slave that Huck befriends named Jim. I wanted to point out the accuracy with which Mark Twain would have formed Jim's dialect. Mark Twain's father was a slave owner, so Twain was around the slaves quite a bit and recalls listening to the slaves tell stories and sing. Although Twain stretched the truth sometimes, I don't believe he'd stretch Jim's dialect for the purpose of the book. Twain was exposed to the true dialect of slaves in his childhood.

Huck Finn knows Mark Twain

     At the beginning of the story Huck contributes or thanks Mark Twain for this book.The fictional main character of the story is talking about its own author, and I find this to be very interesting. Does this have greater meaning or is this just an intro to the book? It might just be that books where started off that way in that time period yet it makes me wonder who Huck Finn really is. It's possible that he is based off of Mark's childhood friend who was similar to Huck but also could be another person Mark has meet. Ether way I found it an interesting way to start a book.

Ideas in the Story

      So far in the story I am interested in the way Mark Twain puts in his own ideas and beliefs into his story. They're very subtle in the way he introduces them like his own ideas with slavery with Jim the runaway slave. It shows a side to the slaves that most people in that time didn't, or wouldn't, see. He also showed religion a little differently also with Huck learning about Christianity and God. It showed how children, or people in general, might not really understand what religion means and can't understand it. This might be something that Mark dealt with as a child growing up and could be the reason he thought the way he did in his writing.

The Usefulness In Lying

The way Huck can lie and lie and repeatedly amuses me on so many different levels. I personally have always seen deception as a resource, a tool or sorts you might say. But even still, just the different ways of which Huck can use his simple intellect and resourceful knowledge of how certain things interact with each other and how to work and manipulate something to his own benefit certainly has my approval. As I said before, even though deception can be a useful method of manipulation it can be a dangerous one, and I say that in the case this post might sound as if it is a means in which to promote or use such deception, in which it is not. A factor I might add to all of this is that I believe Huck came from a time in history in which someone was much more able to use deception to get what was needed in a much easier fashion, were as nowadays that is a bit more difficult. Although I admire what Huck is capable of achieving in these different chapters, I don't think it is a mannerism in which I will pursuit anytime soon.

Jim and Huck: Friends Forever

To me, Mark Twain had a purpose putting Jim and Huck together. Why Jim, why not Tom or one of the other children, Pap perhaps? I think Mark really wanted to get one message across the nation and everyone who read this book---"Get With it People, Racism and Segregation is Wrong" . Mark Twain uses Huck, a neutral mind because he is a kid, tell that"White and Black people are not so different after all". He shows this through the trust that Jim and Huck both shared during the escape, such as, when Huck promises not to tell that Jim ran away and when Huck helps take care of Jim's injury with the snake accident.

Discrimination

I hate that Jim has to run away from his home, where he grew up probably and where his family could be. But since he's an African American he either has to be a slave for his entire life, be killed or run away to be free.



                                     

   

Adventures

I think it's interesting that both Jim and Huck are running away and from  similar situation. Jim is running away from being mistreated and being sold to New Orleans. Huck isn't running from being sold but from being abused by his father. I think this is interesting because not many people back then would thing that a black man and a white kid would have anything in common. I also think it's interesting that Huck, as of right now, is closer to a black man, who is a slave, than any other person. That would have been unheard of in that time period. Huck had always been taught or seen that colored people are less than whites. But when he actually interacts with Jim on the island, he learns that Jim isn't that much different from him and I think that is a good lesson for Huck to learn at an early age.

How Did Huck Get So Good at Lying

How did Huck get so good at lying? I think Huck honed his lying skills because of his abusive father, Pap. Huck was so afraid of his father that to save his skin, he would lie whenever and however he needed. You see a glimpse of his lying ability when Huck tells Pap that he heard an intruder. I don't think lying is good, but Huck lies to survive. When he dresses up as a girl, he comes up with lies so quickly there seems to be no possible way that he isn't telling the truth. Honestly, Huck lies better than most politicians and that takes a lot of talent.

Safe

      Jackson's Island appeared to be a very safe haven for Huck and Jim from the injustice and hypocrisy of society. But two events reminded them that they are not totally isolated from the looming dangers of society, and their escapades will not last. The first was the discovery of the floating house in the river. There in the house, Huck and Jim found a bod of a dead man and various marks of humanity's evil. They also found playing cards, whiskey bottles, and obscene graffiti. This event reminded them that they are not isolated from society. The second event was the snake bite that Jim received, when Huck played a prank on Jim. This event referenced the biblical Garden of Eden, as snakes lurked on this island and attack people who behave unwisely.Once again, they are reminded that Jackson's Island is not entirely safe.

Drinking is Bad

  Huck's pap was so drunk he couldn't even think right. He would beat Huck that's messed up I don't blame Huck from running away. That must feel bad being beaten on by your own blood and father. Huck was clever and made it look like he was walking the opposite way of were he was going to trick pap. Huck's a smart boy.

Lies

I think that it's strange how well Huck is at lying, because he can really make up anything on the spot. I guess it would come in handy in some cases, and he uses it to his advantage but some people can tell when he's lying. I was kind of confused as to how Mrs. Loftis knew Huck was lying about being a girl, but I guess she isn't smart enough to catch the second lie.

Something that worries me is what would happen if Jim would get caught. It's scary that he would be killed. I'm really glad that now we aren't so segregated and there aren't any slaves. I think racism is really wrong, so it worries me as to what will happen to Jim.

Huck's Father

Huck's father came as an interesting character to me as in how he handled life as an alcoholic. I was always curious about what side was he really on deep down, was he a true drunkard to the core, or was there an actual good man but with too many mistakes? For me personally I could justify someone that had a good heart but maybe just got too much into drinking and then could not get back out of it, as creatures of habit that we are, he simply allowed it to become a lifestyle. Although the legal issue with the new judge thinking that "Pap" was a new man after all of the things he told him he could/would change, and yet turns straight around and drinks again. what do you think? Is he a good man with bad choices? Or simply the old drunk that everyone else knows him to be?

Hucks feelings

Huck has very important feelings on how his Pap is treating him so bad and that he wants him to change but feels that he will not change anytime soon. He is also pretty mad about how everyone is wanting to kill Jim over running away to be free but he also doesn't get why he's running away yet.

Skin Color Doesn't Matter

In this novel, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", there is a lot of race issues going on. Huck would have been raised to believe that the white race was superior to the whites. A normal white kid in this time period would have not been like Huck. A normal kid would have thought that whites were better, smarter, and more qualified. My favorite thing about Huck is that he is different from the normal. Not once does he say anything racist toward Jim or any other black person. The only thing he said was "nigger" and that's because it was said all around in that time. Huck accepts Jim for who he is and doesn't judge him just because the color of his skin.

 

Huck Finn.. Cross dresser.

Huck and Jim have run away and now Huck has gone to town dressed as a girl to disguise himself. When he goes to a house he is found out that he is a boy, I find it to be weird personally, if he wanted to run and be hid, why go back, obviously he is trying to run so what is the point. He also was found out about but had to lie through his teeth about it. I think it's too risky, but what you all think?

Now That's How You Fake a Murder Scene

I was very impressed at Huck's amazing ability to calmly and logically stage his own murder under such emotional circumstances. Huck mainly fakes his own murder to be free of his father. He escapes the locked cabin and gets to work. He breaks down the cabin door, slaughters a pig (so that there is blood everywhere) and takes almost everything from the cabin. He drags a bag of seed to create drag marks in the opposite direct and then leaves as soon as he is finished. It's astonishing to think of such a young child being able to successfully fool an entire town into thinking there was an actual crime.

dont drink

Pap has a bad drinking problem and ends up stealing from his son so he can get drunk and beat his son to a certain extent to where Huck runs away and doesn't want anything to do with him.

superstition or coinsidence ?

In the book mark twain covers a lot about superstition and whether or not things really happen because of bad luck or if it's just coincidence. I think that it's just coincidence , but on the other hand I'm not sure if everything that they think is" bad luck" is just a coincidence or if it really has to do with bad luck. I think that mark twain might have been a little superstitious himself and that's why he made Jim and huck very superstitious because I think that he wants to make people think about it. I also think that he wants people to think about their mental beliefs because you have to really think mentally about things and decide for yourself if it's really just coincidence or if it's really “bad luck".

Superstitious

Do you think Mark Twain as a kid was superstitious?
I think he was because of the effortless details he puts of how everyone is so superstitious. Or maybe he had superstitious friends and they told him lots of  ghost stories. I loves how detailed he is! I can relate to some of the superstitious that he writes about. I as a kid used to believe that mad someone mad or hurt their feelings, that they would come to me as a ghost and haunt me! Or if I broke a mirror, I would have 7 years of bad luck.
In the book there is so mush superstition by everyone. I feel like Jim is the most superstitious of all of them. I think it's funny that most of what he says could also be coincidence.

Ahh Huck!

Jim and Huck are running away and it's interesting to me that both of them are running away for similar things. I the comparisons being Jim is a slave and running from the oppression and hardships of being, well, a slave. Then, Huck going through the hardships of being a child of a drunken and abusive father. It's ironic to me even though Jim is a slave and Huck is not, but they both can come together and run away without issues. What do you think?

Jim's View on Luck

          


          Jim has a really odd and somewhat funny way to understand luck. According to Jim that if you have hair on your chest then you will become rich. He tells Huck about the time when he had fourteen dollars, which was a good amount money to have during the time he was in, and how he lost it to gambling and a bank scam. Jim blamed him losing the money on bad luck. Jim also tells Huck that touching snake skin is a sign for really bad luck and that all bad luck will catch up with you sometime or another. At first Huck did not believe Jim and he thought that Jim was just making those things up. One night a couple of rattlesnakes made their way into Jim and Huck's cave and later that day Huck notices one of the rattlesnakes and kills it, but unfortunately the other rattle snake bites Jim right on the heel. Jim is screaming in pain then he tells Huck to skin the snakes and hand him Pap's whisky bottle and tells Huck that he will live if Huck skins the snakes then throws them outside and he drinks the whisky the he will live. Huck believes Jim after that intense moment.

Off to A Rough Start

I was very excited to read the highly acclaimed novel "The Adventure's of Huckleberry Finn." I sat down, excited to read this novel and I was shocked that I could barely get to page five! I tried my hardest and found myself bored and uninterested. The main factor that disconnected me from the story was the dialect. I know it was used properly and with purpose. Even still, I found it disengaging and hard to understand what was even going on. I found myself confused and focusing more on trying to translate what they were saying than actually following the story and immersing myself into this wonderful world. I buckled down, clenched my teeth, and forced myself to read. on. I found that as time went on, the dialect -which was once so distracting- has now became an integral part of the novel, in which I can't imagine "The Adventure's of Huckleberry Finn" without having such distinct dialect now. 

Risk Then and Culture Now

In Huck Finn both Jim and Huck have run away; however, the danger lever is much higher for Jim than Huck. Huck ran away because he was bored and if he was to be found then people would think of it as a miracle and welcome him back. Jim would be treated much worse if he was to be found because he is a runaway slave in the south. If caught, Jim could be beaten, killed, or returned to his owner for punishment from them. This difference in risk level makes the fact that Huck went into town to find out information a natural choice because he could disguise himself and walk around freely, whereas Jim wouldn't be able to just walk around because of his skin color and the prejudice in the south towards it.

The strangest thing to me is that Huck does not feel right hiding Jim from his master and protecting him. I find it amazing how the culture has changed since then, because at this time African-Americans are seen as property and Huck hesitates to help him. In the current culture the society is really pushing anti-bullying measures and awareness for protections. Don't get me wrong, I understand why Huck hesitates to help Jim, I would hesitate to help a slave at this time because of the possible punishments to me

; however, I just find it interesting the difference in current day and the setting of Huckleberry Finn in regards to helping a friend or acquaintance. 

The Runaways

Huck Finn and Jim, his black friend, both ran away separately from their homes. Huck ran away because he was tired of the abuse and neglect from his drunkard father. Jim ran away from the injustices of slavery and racism. Their reasons are different and somewhat similar, but the outcome of Jim being apprehended for running away or whatever the authorities may accuse him of, could be far more harsh of consequences than what Huck would receive. In Huck's case, if he were found or turned in to authorities or his dad, Pap, then Pap might beat him severely for faking his death and/or he might be questioned about why he ran away. Him being questioned may bring up a chance for him to lie again or he could tell the truth and be taken away from his dad. He could be adopted after confessing the truth, which would most likely be more beneficial than having to live with Pap.

If Jim is found or handed over, he could be shot immediately or eventually by a racist fellow who finds him. Jim being found can have many outcomes, most fatal to him in some way because he is a black, runaway slave during the time of slavery and discrimination/racism. It all depends on where he is if he is found out. Since some people back in the town he lived in believed he could have killed Huck Finn, he could be executed, put in jail for life, or lashed to near death. I'm sure Mark Twain didn't go on a runaway adventure with a black man, but he surely knew of the conflicts/consequences when he thought of a black man and a white boy running away together.

Tom v. Huck

It's amazing how in the mind of writer Mark Twain, two boys in the same geographical area lived completely different childhoods and so even though they came together and became friends, their personalities have very different aspects that set them apart. Tom Sawyer lived in a household with siblings and his Aunt Polly to love and care for him. He was given the regular responsibilities that a child with a regular childhood deserves. Huck had to take care of himself and live an almost no nonsense life because his dad left him for unknown reasons.

Since Tom lived a more carefree and sheltered childhood he is able to be creative and imaginative. Huck learned to be more practical though because he didn't really have time to fool around when he had to provide for himself. The kid basically had the natural joys and freedoms of childhood taken away from him when he had to live without or even with his own father. This difference between Tom and Huck might be a glimpse into Mark's subconscious and it wanting a normal or at least happy father since his own father was a non-smiling, stern man. The difference could actually symbolize the trials less fortunate kids face comparing to the lives of kids with happier households.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Chapters 7-9

So Huck gets the bright idea to fake his own death???

he does what every normal boy dreams about at least once in his childhood: he fakes his own death. He beats down the door to the cabin and spreads pig's blood everywhere to make the cabin look like a robbery/murder-scene. Then it's into the canoe that he finds early in the chapter. In the nail-biting scene that follows, Huck has to lie down still in his canoe as his father paddles by right next to him! Because of the darkness and mostly his stupidity, Pap is oblivious to the empty canoe less than six inches from his path. Huck chills out in his canoe, smokes a pipe, looks at the stars, and eavesdrops on the nearby ferry full of men after he's sure that Pap isn't coming back. Huck decides it's safe to paddle to Jackson Island and makes it safe and sound. Huck wakes up the next morning, and everyone is out on the river reaching for his "body". He sees the body-searching boat with everyone on it: Pap, Judge Thatcher and his family, Tom Sawyer and his Aunt Polly. Huck makes it three days on the island by himself but he later admits that he sure is lonely. As time goes by, Huck senses he's not alone on the island, and by "sense" I mean he finds someone else there. (Namely Jim). Jim immediately assumes that Huck is a ghost and begs that he not hurt him. After Huck convinces Jim that he isn't dead nor a ghost The pair catches a fish and cooks it for dinner, and then Huck wants to know why Jim is on the island. Before he'll say, Jim makes him promise not to tell. Jim ran away and spills his guts about how Miss Watson was going to sell him to a slave holder for $800. Huck is shocked, but knows he has to keep his word to Jim not to tell. Jim and Huck decide to explore the rest of the island to make sure that they are 100% alone. He and Jim head toward the middle of an island and find a cavern. After hiding their canoe and supplies, they hide out during a storm and eat dinner. One night, the two happen upon a make shift house floating down the rover which was flooded due to the rain from the storm. They climb in, and Jim finds a dead body. He tells Huck not to look at the man's face, as it's "too gashly." After they take what hey need/want they both return to the Island.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Chapters 3-6

One day Huck is outside. He sees tracks in the snow! but from who? Apparently, someone came up to the garden and then stopped before going inside. Examining one of the tracks, Huck sees a cross in the heel made out of nails a sign to keep off the devil. After seeing this, Huck hauls it to Judge Thatcher's as fast as he can, with one eye over his shoulder the whole way. Clearly, he knows something we don't. When he gets to the Judge's, he says he wants to give him all the money! The Judge wants to know why, but Huck skirts the issue on the grounds that he doesn't want "to tell no lies." On his way back home, he decides it's best to go see Jim and then explains to us who and what Jim is. So Huck goes to Jim to have his fortune read by the magic hairball. He says he saw his Pap's tracks in the snow and now he's scared. After Jim tells Huck about his "fortune" Huck decides to go home but when he does Huck finds his abusive, drunk Pap sitting on his bed in his bedroom!  Pap does what all alcoholic, abusive fathers do: he drinks and abuses Huck of course. He's also trying to stop his son from gaining an education, life, civilized upbringing, culture, knowledge, and basically anything that he himself doesn't have. He demands that Huck stop going to school and stop learning about religion and even tears up one of his schoolbooks. Oh, and hewants all of Huck's money that he found. Until now, (Chapter 6) Huck wasn't the biggest fan of going to school. But now that his father told him not to, he's a regular teacher's pet basically. His father finally kidnaps him and takes him to live on the river in a lovely little shack with all the modern luxury of a swinging door and floorboards.Huck gets regular beatings He can't run off, because every time Pap leaves he locks Huck inside. Finally, during one awesome instance of solitary confinement, Huck finds an old wood-saw and goes to work at a slab of wood on the back wall of the cabin. That night, Pap gets roaring drunk and comes back home absolutely covered in mud from lying in the gutter. Pap continues to drink, fall down, hurt himself, and act the poster child for racism and bigotry. Huck falls asleep and wakes up to see Pap screaming about snakes and the devil.After some more sleeping, crying, and screaming, Pap jumps up and starts chasing Huck around the cabin, calling him the "Angel of Death."When he finally passes out again, Huck picks up the rifle and sits down with it pointed at Pap. You know, just in case he wakes up and tries to murder his son again.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Chapter 1-3

Huck Finn begins that novel as the narrator. Huck starts the story speaking about how Huck and tom inherit a large sum of money ($6,000 to be exact). Huck lives with the Widow, but hates it and decides that it would be best to runaway, which isn't very smart in my own thoughts. Tom Sawyer (Huck's best friend) convinces him to return so he can join their so called gang. All attempts to "civilize" Huck fail 110%. The first chapter ends with Huck and Tom meeting outside Huck's window. Huck and Tom wake up Jim, the widow's slave so as a joke they decide it would be best to play a trick on Jim by taking off his hat and setting it on a tree branch. Jim thinks he's been "bewitched" and later gains fame as a "witch expert". Tom and Huck meet their friends at a cave that serves as the boys' secret hideout after having a good quiet laugh over the prank that they pulled on Jim. The boys form a band of robbers but soon the gang disbands an after that Huck realizes that Tom's stories are just lies so then we take note that Huck has no imitation what so over.

 

 

 

 

 



            

Mark Twain was a swell guy.

           Throughout the novel, it can easily be seen how Mark Twain's own experiences and thoughts affect his writing, and the story itself. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is heavily based on Mark Twain's childhood, and while the story did not actually occur, the world around it, essentially, did.
           Some of these similarities can be found on the surface. The town of Huckleberry Finn, while unnamed in the story, is really the Missouri town of Hannibal, or at least based on the town of Hannibal, where Mark Twain grew up. Huck's adventures with Tom are somewhat based on Twain's childhood adventures with his own friends. Twain as a child lived in a family which owned slaves, thus the slave Jim could have been derived from his own experiences. The novel is as much Huck's story, as it is Mark Twain's.
            Not only does Mark Twain's experiences influence the story, but as well, his own beliefs influence the story. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn addresses many significant issues in society, including religion, racism, and politics. Through the novel, Twain is able to relate his own thoughts into the story. The senseless racism and anger of Huck's father shows Twain's criticism towards the acts. Mark Twain pokes fun at religion through the differences between the strict religious Miss Watson, and the atheistic loosely moral-led Huck. Twain also addresses some of the ironies of political thought at that time, an example being the contrast of Huck's alcoholic father, whose political rights are guaranteed, and the free, educated African Americans in Missouri, who have to fight for their political rights. All of these points in the story come directly from Mark Twain, whose beliefs reign significant even today.
           A novel is an extension of an author, its purpose is to bring the author's imagination, beliefs, and thoughts to life, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is no different, being an extension of Mark Twain himself.
             

sup gurl

Huck and Jim's Paradise

     Huck and Jim escaped from society because of all the injustices and hypocrisy to Jackson's Island, where food is abundant and it is relatively safe and peaceful. Because both were in peril, they had to break from society. As a slave, Jim has no say in his own fate no more than Huck has had as a child. But the significant of their escapades varied, Huck is a child and Jim is a slave. Jim will face harsher consequences if found, unlike Huck who will probably be return the widow. Jackson's Island served as a refuge for the two escapees who break with society to control their own destiny.

The Reality of Jim's Position

      Unfortunately for Jim, he could be killed for running away unlike Huck. I don't think Huck understands the how bad Jim has it if they were to be caught. If Huck were to be caught he would be greeted with open arms for coming back and still being alive while Jim could face death or a slave breaker. Even though Huck knows that that could happen to Jim I don't think he understands the stress that Jim has and how scared Jim actually is of just the idea of being caught. If Huck really did understand I think he would be a lot more cautious when venturing out among the island whenever they are hunting and gathering supplies.

Huck and Jim

              

When Huck ran off he swam across the Mississippi River getting help from a raft. He met this runaway slave named Jim. Jim and Huck got along great like best friends. Jim knows he cant leave the island because the slave owners are looking for him. He  loves to tell about the days when he was rich. He lost most of it on scams. Jim is on his way to the north so he can be a free man. They came up with the idea of Huck dressing up as a girl to go in town. Thats some weird and clever thinking i believe.

Huck 'n Jim

Something that really caught my attention while reading recently was what Huck did when he killed that snake. It's strange to me that he hid the snake under Jim's blanket as a joke, and then Jim ended up being bitten by the second snake that they found. It's ironic that they're both so superstitious then this "bad luck" happened. I believe that it's just a coincidence, but I can also see how a person who was superstitious would take that.
It's cool to me to see the relationship between Jim and Huck develop, because at the beginning they weren't friends and now they're closer. It's just weird to hear about a white boy hanging out with a colored boy back then. I think it's interesting.

Jim and Huck's Superstition and Adventures

Jim Is found by Huck in the woods on the island and Jim is scared at first the Huck will tell where he is at and have him sold in New Orleans for eight hundred dollars. However Huck does not tell because he is also on the run from his father and the Widow, so they decide to join up and live on the rive. Huck is surprised by how Jim has not eaten so he catches a huge catfish that was six foot and over 50 pounds. That filled them up well and good for the night once they found the cave in the side of a mountain to camp out. As they interact more and more you can see how superstitious the two are. Jim is more superstitious than Huck, but Huck is catching on to them all. Jim has many stories for all the things he has supposedly seen and heard that is bad luck or good luck. These stories I feel is what makes the superstition grow and develop in Huck. He seems to love and enjoy listening to his stories about the luck that things will come about from them, even if he does not entirely believe it until something bad happens such as the snake biting Jim on the heel. Huck is a very curious boy who is not afraid of much so down the road I feel that it will get him and Jim into trouble, but he will learn lots of lessons from the mistakes and adventures he has gone through on the river.

Pap comes to town

After chapter one, things get much more interesting. I think it’s kind of dumb that Tom started a gang, even if he is trying to have fun, he could go to jail for that. Too bad they didn’t know about aids back then because I’m sure all the boys have it now, never share blood with someone. Mark Twain really shows that he is an atheist when Huck learned about praying but gave up because his prayers wasn’t answered. Miss Watson even tries to teach him about some Bible stories but Huck stated that he didn’t care. Also, Huck said he wanted to go to hell which was a little overboard. Huck’s dad was a drunk so Huck wanted him to die, and when word came around that Pap was dead, Huck was hoping it was his dad. His dad must have abused him or something along those lines for Huck to want his own dad dead. Huck’s Pap finally appears live and well and the only reason he came was for the money that Huck found. That’s a horrible father, coming to see your kids just for money. Too bad Huck gave all the money to the bank, sorry Pap ;). I’m glad Tom stopped that stupid gang they were in, they never even killed or robbed anybody so there really was no point in the gang. 

Huck and Jim's Relationship

The way that Huck thinks of Jim in the beginning vs in the end of the story changes significantly. At first Huck looks at Jim as if he is a piece of property, something without independent thoughts or feelings. He thought of him as being below him. He started moving toward the feeling that Jim is equal to him and he is an individual, while all of this is happening, it also seems to change his thoughts on slavery as a whole. Jim and Huck go on a long adventure and a lot a trust starts to grow between the two runaways. 

Father Finn

When reading the chapters including Huck Finn's father, Pap, I've been trying to understand why Pap has the personality and disposition that he has. Pap could've been neglected as a child or had had parents with poor parenting skills. Pap most likely had dad problems therefore causing him to not fulfill the duties Pap was made responsible for as soon as Huck was born. He treats Huck with utter disrespect and he has such a disgusting, childish mindset towards Huck that he doesn't want Huck to live a better or more privileged life than Pap had lived. Because Pap left Huck for over a year by himself, Huck had less of an ability to act like a child and have a fun childhood. Huck had to learn how to fend for himself which made him be very practical for his own sake since he lacked a father figure. Pap is a crazy drunk that can't hold down a job, support a son, or quit his drinking. He has little respect for others so as I'm going through the book I can see that it was actually, not as a whole, but specifically beneficial to Huck to not have Pap around as his father. It would've been better for Huck to have had a father during his kid years, but if his dad was going to be Pap then he was better off without him.

Survival mode

Huck and Jim have to really be knowledgeable about surviving in the wilderness alone. They actually have really great survival skills because they can stay calm during life or death situations. When something goes wrong like when Jim got bit by the rattle snake he was calm and knew what to do the entire time, he knew his leg would swell up and that Huck needed to suck the venom out off his foot/leg.

My opinion on Huckleberry Finn

I felt it was a little peculiar that the main character, Huck, mentioned the author and the last book that the author wrote. I think Mark Twain did that for more publicity or he wanted to address his last book so people would go back and read “The Adventures of Tom sawyer”. Anyways, I think the book started pretty quick, usually books have some background involved but this book jumped right in to Tom and Huck finding treasure. That was a pretty big event, usually books don’t have big events that early in the book. This book has horrible grammar and spelling, it gives me a headache trying to read it. The dialect was historically accurate to the time period and from what I know the people of the 1800s did speak like that but I don’t want to read a story that has horrible grammar and spelling like that, I think my IQ dropped a couple points. This first chapter was pretty good at establishing the plot of the story, and it also mentioned the slaves so the book was good at describing how times were back then. If I was Huck, I’d keep all the money, that sounds selfish, but I would. If I was the age of Huck, I probably couldn’t join a gang that kills people, that’s a little harsh. Anyways, this book so far is overall an interesting book.

The Runaway

As Huck packed up and faked his own death , he was planning to go and live on this own. But on his journey he met up with Jim. Why does Jim and Huck stay together? Huck promises he won't tell on Jim for being a runaway slave. Why would Huck promise Jim when he knew it wasn't right. I believe that Jim and Huck should go their own ways and not say anything about each other. If they stay together they could be caught by others floating by.

Huck"s a GIRL !!!!!!!!

I think it's kind of funny that mark twain made huck dress up like a girl in his book. I think that it got a little too tense in the book with the thought of people finding huck or Jim or finding the dead man , and also with the snake bite . I think that mark twain wanted to lighten the mood of this part of the story because he still wants his audience to laugh and not be serious all the time. I think he also did it because it was a way for the story to keep going because huck and Jim would be in the blue about all the things going on in town .

Huck Finn’s Daddy Issues

Huckleberry Finn showed that he had some serious daddy issues in the last reading. What was the most curious to me about the interaction between Huck and his father is that his father beats him because of things that Huck can’t control; however, Huck still enjoys fishing and hunting with his father. How old is Huck? I know that if I was that child I would be very scarred by that and I would want to fight back and hurt him not go fishing and hunting with him. Huck shows more patience and self control than I think I could ever muster.

Why does Huck’s father lock him in the house? I have come up with two reasons but I’m not sure which one is the actual reason. The first thought that I had was that Pap did not want Huck to run away because he thinks that Huck is worth $6000. Then I got to thinking and I remembered when the widow Douglas and Judge Thatcher sent someone out for Huck and I thought that maybe Pap knew he was going to lose Huck in the trial and was trying to hold on to him as long as possible. Either way it appears that Huck is trying to escape his log cabin cage.

Huck's Life

Huck has a really rough lifestyle even though it is simple and some times laid back. His father when he came back did not even give Huck the time of day or care that a normal loving parent would give out. Pap is only interested in getting drunk and stealing Huck's money to get drunk even more. Huck was wise to sign his money over to Judge Thatcher when he did, or else Pap would have stolen it through parental rights over their children and gotten drunk. If Pap had stolen the money to get drunk he would have been even more abusive and disrespectful to Huck. I believe that the Widow should gain legal parental rights of Huck before he gets killed by Pap. The Widow would raise him up right and make his life more like the boys in his town and he would then be safe from the beatings from his father. Huck may like living like his father, but he would do better in life if he was raised by the Widow and you never know the Widow may let him go have a more laid back kind of life and not so uptight and restricted. I bet any boy his age would love to live out in the woods without any parents or adults watching over them and making them go to school, they would go lay out in the sun for a few hours; then maybe fish or hunt to feed themselves.

Narration of the Story

I found Mark Twain's idea to make Huck narrate the book pretty great. The style is very different compared to anything else I have read previously. It's as if Huck is talking to us (the readers) directly with the way he speaks, such as.. 

                        "Now the way that the book winds up is this: Tom and me found

              the money that the robbers hid in the cave, and it made us rich." (page 2). 

Because Huck is an innocent-hearted person, we see that he's honest with us and we get to see the world from his experiences. I read online and I agree that Mark Twain is able to channel humor and his real thoughts about this time period through Huck and his limited education. Because what better way to judge how a society works than as one who is just growing up and learning how the world moves. 

"Huck's Father vs A Father of Today"

               From reading the few chapters I have concluded that Pap, Huck's  Father is the most beer crazed, abusive, selfish, and greedy egomaniac that I have ever heard about. Pap only comes to see his son, who he has not seen in about a year, for the money he got and he would beat up his son if he did not get what he wanted. A father of today would never see their son just because they have a lot of money. Pap is angry at Huck when he finds out that Huck has some kind of education and a fancy bed to sleep in when he himself has no education and sleeps on outside with the pigs. A father of today would want their kids to have a better education than they have and have a nice place to sleep, but not Pap. Pap is surprised when Judge Thatcher and the widow want to take Huck away from him when he beats up Huck, locks him in the cabin when he leaves, and tries to kill Huck when he gets drunk. The fathers of today are nothing like Pap and should use the Pap character to motivate them to be better fathers.

Dislike Pap

I feel like I really dislike Pap. I hate the way he's treated Huck so far, and I think he will stay bitter and mean through the whole story. The sad truth is there are actually fathers out there who treat their children like that, and it makes me really have sympathy for kids who go through that. In my opinion Huck takes it really well, I mean he takes it better than normal people who were beaten would take it.

Pap the Drunk, Scourge of Fathers

       Pap is the nearly fifty-year-old father of Huckleberry Finn who likes to gamble and drink. To Huck, Pap is the embodiment of evil itself. Because Twain gave no background information as why Pap is the way he is in the book, his role is primarily symbolic. Twain described Pap as being very pale white and being very evil at the same time is a commentary on society. Pap represented all the evils that can be found in white society: he is illiterate, ignorant, violent, and very racist. When he learned of the mixed-race man that visited the town, he is enraged that a man like that gets to vote in the state of Ohio. Compared to Pap, the mixed-race man is very knowledgeable, clean, and politically minded. Twain's descriptions of these characters overturned the traditional view of white superiority.

Huckleberry Finn Setting and Theme

The setting of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is very unique. It takes place somewhere along the Mississippi River along Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas sometime in the 1830s-1840s. The characters are somewhat uneducated by the means of today's standards. Jim (the slave owned by Miss Watson) is very uneducated due to slaves not having the right to a free, public education. Huck's education isn't very great because he has lived on his own for a while now and since he has been staying with the Widow Douglas he has started going to school, so its getting better but he still has trouble with certain elements of reading and speaking. I would say he has the education of a 9 year old (today's standards) he makes a lot of grammatical errors. Something that is included with the theme could be all of the superstition. Jim is superstitious, as well as Huck and his dad. There isnt a lot of superstition similar to the superstition in this novel that happens in todays society, it makes me think that superstitious people were more common back in the mid 1800's. I think that the superstition will play a major role as the story of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn continues.

I'm Glad I Don't Have The Kind Of Father That Huck Has

    I'm surprised that more people haven't taken action on Huck's disappearance. In this day and age if someone would have taken their son like that there would be calls from worried civilians to the cops to take action upon the abuse the father had on the child. Yeah, the widow and the judge were trying to help there is more that could have been done. I'm just surprised that his father hasn't served more time in jail than what he already has. It seems he gets out of jail really fast, too fast for what I think most people would agree and feel comfortable with. Even though there weren't as many child protection laws and security back then I feel like the people would have a common conscience and gather together to stop the abuse Huck goes through with his dad.

next chapter

The beginning of yesterday's reading was amazing. You think you know what kind of guy pap is with his cow boy boots and a cross in the heal. Pap isn't who you would think he is in the beginning. Pap is the kind of person who drinks a lot and beats his son. I feel bad for huck because he has no where else to go. Pap takes all of Huck's money so he can go get drunk. I Hope in the further passages pap learns what he's doing is wrong and turn his life around and start over.

finny

I like the difference between tom and huck because it makes the story very interesting . How does pap know where huck has been? Or where was pap? The theme of the story is also good. I want to know how would the story be different if hucks dad wasn't in the story. How different would the story be?

character

        I think that the character Pap is someone who is very stubborn and ruthless when it comes to things that get in his way. Pap seems to be someone who if someone is getting in his way he'll make that person move or if they don't he'll make them move. I think that deep down pap really actually cares for huck but he doesn't really want him to be weak in society and he doesn't want to be humiliated if his son doesn't turn out to be rough and strong like he is. I think that further in the book pap is going to be put in a situation that scares him so badly that he begins to change and begin to show his true feelings.

Very Superstitious...

Twain is recognized as an author of the realist movement. He uses a light-hearted, humorous tone to depict the realities of society as he perceived it. We certainly have superstitions in our own day and age, but the extent to which Huck's actions, hopes, and fears rely on superstition is shocking. In Chapter II it becomes evident that Jim also looks to superstition. However, characters like the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson do not seem to indulge those folk traditions. It poses the question whether superstitious tendencies typically accompany certain social classes. Moreover, what the Widow and Miss Watson do embrace is religion, specifically a Christian view of the world. It might be worth investigating whether different social classes tend toward different means of interpreting reality.

The Dialect of "The Adventures of Huck Fin"

     Dialect

 

 

 

 

     The dialect of the book was strange to me it is a dialect that I rarely hear and I do not encounter that much people who speak like that. The dialect was historically accurate to the time period and from what I know the people of the 1800s did speak like that. The character that had the most strange dialects so far in the story was the African American named Jim. It makes sense that depending on the social class determined how low class or high class a character sounded. The only dialect that I hear the most would be the high class dialect. The dialect of the book proves how the dialect we use today has changed over time.

An overall perspective of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twains "The Adventures of Huckleberry" is a book consisting of the perspective of a small town life through the eyes of Huck, a rough and rustic child with a father that is barely there, that is if he is not drunk, Tom Sawyer as he friend, and the world as his home. You can see the viewpoint of how Huck lives compared to his friend Tom is quite vast and very much different. Tom, being raised in a good home and a safe environment, which allowed his imagination to take off into the wildest of places. Huck on the other hand, had been put straight into the rough realization that he had to provide for himself, by himself, as a means of pure survival. other things that led him to have a much more refined mind would be because of his mother dying at a young age, he did not have anyone to nurture or to provide some of the simple pleasures of life. His father, a drunk, only came around to beat Huck, also giving him the idea on how people could be, giving him a huge advantage at a young age on how to be more realistic in the world for means of survival.

Growing Mind

          Huck's lack of parental guidance is apparent because he isn't pushed to learn and grow. Due to his parents not being around much and not giving him attention he lacks a religious upbringing and a decent education. Huck knows absolutely nothing about Christianity before being taken in by Widow Douglass. What Huck learns from the Widow and Miss Watson is his only exposure to religion and because of the women's two totally different views he ends up totally confused. Without good parental guidance Huck won't be able to grow in his faith or even understand the faith. Huck also doesn't often use proper English when he speaks and may not be literate at all. Due to his lack of parenting he probably didn't attend very much school if any at all, which doesn't expand his mind or push him to achieve even a fraction of his potential.

What the Huck?!

So Tom is starting a gang and he is trying to be a real outlaw, or so he thinks. What are your thoughts about how the imaginative thoughts and ideas of Tom v.s. Huck? I personally believe that the lives of the two kids have made it so that Huck is not so imaginative while Tom is. I personally like Huck more because he is more of a realist. What do you all think?

huckfinn tone

       I think that the tone in huckleberry Finn is very whimsical because huck makes it seem like he's telling you a tall tale by explaining things that wouldn't normally happen. Also the tone can be very depressing because huck's life  has been very depressing with his father always beating him when he got drunk and that he had to be taken in by Mrs. Watson because he didn't want to be bet up by his father anymore. also at the same time the tone seems full of childish wonder because tom sawyer makes the tone lighter with all his imagination by creating scenarios that are so outlandish that you know that their completely fake.

Huckleberry--

Something that I noticed in The Adventures of Huckleberry was the tone is set just right. I think you can tell that there's a bit of tension between Huck and The widow Douglass. Also I think it's apparent that Huck doesn't have any family around. I can connect with Huck because he is sassy, and he also has an attitude, like me. So, so far I've been able to make some connections.

Relations

                                     

Huck is always restless because of the Widow and Miss Watson constantly attempt to improve his behavior. Always telling Huck about the good place which is heaven. Huck doesn't see the point of going there he wanted to go to the bad place known as hell. Miss Watson started complaining and yelling at Huck. I'm pretty sure we all can relate to him. For example like our parents begging and nagging us to clean our rooms. Once in your life you got yelled at for something bad.

My blog is going to be much better than Darren's

Twain utilized local dialects to make the story feel much more immersive. Jim, the slave, spoke in very broken English, such as replacing "the's" with "de's". His dialect is very different from Huck's, Huck's is much better. Huck's speech is more understandable than Jim's. Huck's dialogue is filled with colloquialism and altered words, such as "ain't", "warn't", "sentimentering", etc. Twain's careful use of local dialect showed how much work he put into making his characters diverse and interesting.

#huckleberryswag

I noticed that the dialect Twain used in this novel was very significant to this time period. He used some words that aren't used in today's language very often, some of the words are also unique in just the way they are pronounced by Huck because of his poor grammatical skills and lack of intellect on the English language. Its interesting and it is definitely how you would expect a 13 year old boy to talk back in the late 1800's.

My blog will probably be worse than Darren, Zack, and Ryan

     The story starts off in a small town in the South, relatively poor, with a river in a forest near the town. The people aren't that smart and most drink a lot, including Huck's Dad.  Slavery is legal and the unintelligent are superstitious. Even though it seems like a bad place the people are nice and some good-hearted. All of the kids go to school but Huck tolerates it and play hooky with Tom Sawyer a lot.

Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has many interesting characters in the story and the way they interact with each other and how they speak to each other makes the story most life like. Their ways of life is more simple in Huck's eyes and point of view; while Tom is more educated and creative about things. Even though they are two different people they are best friends and go on many adventures that Tom creates and Huck lives through. Huck way of speaking is not as intelligent and educated as other boys who go to school, unlike him, and it is clear to see how it effects his language and actions. Also living on his own has made him more literal and in constant survival mode. Huck is someone we might call a "drop-out" or street kid that lives on with whatever he can. He has not had the greatest of parental guidance that is out there. His father is a drunk and beats Huck, and his mom is dead. His father is found "dead" at the river, but Huck at first is glad to hear the news then he figures out that the body found in the river was not his dad.Huck is still scared of his father and wishes that he never sees his father again.

The Setting of Huckleberry Finn

The setting of Huckleberry Finn is in a quiet town that is not named in the book, but modeled after Hannibal, Missouri. When you look at the author it would make sense to write a story based on memories that the author has so firmly ingrained into his skull. Mark Twain made sure to bring to life the southern setting in Huckleberry Finn using vivid images and lots of detail. if you have read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer then you are very familiar with the area and the town that Huck is living in. I can't wait to see how Mark Twain makes the setting come to life behind the readers eyes in this novel.