In these chapters I was really struck by Huck's
cleverness. He was able to identify the fact that the two men claiming to be
the duke and the Dauphin of France were actually nothing other than frauds.
This shows that he is not easily deceived. It's fortunate he realized this
because he then knew he needed to protect Jim. To do so, he came up with a
story that the two men easily believed. (This maybe suggests that Huck is even
more clever than these two men.) This is not the first time Huck successfully whipped
a story out of thin air, which I find rather impressive.
I also noticed how much Huck and Jim care for one
another. Huck lied multiple times in order to protect Jim. He wouldn't do this
if he didn't genuinely care about his well-being. Additionally, it is evident
that Jim cares a great deal for Huck, as well. When Huck disappeared to the
Gangerford household, Jim was incredibly worried about him and relieved when
they reunited.
Since Huck and Jim are friends, it is frustrating that Huck still thinks of
him as property. I am waiting for Huck to come to his senses.
I thought it was interesting how repulsed Huck eventually
became of the Grangerford Shepherdson feud. Initially, he didn't give it much
thought and wasn't concerned about it. However, after better understanding the
feud and becoming more involved Huck's opinion on the feud changed. He became sickened
by the brutality of the situation and couldn't stand to even think about it.
This makes me think that Huck probably doesn't fully understand the concept of
slavery if this doesn’t repulse him, as well. Perhaps, if he had a better
understanding of how degrading and unjust it was, he would change his opinion
on it. I feel like Huck really does care about people. (In these chapters, this
was shown by the fact that Huck desired to help the two frauds and felt sympathy
for them.) Since slavery is a concept that Huck was brought up with, he's accustomed
to it; it's all he's ever known. This makes me wonder how society has
influenced me, personally. I wonder how strongly my code of conduct and morals
are affected by how people in the world act around me. Would my concept of
right and wrong would differ if I grew up in a different time period? Also,
would Huck's concept of right and wrong differ if he lived in this time period,
a period where even the thought of slavery is absolutely unacceptable?
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