An aspect that really stood out to
me in chapters 6-17 is that fact that Huck battles between what society wants him to believe
and his own thoughts on what is right and just.
At times throughout the story, he appears to genuinely care about other
people. For instance, he feels sympathy for the 3 thieves who become trapped on
the vessel. In an attempt to save them, he tries to convince the captain on a
ferry-boat to save them from their death. Also, despite the tricks Huck plays
on Jim, he seems to really value Jim as a person. Instead of treating him as
less of a human being, he accepts him and becomes essential to Jim’s opportunity
for freedom.
However,
society’s negative affect on Huck becomes evident, especially in chapter 16. Huck begins to feel guilty for keeping Jim a
secret and attempting to aid him to freedom. He wonders whether he should have
turned Jim in for escaping in the first place, questioning what Miss Watson
ever did to him that he would keep this a secret. This causes Huck to feel
incredibly miserable and confused regarding what he should do. Despite this
confusion, Huck cannot bring himself to betray Jim to the men who are looking
for the runaway slaves. At this point in the story, Huck’s loyalty to Jim
outweighs the pressure he feels to obey society’s standards.
For my LAR class, I read part of Frederick Douglass’s
autobiography where he talks about his journey learning how to read and write.
To describe his determination and excitement after learning the alphabet from
his master’s wife, Douglass stated, “Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet, had
given me the inch, and no precaution
could prevent me form taking the ell.
(This is similar to the saying “give a nigger an inch and he’ll take an ell”
that Huck used to describe Jim’s excitement upon nearing Cairo.) Because of his
strong desire to read and write, Douglass asked white boys his age to help him
with this process. He also expressed his grief to these boys, stating, “You
will be free as soon as you are twenty one, but
I am a slave for life! Have not I as good a right to be free as you have?” Hearing
these words, they became greatly troubled and expressed great sympathy and
sadness for Douglass. Douglass then stated that he wished he could thank these
boys for helping him achieve literacy. However, he didn’t want to embarrass them
because it was an “offense” to teach slaves how to read. I found myself
wondering what kind of men these boys became and if they still held onto the
belief that Douglass deserved to be treated justly, despite the color of his
skin, or if society pulled them into the lie that African- American’s were somehow
less than human. Reading this reminded
me of Huck and how he faces the same struggle between society and what he knows
is right. His decision to help Jim
achieve freedom is similar to the young boys’ decision to help Frederick Douglass
read. In both instances, these young individuals are taking risks by acting in
a way that was not socially acceptable and, perhaps, punishable. However, because these individuals were not
yet victims of society, they were able to see past insignificant differences of
human beings, and thus, express human compassion.
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