Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Huck's Moral Development
At the end of Chapter 19, after the King and the Duke have forced their way aboard the raft, Huck says "It didn't take me long to make up my mind that these liars...[were] just low-down humbugs and frauds....If I never learned nothing else out of pap, I learnt that the best way to get along with his kind of people is to let them have their own way." By Chapter 26 Huck has seen enough (of the King and the Duke); he says, "...my mind's made up; I'll hive that money for them or bust." Later, in Chapter 28, Huck says (concerning telling Mary jane about the frauds), "...here's a case where I'm blest if it don't look to me like the truth is better and actually safer than a lie." In what way has this episode changed Huck? Why is it that Twain enables Huck to sharpen his moral sensibilty in terms of the orphaned girls, yet he still fails to see that slavery is wrong?
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33 comments:
Shelby Gluck
Huck was raised in a society centered around praising whites and repressing blacks. This makes it obvious why Huck would feel compassion for the orphaned girls and want to tell them the truth, because they are white. Because he grew up being taught that black slaves were not to be accepted, Huck has trouble explaining his friendship with Jim, let alone helping him escape. In Huck's mind, this is a crime and a sin, as a disobeying of orders. This is why Huck finds it easier to try and save the girls' inheritance rather than see that slavery is wrong.
Patrick Roderick
The King and Duke have changed Huck by exposing Huck to an indirect evil. By indirect evil I mean that the King and Duke have done nothing to Huck but instead are scamming those around him. This nags at Huck's conscience causing him to have to make a decision between helping those who are being scammed or just letting the two villains get away with it. Twain is trying to keep Huck's bondage to Southern Society by having him continue to feel like a devil for helping Jim while going out of his way to help the orphans seems like the only option. This compassion for the white man but continued shame for the black man is just one more time where Huck is shown to be a slave to Southern Soceity.
Woody Dismukes
I think that in his heart Huck does recognize tht slavery is wrong, however he never realizes it on a contious level. this is why he is able to recognize some things and not others. But i think it is hard to compare the issue of Mary Jane to slavery because in Huck's eyes they are two completly different issues.
Maddy Russell
Huck will not stand for the Duke and King to take advantage of the orphans and earlier in the story he might have let it happen if circumstances were different and he was with Tom. This shows that Huck is developing his moral sensiblilty quite well. But he still doesn't understand that setting Jim free is the right thing to do.
Twains character development of Huck is very realistic. During the days of slavery, you were brought up to think having a slave was normal and there was nothing wrong about it because slaves were not considered people
Huck's moral development has come a long way. Earlier he never really acted on what he feels and he was stuck between what is right and wrong. Now, when he decides to tell Mary Jane the truth, he has finally made a decision between whether to do what is right or to do what is wrong. Also, he still fails to realize that slavery is wrong. I think this is because of the way society has impacted him. Society has taught him that what he has done to the girls is wrong, and that slavery is okay. Huck isn't yet able to break away from the structure of society to go down "the road less traveled by." In Huck's character, Twain is critisizing society.
Hucks moral development is changing more and more through the book.Hes a young boy facing many problems.He is faced with people are against whites and blacks and he continures to stay strong and just grow off of it all.Throughout the wholee book
Vinny Brown loves you
Huck realize's that the King and Duke are morally currupt. All they care about it money. They will con anyone and everyone to get what they want. It doesnt sit well with Huck at all. He has grown as a young man and doesn't want to hang with them anymore. He has his morals right and can identify who has the right and wrong intentions. This is how he has grown and is taking bigger steps in changing his life
Huck has changed quite a bit throughout the story. One of his greatest growths was realizing that Jim is a human being, and not just a black slave. They start to become friends. Eventhough Huck has faced many dilemas about whether to turn Jim in or not he still hasnt done it. Huck has gained a somewhat respect for Jim.
Southern society has raised people to believe that slavery is right, and it is ok to oppress blacks. They even justify it through the Bible. Therefore Huck would feel sympathy for the three girls because they are white people in need, but Jim is a black person in need. Huck has been brought up to believe that helping an inferior slave is punishable through hell, but it is ok to help white people.
mariel schofield
Huck has grown up and realized what is good and bad. He knows that lying is wrong and it's better to tell the truth. He doesn't see that slavery is wrong, though, because he has grown up in a white society all his life that told him slavery is okay. Society also told him that what happened to the orphaned girls is wrong.
Huck has been dealing with the king and the duke pretty well through all of their tricks, but now he realizes that it is wrong. He wants to stand up for what is right and what he knows is the right thing to do. He is more inclined to helping the girls and telling them the truth because they are not black slaves but young white girls. In his society he is used to holding the slaves to a different standard. The slaves are not equal to the common white man or woman. Huck also likes Mary Jane who is one of the three sisters. This also affects how he handled the situation. Huck sees his friendship with Jim as a sin which he could go to hell for. The situation with the girls is that they are equal to him so he feels "obliged" to help them.
I agree with Shelby
i agree with Patrick that the king and the duke are exposing huck to some indirect evil. when i say that i mean huck is watching this happen by some adults and he might think that is acceptable since they are doing it. since huck thinks this is acceptable it is now in his mindset thinking its fine to do.
In the end Huck is being pushed around by the King and Duke, just like the slaves are being pushed around by whites. As much as he wants to turn the King and Duke in, in southern society it would be wrong to turn in your own color in. Therefore, even though he wanted to tell the orphaned girls, he knew it would be wrong and he would regret it in the long run. ~Morgan Eggink
Huck in general has the abilty to show empathy. He has shown throughout the course of the novel. It's intersting how Huck can see what the King and the Duke are doing is wrong, but not what society is doing is wrong. I think Twain does this to exzagerate his point, about slavery. If a 13 year old boy can see every other fault in society has, except for its greatest fault. It's shows how people had no idea how wrong what they were doing was. Twain intentionally does this to show us how oblvious society was to thier faults.
The introduction of the king and the duke to Huck was in a way a good thing. I think this because Huck notice how bad these frauds are and how they are nothing but trouble. Alls they do is steal money which goes along with ripping people off. This then leads Huck to having to pick a side in the situation with the money. He decides to steal the money away from the king and the duke which was a big turning point becuase earlier in the book he just struggled with his conscience and wouldnt pick a solid decision.
This still makes Huck feel wrong about hiding Jim because yes, he is doing right for the girls by turning in money, but no hes doing wrong (acording to society)for hiding a slavve, which makes him feel like a mean person.
Growing up Huck was surrounded by a society centered around praising white and holding against black. In this matter it makes Huck want to tell the girls the truth just because they are "white". Huck met Jim and his friendship with him was unexplainable. For example he was taught that they were not to be accepted but yet they are escaping together. Huck thinks it is easier to help someone who is white or telling the truth rather than seeing slavery is wrong. He does see that it is wrong but not realizing it on the level that it is.
His moral development towards the orphaned girls is a lot different then his views on the slavery issue. He is very sensitive about the orpahned girls because he wants them to be okay and taken care of, and have their money that their uncle left behind for them. This money will help them out a lot, because they are in desperate need of it. He knows that he needs to do the right thing by getting that money back. Although his pap said to let the king and duke do what they want in order to get along wtih them, it is not right 4 them to take the money. He still fails to see that slavery is wrong because he doesn't know what is right and he cant come to moral senses on whether or not he should let Jim be free or not. Twain is doing this to Huck to make the story go out longer and to show that Huck still has a lot of decisions to make, and needs to learn more about the slavery issue before deciding.
i agree with shelby.
Huck has been told his whole life that slavery is okay, and blacks shouldnt be treated with respect. that whites are better then them. When telling the orphans the truth he feels hes doing justice to his race, and helping them out. However, when it comes to jim, a black man its different. Society wants him to be against Jim, and even though Huck wants to be he feels guilty associating and helping a man of color. he feels he is doing the wrond thing my helping Jim escape because thats how he was raised.
I think to show that Huck is becoming really strong.
i think that huck does have trouble explaining his friendship with jim because jim is a black slave and how people will have a bad outlook on their friendship
Huck has learned that what he has learned from his dad about letting those kind have their way, is wrong. Huck proves this when he tries to escape from the king and the duke, twice. Huck is fed up with those two people and he just wants to get rid of them.
Southern society told Huck that it was wrong what the king and duke were doing to the orphaned girls. They were robbing money from them, and the law tells him that it's a wrong thing to do. Southern society, however, does not tell Huck how bad slavery is because nobody cares about slaves. His sunday school class even teaches kids that slaves aren't worth anything. That's why Huck is able to understand that it's not fair what's happening to the girls, yet he still doesn't see that slavery is wrong.
This episode has changed Huck becuase he starts to tell the truth instead of continuously lying to save himself and avoid confrontations or conflicts. Huck is able to sharpen his moral sensibility in terms of the girls because he likes Mary Jane and would do anything for her and her sisters. Yet, he still fails to see that slavery is wrong because he was brought up on the idea that African-American slaves were you're inferior.
i think that it is hard for huck to try and be friends with jim because he is a black slave that isnt supposed to eve be out in the world not under misss watsons watch. so huck has mixed emotions.
Natalie Hockey
Once again, this is another bit of Twain's irony in the fact that Hucks knows it is the right thing to help a white man's daughters but that he will burn in hell to help a black man's children (recall the incident where Jim is talking about stealing his children, and Huck believes it to be absurd and a crime). Through Twain's humor, we get a sense of reality and truth. His utilization of it has brought America, his audience, to laugh and then come to realize that they are only laughing at themselves.
Huck has been living his life based on the beliefs and thoughts of people that surround him. When he was told that slaves were only supposed to be used as objects and treated unfairly, Huck lived his life accordingly. Although he has been helping Jim escape from slavery, he still can't decide weather or not he is doing the right thing because of the fact that Jim is a black slave. He was taught that he wasn't supposed to be treating Jim like he has feelings and should be a free man, so he struggles to find goodness in what he is allowing happen. Huck doesn't think that it is a safe thing to be doing because he will be punished. However, when Huck is faced with the decision to tell the truth or lie to Mary Jane about the king and duke, he thinks differently. He knows that he won't get into trouble by telling her they are frauds and finds it much safer than attempting to help Jim escape.
in hucks mind the idea of stealing money from three orphaned girls is just too much. he has seen them swindle whole towns out of money..... which although he didnt agree with it he didnt try and stop them. but he still doesnt understand that slavery is also wrong. he cant understand that its just like this situation except instead of taking money from poor orphaned girls. people are taking freedom from thousands of poor broken up families
Adam Krop
I feel that the encounter with the
Duke and King drastically changed Huck,s decisions later in the novel. I think that the Duke's and King's coniving anticts finally set Huck over the top leading to his exposal of who they really were in chapter 29. I think that by watching the King and the Duke run into all the trouble through their con artist schemes showed Huck that the truth is in fact safe. This was a bid step in Huck's moral development. In the beginnign of the novel you see Huck's quick witts and ability to lie get him out of trouble. However, here he comes to the realization that sometimes the truth is safer.
I agree with Shelby's first comment in saying that Huck helps the girls becuase he is raised in a society that promotes the compassion among other white people. However, it also promotes the segregation of whies and blacks and the inferiority of blacks. I think Jim still holds a very special place in Huck's heart, but Huck doesn't understand. This is almost like being in love for the first time. Something that is unframiliar and like Huck he does not really understand where he stands with Jim.
Gretchen Heine
These scenes go hand in hand with with the symbolism of the raft. if the text is observed closely it is evident that these events occur periodicaly and simaltaneously with the raft travleing further south. The deeper south that Huck goes the more corrupt the world around him gets. Therefore it is becoming more visable to him where lieing, cheating, stealing, etc. really gets you. so in the end Huck is forced to mature.
I think seeing how low down and rotten that the Kind and Duke really are, has caused Huck to look at himself and question his motivation and morals. He may have compared himself and decided he didn't want to cheat people out of their money. Especially people seemingly on equal level [or so society has taught Huck]. This is why i think that Twain enables Huck to sharpen his moral sensibility in terms of the orphaned girls. He doesn't see that slavery is wrong becuase he doesn't see Jim as an equal.
Huck is realizing what type of people the duke and the king are. And he doesn't like their personality.Huck knows when to do the right or wrong thing and he knows when hes doing it. It's much easier for him to tell the truth to the orphan girls than to realize that slavery is wrong, because he grew up knowing that blacks aren't suppose to be respected . So he thinks that saving a slave is a sin.
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