The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain
Journal 2
Kathy
The second half of Huck Finn, in my opinion was a lot more interesting than the first half. People who read this book can learn a lot from its content for instance, it doesn't matter whether someone's black or white, you can still be friends with them. It really struck me when Huck was thinking, "and I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for theirn. It don't seem natural, but I reckon it's so." Did people back then seriously think that blacks were less human and didn't feel? It's weird for us to think of that now because we've tried so hard to achieve equality. I think the purpose of Mark Twain to even write this book is to show that color doesn't matter. In the beginning of this book and in Tom Sawyer, the reader gets the impression that Huck was someone bad, and someone you needed to stay away from. That's what all the mothers thought anyway; they didn't want Huck to rub off all his bad qualities on them. Huck usually acted through the goodness of his heart and never did anything too evil. Anything he did that was evil was purely for fun and there was no intent to harm. Huck does what he does because he thinks it's right and doesn't care what other people think. He lied throughout the entire book, but not one lie wasn't in someone's interest. He truly showed them that all along he was doing what was right. Along with him knowing he's a good person, others know that as well. Tom Sawyer's actions bothered me. He knew the whole time that Jim was a free man, and Tom still goes through all the trouble to set him free. He said he wanted the adventure and that's why he did it. I think it's very selfish to use someone else for your own pleasure. Jim could have been having fun being free, but instead he was stuck in a hut praying one day he'll see his kids and wife again. Tom loves to pretend, but enough is enough. The reason Huck and Tom are such good friends is that Tom is way out there while Huck keeps him grounded, and they still have adventures that are fun and eventful. Huck says, "You can't pray a lie." (Page 269). At first I didn't know what this sentence meant, and it sounded kind of awkward. For a second Huck was going to conform to society and turn Jim in by writing a letter to Jim's owner, Mrs. Watson. He wanted so hard to believe that that was true, he even said it aloud to make himself hear it enough times, so maybe he would believe it was the right thing. But inside his heart he knew it was wrong, and that Jim should be a free man. Huck didn't believe in slavery and he also knew that God didnŐt believe in slavery either. He wanted to pray to God and ask Him to make Huck a better boy, but he couldn't do it. He wanted to give up a sin by praying and saying that Jim should be a slave, but he knew that it was a sin that Jim wasn't free. It was a lie that Jim should be a slave, and there's no way to make that right by praying, and that's what Huck meant by saying, "You can't pray a lie." Mark Twain had a lot of guts to write this book. I'm sure he had a lot of opposition when the book was first published. People don't like to hear what's wrong with them, and he showed an entire society what was wrong with them. People in general can't see their own faults, and then when someone points it out, they get defensive and angry. Imagine the entire southern half of the United States angry and defensive. That's probably why the reason that this book is banned in so many places. Nobody wants to stir up this racial tension, and express his or her differences. In Sociology, we read an article about how people in South Carolina and Georgia still hang up the Confederate flag. Why do they want to bring up such an embarrassing part of history? The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn brings up the same embarrassing part of United States history.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1
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