36 to the End

In the last few chapters I see all entanglements of enslavement between Aunt Sally and Huck, Aunt Sally and Silas, and most importantly, Tom, Huck, and Jim. Aunt Sally always questions Huck and Tom and seems to always be in their business during the worst times. When the snakes are let loose in the house and rats are discovered, Aunt Sally freaks out and blames Silas who cannot deny anything. When a spoon was missing she blamed him for taking it when he was really innocent. However, the most important case of enslavement is with Tom and Huck. There are only a few instances when Huck seems to tries to act on his own feelings instead of following Tom's ridiculous plans. On pages 275 and 276 Huck says, "What I want is my nigger; or what I want is my watermelon...I'm agoing to dig that nigger or that watermelon...and I don't give a dead rat what the authorities thinks about it nuther" showing him speaking his mind which I think is a sort of freedom he had not known before. Of course this is all big talk since a teenager is usually all talk and no action. It's still good to see Huck speaking out because it's a way of expressing your feelings which is helpful to any teenager. Naturally, Tom refutes this claim and goes back to enslaving Huck and Jim. When Huck says getting stuff through Silas and Aunt Sally to give to Jim was ridiculous, Tom ignored him.  There is also another character I thought was being enslaved by Tom. His name is Nat and he is another slave. The fact that Jim and Nat believe Tom's lies just because he's white is enslavement because Tom knows the slaves have no education and uses that knowledge to entertain himself. So because the slaves follow Tom's ridiculous plan, they enslave themselves and allow people to manipulate them. As slaves they really don't know any better but there are times when Jim thinks Tom is being impossible. So they can speak out but give up in the end. At one point Jim says he's afraid of spiders and snakes and constantly rejects Tom's ideas as well as watering plants with his own tears. But Tom is the puppet master and refuses to acknowledge Tom and Jim's claims. The ending wasn't bad though. I think I've come to like the book...only a little bit.

Chapters 31-35

In these chapters, Huck achieves freedom only to be captured once more. Huck manages to escape from the King and Duke only to be captured by them again; but not physically. Jim's sale enslaved Huck mentally as seen on page 239 when Huck says, "Then I set down and cried; I couldn't help it". I believe this enslaved Huck mentally because his thoughts are now on how to free Jim which is is hard for a teenager to do. This was also the first time I've seen Huck cry. This shows his affection towards Jim and how lost he feels without him. Huck says he'll even go to hell if it means freeing Jim. I think this was great. I believe Huck is finally addressing his struggle of helping Jim. It's obviously hard to help a runaway slave and any boy with "common sense" would have turned Jim in. But Huck is different. I feel he has seen both sides of the story. He knows black people aren't as bad as white people make them out to be. And I have to say that I love Huck's decision of freeing Jim. To me, it seems like a sort of freedom of thought and mind. However, Huck is captured once again by Tom. Huck knows Tom's plan is crazy and complicated but follows anyways which is enslavement. Huck doesnt' even try to break free when he says "You going, right here in the day-break? That weren't the plan" andTom responds, "No, it warn't-but it's the plan now" (p. 265). To see Huck not going against Tom of all people for the sake of saving Jim the worst. It's really not great because I feel Huck isn't blooming, or growing.

Chapters 26-30

In these chapters, Huck and Jim are still trapped by the King and Duke. Huck especially, as seen through his regrets, guilt, and fear. His guilty conscious is telling him to hide the money from the King and Duke but then regrets it when he thinks the bag has been stolen. Huck is further enslaved when he sees Mary Jane crying and decides to tell her the truth about the Duke and King so she won't be tricked since Huck believes she is a beautiful person. However, Huck does fear being caught and is forced to lie again about the missing gold to the King who lies throughout the chapters due to his greed. Huck is happy to pass on the blame to the slaves which is seen when he says, "... I felt dreadful glad I'd worked it all off onto the niggers and yet hadn't done the niggers no harm by it" (p 212) because he doesn't want to be enslaved by the guilt and fear. But I do believe part of his conscious feels cleared because the slaves aren't harmed showing Huck has come to care a little bit for them. At least that's how I interpreted it. The King also threatens Huck when be is being interrogated by giving Huck a "left-handed look out of the corner of his eye" (p226) which shows the power the King has over Huck. The Duke is also, in my opinion, enslaved by the King because he doesn't object to the King's plans. When the King decided to sell the slaves, Huck says, "... And I tell you the duke was powerful uneasy" (p 210) showing the Duke knew selling the slaves was wrong. I also saw how Huck wanted freedom for himself and Jim when Buck said he had a plan but of course that failed because he is a kid which Ms. Watkins explained to me in her comment so I understand them better. In chapter 28 I thought maybe Huck's thoughts and actions were controlled by Tom because he mentions how Tom would have "throwed more style into it" (p 221) but couldn't because he didn't have that upbringing. Towards the end of chapter 29, Huck mentions how good it is to feel free with Jim even though its only for a little while and is almost brought to tears when the King and Duke return to the canoe which really shows how badly Huck wants freedom.

First Impression

My theme is enslavement and freedom which can be seen throughout the novel various times. The main character, Huck is enslaved first by society and Pap. It is only when he runs away with Jim that he feels freedom on the raft. However, my impression on the book isn't a very good one. I believe it is because there is not climax so far. They're just traveling and meeting people but nothing is really happening. It was only until I got my theme that I started really focusing on each little detail. For example, Huck and Jim meet these two men who claim to be a king and duke. Huck figures out they are lying but decides to not say anything because of Pap. The values Pap instilled in Huck remain and still affect the way Huck behaves. This can be seen as enslavement. For freedom, both Jim and Huck say they were relieved upon being in the raft. They felt safe and away from the rules of society which is their freedom. It was interesting to see these two examples. Then when Buck kills a man, the crowd decides to lynch him. However, Buck says that the people are cowards and are only planning on killing him because one person suggested it. In a way the people were slaves of cowardice because in the end. They all scramble out of his property. Even Huck leaves. I feel the book is now more interesting than the beginning causing the events now to seem much more significant to me. I've also noticed Huck has matured more. He doesn't see everything as a game as when he did with the snake prank. He apologizes to Jim admitting it was difficult to do so and now thinks of Jim's safety. Even when he looses Jim and has to stay in a very nice house, he doesn't act out and lies quite well in order to keep himself safe. I think Huck has made great progress. also, Miss Sophie was a slave of the conflict with the Shepherdsons but eventually gains freedom by running away with her love. It was sort of cute even though I'm not into dramatic romance novels. I'm hoping for the future there will be more growth in Huck and more freedom than slavery. I also hope Jim finds his wife and children because if not, I will be very mad. But overall, the novel isn't boring and I believe I can learn a lesson from it.

Andrea

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