IRP Blog Post 12

"White Inside"


This section of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn explores the nature of race and humanity. When Tom is shot by farmers, Tom kindly mentions that he be brought to a doctor, proving to Tom and Huck that Jim has a sense of selflessness, contrary to popular opinions.

"I knowed he was white inside, and I reckoned he'd say what he did say- so it was all right, now, and I told Tom I was agoing for a doctor" (Twain 284).

This passage may indicate that there is humanity in everyone, even the lowly slave.

IRP Blog Post 11

Unintended Consequences


As part of their elaborate scheme of rescuing Jim, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn gather numerous rats spiders, frogs, caterpillars, and even snakes. They even wanted to get a hornet's nest. They make the mistake of storing the critters inside of Aunt Sally's house. Naturally, all of these animals escaped from their storage locations.

"We didn't half tie the sack, and they worked out, somehow, and left. But it didn't matter much, because they was still on the premises somewhere" (Twain 274).

The lesson of the experience is that you should watch where you store things because they might very well crawl away, as Huckleberry Finn found out the hard way.

IRP Blog Post 10

Practicality vs. Novelty


Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer begin to free Jim by using knives because this is apparently the way that it is done in books. After making little progress, they realize that it is simply much more realistic to use pickaxes.

"It ain't no use, Huck, it ain't going to work. If we was prisoners it would , because then we'd have as many years as we wanted and no hurry...But we can't fool along, we got to rush; we ain't got no time to spare" (Twain 254).

 The futility, however, does not stop here. Tom tells Nat that he needs to bake a witch pie for Jim in order to get rid of the witches. He plans to bake a rope ladder into the pie, even though it is completely unnecessary.

IRP Blog Post 9

Rescuing Jim


Huck and Tom conspire to free Jim from his prison, but they are saddened that Jim's escape would be too easy. They complain that Uncle Silas would give the prison key to anyone and that Jim is only chained to the leg of a bed. Why the disappointment? They, especially Tom, see honor in a difficult escape. Tom proposes to "invent all the difficulties".

"No; the way all the best authorities does , is to saw the bedleg in two, and leave it just so, and swallow the sawdust, so it can't be found... nothing to do but hitch your rope ladder to the battlements, shin down it , break your leg in the moat" (Twain 246).

Does difficulty make something more honorable? You make the call.

IRP Blog Post 8

"Human beings can be awful cruel to one another"

In this section of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck reunites with Tom Sawyer. After having dinner at the Phelps house, the boys see a mob of people.

"We jumped to one side to let them go by; and as they went by, I see they had the king and duke astraddle of a rail... they was all over tar and feathers, and didn't look like nothing in the world that was human" (Twain 238).

 Huck points out the often unfairness of life when he says, "Human beings can be awful cruel to one another".

IRP Blog Post 7

Theme: The Pervasiveness of Racism

The use of the n-word is widespread in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It has recently created controversy with a new edition of this book that eliminates such language. While certainly politically incorrect, the racists mindsets in the book serve as a window into times gone by. One example occurs when, Huck is talking about a steam boat explosion with Sally.

"'It wasn't the grounding - that didn't keep us back but a little. We blowed out a cylinder-head.' 'Good gracious! Anybody hurt?' 'No'm. Killed a nigger.' 'Well, it's lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt'" (Twain 228).

Obviously, this kind of sentiment is viewed today as atrocious. Might there be any ideas in our society that will be viewed the same way 150 years from now?

IRP Blog Post 6

Fog not only clouds vision but also the mind

Huckleberry Finn and Jim continue to travel down the Mississippi River when a deep fog approaches their raft. They are unable to see anything in front of the raft, so they do not paddle. Suddenly, the raft smashes into an island on the river. Huck is completely lost as his senses deceive him as he swings in both directions across the bank of the river.

"I couldn't tell nothing about voices in a fog, for nothing don't look natural nor sound natural in a fog" (Twain 86).

 When Huck returns to the raft, he lays down underneath of Jim. Under the cover of the fog, he attempts to trick Jim into believing that he had been asleep the entire time. The fog clouded Jim's mind. Huck said to Jim:

"What's the matter with you, Jim? You been a drinking?...Well, then, what makes you talk so wild?" (p88).