Huckleberry Finn: Tool or Exception?

For the first four years of elementary school, my family lived in an apartment complex. Every apartment was its own unit and resembled a small single story house with four rows of units separated by a thin concrete walkway. The unit across from ours had been vacant for months since we had moved into our apartment, but when I began the fourth grade, a family moved into the vacant unit. I never really bothered to learn the family’s name, but I was thrilled to know that the family came with two girls around my age. Tony, younger by a year, and Syd, my age, came to our apartment with their mother the day after the family moved in and introduced themselves. From then on, the girls and I played together almost every day after school.

I spent a good deal of time at Tony and Syd’s apartment, and soon began to notice a few differences between our families. I never said anything about these differences to my friends or their family, but they continued to bate my curiosity until I consulted my mother about one of the things I had noticed.

“Mom, why do black people always say, ‘my mama’?”

Clearly uncomfortable with the question, my mother replied, “Don’t call them black, Justine, and I hope you haven’t been saying stuff like that to them. That was rude of you to say.”

My mother never did tell me how I should distinguish black people to her liking but she eventually told me “those kinds of people” are just different from us so they speak and act differently. She used a couple examples to explain to me how our neighbors were inherently different. Since our apartment were thin and the units smashed together anyone could hear what the neighbors closest by were up to. This meant whenever Tony threw a tantrum and cried, we could hear everything clearly from our living room.

“Those kinds of people will just let their kids do what they want,” my mother explained to me, “So the kids misbehave a lot.”

I grew up with fallible logic like this because my family is racist, though they do not like to admit that. The reason I could never fully believe what my family was teaching me was because I was also surrounded by people who were accepting and open minded. It was easy for me to observe and later conclude that skin color has nothing to do with how people should be viewed, so to make assumptions about people because of the color of their skin was completely wrong. Huckleberry Finn, on the other hand, grew up in a southern slave owning town before the Civil War, so all he ever learned growing up was that owning other human beings was not only justified because of the law, but also moral because these slaves were seen as less than human.

Huck goes through guilt and confusion as the story progresses and he and Jim are drifting along the Mississippi towards Jim’s freedom. There are several instances where Huck’s conscience reminds him that what he and Jim are doing is illegal. While debating whether or not to do the “right thing” and return Jim to slavery, Huck thinks, “What had poor Miss Watson done to you, that you could see her nigger go off right under your eyes and never say one single word? What did that poor old woman do to you, that you could treat her so mean? Why,…she tried to be good to you every way she knowed how” (Twain Ch.16). This confusion and guilt plague Huckleberry Finn until Jim is captured and held at the Phelps’ farm. At this point Huck realizes, “…I’d got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it,” (Twain Ch. 31) and he decides, “’All right, then, I’ll go to hell’-and tore it up” (Twain Ch. 31). Huck has decided once and for all to stay by Jim’s side and to help him escape into freedom, no matter the cost. Upon reflection, Hucks says, “It was awful thought, and awful words, but they was said. And I let them stay said; and never thought no more about reforming. I shoved the whole thing out of my head; and said I would take up wickedness again, which was in my line, being brung up to it, and the other warn’t. And for a starter, I would go to work and steal Jim out of slavery again; and if I could think up anything worse, I would do that, too; because as long as I was in, and in for good, I might as well go the whole hog” (Twain Ch. 31).

By reading this last passage, there is much to be said about Huck’s morality and perspective of good and evil. Despite everything he and Jim have gone through together and how much Huck has grown fond of his friend, I am not sure if Huckleberry Finn has really grown all that much throughout the course of this story.

Huck: Truth or Lie

Lying, running away, and stealing; Huck must make the decision between right and wrong throughout the entire of Mark Twain’s The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn. From the beginning of the novel, when faced with a decision when he must consider what is ‘morally right’ it appears Huck always chooses what is ‘morally wrong’. It is not until the twenty eighth chapter when the reader really sees Huck contemplate what he should do, “I asked her to let me think a minute; and she set there, very impatient and excited, and handsome, but looking kind of happy and eased-up, like a person that’s had a tooth pulled.” (Twain 199). At this point in the novel the King, Duke and Huck have infiltrated their way into a town, posing as the brother’s—and their servant—to a deceased man; through the process of their scheme they are beginning to deprive three young girls of their inheritance. This is when we see Huck begin to question the morality of what they are doing, whether his deliberation between the truth and lying stems from infatuation for Miss. Mary Jane or he feels it is just the right thing to do this is a major point for Huck in the novel. Huck is trying to figure out if he should tell Mary Jane that all her slaves that were sold off will be reunited—thus giving away his scheme—or if he should continue to lie to her, “I says to myself, I reckon a body that ups and tells the truth when he is in a tight place, is taking considerable many resks, though I ain’t had no experience, and can’t sat for certain; but it looks so to me, anyway; and yet here’s a case where I’m blest if it don’t look to me like the truth is better, and safer, than a lie” (Twain 200). As Huck contemplates if he is going to tell Mary Jane the truth or not we see him look at both of the options he is, it is clear during this process that he might be making the ‘right choice’ for the ‘wrong reason’. He decides to tell the truth because it is ‘better’ and ‘safer’ than lying, should we applaud Huck for making the right choice in the end or scold him for not doing it because it is the right thing to do? I think we just need to be content with the fact that Huck is making the right choice and being completely honest, even if this is a one time occurrence, “Well, I says to myself at last, I’m agoing to chance it; I’ll up and tell the truth this time…”  (Twain 200).

            We must also consider the subject that is being discussed between Mary Jane and Huck, the slaves. While Huck might still have a master—slave type dynamic with Jim we have seen that change with his time with him on the raft; especially when Huck hears about Jim’s tribulations with being separated from his family. In earlier chapters Huck seems to be moved by the fact that Jim misses his family and even compares this to ‘white folk’,  “He was thinking about his wife and his children, away up yonder, and he was low and homesick; because he hadn’t ever been away from home before in his life, and I do believe he cared just as much a for his people as white folk does for their’n”  (Twain 167). So another point we must consider, is Huck only being honest because it deals with the separation of a salve family and it reminds him of Jim’s situation?  Whether it is his infatuation with Mary Jane, his growing relationship with Jim or he was just making the right choice; Huck’s decision to be honest with Mary Jane is an important point as Huck develops in this novel.

Huck's Morality

“Well, I let go all holts then, like I was shot. It was the most astonishing speech I ever heard—and I’m bound to say Tom Sawyer fell considerable in my estimation. Only I couldn’t believe it. Tom Sawyer a NIGGER-STEALER!” (Ch. 33)

This line really struck me. Huck thinks that Tom is doing something wrong by helping him free Jim. Today, pretty much everyone would agree that helping Jim escape was the right thing to do, but Tom and Huck think they are doing something bad.

Before Tom agrees, Huck says: “I know what you’ll say. You’ll say it’s dirty, low-down business; but what if it is? I’m low down; and I’m a-going to steal him, and I want you keep mum and not let on. Will you?” (Ch. 33) He uses the term “low down” which is quite ironic, because what he is doing is actually quite noble and requires a lot of courage.

Part of Huck sees this as a crime, and himself as a despicable criminal, but I think Huck’s heart knows it’s not all bad, or at least his loyalty to Jim makes him feel it is the right thing to do. Strictly speaking, Jim is a liability for Huck; he gains very little by keeping him, and could sell him and then go down the river during the day and not have to hide. So, if Huck has no incentive to keep Jim, and Jim is a danger, then Huck probably believes that keeping Jim is ultimately right.

I think Huck has a good heart, even after all the “king” and “duke” put him through, he still feels bad for them and says “Human beings can be awful cruel to one another” (Ch. 33) in response to their treatment. Huck is a loyal person, and his world revolves more around relationships than it does laws or customs. He is quick to establish bonds with people, as he did with Mary Jane Wilks.

Despite this, Huck is definitely conflicted. He is juggling different moral codes and has the concepts of right and wrong twisted, intertwined, and in shades of gray. Perhaps his declaration of “all right then, I’ll go to hell” (Ch. 31) is a way of simplifying the situation, and in declaring his own damnation, he brought comfort to himself. By accepting that he is a rogue and a ‘bad-kid’ he removes much of the moral dilemma he faces from his mind. The irony is thick, but Huck’s viewpoints are somewhat understandable. He has been raised in a society that treats some people as less-than-human. In chapter 32, when a slave is killed, Sally is relieved to know that “no one” was hurt and considers it “lucky”.
This got me thinking about different forms of morality, and I think Huck’s feelings can be split into three schools of moral thought.

Moral Absolutism: The belief that actions are either wrong or right, are always consistent, and that moral codes always apply. This is prevalent in religions, and can be expressed with the example of a fundamentalist approach to the Ten Commandments, i.e. you can never kill anyone.

Huck’s moral absolutionist side thinks stealing Jim is wrong because stealing is wrong. He has been taught certain things about slavery and for the most part he accepts them. Even when he rebels against the system, he does not claim the moral high ground, which I think is a very important point, he seems himself as a delinquent.

Moral Relativism: Holds that people disagree on what is moral and this is ok. Moral decisions depend on the situation, and nothing is necessarily absolute.

Huck’s relativist side leans towards helping Jim, it feels right, regardless of what others say. Society at the time would have said he did not have to apologize to Jim when he lied to him about the dream, but Huck felt badly, and he wanted to right his wrong, because “It made me feel so mean”. (Ch. 15)

Utilitarianism: Posits that moral decisions should be made with the result in mind. Whatever yields the best outcome and minimizes negatives is the best choice.

This one is tricky, I don’t think Huck knows what decision will lead to the best result. He does in some sense live in the moment, and travels through a figurative (and sometimes literal) fog. We see a bit of Huck’s utilitarianist side when dealing with the duke and king, “These liars warn’t no kings nor dukes at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds. But I never said nothing, never let on; kept it to myself; it’s the best way; then you don’t have no quarrels, and don’t get into no trouble.” (Ch. 19) Here, Huck may think what the king and duke are doing is wrong, but he sees that there is no use confronting them, and it’s for the best if he plays along.

Considering the corruption of the world and those (Pap, king, duke) around him, Huck’s sense of morality is admirable in my opinion. 

Call for Talented Students: Ethnically Diverse and Respectable High School Seeking Ethnically Diverse and Respectable High School Students to Balance Student Body

At Esnotall High School, our highest priority is serving our students and providing them with the tools and environment to succeed. Our students hail from an impressively diverse range of homelands all tucked away in the mysterious reaches of Central America. As a result, English is not the main language in which this school indulges. In fact, English is replaced with a language that is considered closer to home for the bulk of the student body.

Dress code is not required at Esnotall High; we hold our students to a higher esteem. Much more independent personaliteis forgo what is considered 'appropriate' for a learning environment: the male population favors Dickies shorts, crisp t-shirts, and long white socks while the females opt for clothes that fit their bodies as well as their makeup fis their station.

Upon first glance, many might feel intimidated when entering school grounds. However, Esnotall High takes pride in the student art displayed on various stages throughout the school. IT is our opinion that bathroom stalls, classroom windows, and the sides of our administration building have never looked better than when we gave our school up to the overwhelming cravings of the inner artist in every student on campus. 

So if you are interested in taking your learning to a whole new place, please call for an interview today. It is likely our operator will call back in a fashion timely enough to keep in mind.

*This is something I made up. It's an ad of sorts. I have much more to say on what I wrote, but I would like to hear what you all think of this first. Does it make any sense at all what I was trying to do here?

The One-Drop Rule

Racial segregation was a major component of life in the southern United States. In the years prior to the civil war all the way to the middle of the 20^th century, African Americans have been severely segregated against. This was not just an underground movement created by ‘rebel’ groups, the government agencies and officials supported and often created racial divides. Some went as far as to make these discriminatory, racially motivated constructions a legally binding law; The One-Drop Rule is one such example. The One Drop rule is a “historically colloquial term in the United States that holds that a person with any trace of sub-Saharan ancestry, however small or invisible, cannot be considered White”¹. While horrific, this concept was an integral aspect of life in the South.

            In many of Mark Twain’s stories he discusses the major race issues in the South, Pudd’nhead Wilson speaks indirectly on The One-Drop Rule. The main female character Roxy, explains that while her heritage contains more white ancesters than African- American, she is considered ‘black’. “To all intents and purposes Roxy was as white as anybody, but the one sixteenth of her which was black outvoted the other fifteen parts of her that made her a negro” (Twain 64). Roxy’s son Chambers also falls within this category, even though his father is completely Caucasian and his mother only one sixteenth black, he is considered black. “Her child was thirty-one parts white, and he, too was a slave and, by a fiction of law and custom, a negro. He had blue eyes and flaxen curls like his white comrade…” (Twain 64). In the diagram below you can see a possible demonstration of Roxy and Chambers ancestry.

            In this diagram the pink demonstrates an individual that is fully ‘black’, the blue shows someone that is fully Caucasian and the purple is a mixed race individual. As a black man procreating with a white woman was punishable by death the most likely situation is that all the women in Roxy’s family had children with white men. So for this diagram the circles are female and squares male. This means the last person to be fully ‘Black’ in their lineage would be Roxy’s great-great-grandmother. Yet that one ancestor determines their entire race.

            Historically, many slave owners would rape their female slaves, sometimes their motives were to ‘create’ more workers and other times it was for sheer cruelty². Psychologically these ‘fathers’ had to consider their child ‘tainted’ in order to be able to emotionally distance themselves from them, thus allowing them to abuse and torture them with forced labor. This continuous ‘breeding’ of the slaves created a mixed culture where many individuals physically did not look to be black.   

             In the early 20th century many states passed legislation banning inter-racial marriage using The One-Drop Rule as it's foundation. These laws stated that is you had 'one drop' of blood in you that was not of white ancestry then you could not marry someone that was fully caucasian. Thankfully in 1967 the Supreme Court in the case Loving v. Virginia found any laws banning inter-racial marriage unconstitutional and prohibited the use of The One-Drop Rule.  

  

References

      1.     http://blackhistory.com/content/63228/one-drop-rule

      2.     https://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/empire/1890s.html

     Image: http://artbybond.blogspot.com/2009/04/one-drop-rule.html

I

Film, books, and Huck Finn.

"Must we always kill the people?"

"Oh, certainly. It's best. Some authorities think different, but mostly it's considered best to kill them -­ except some that you bring to the cave here, and keep them till they're ransomed."

"Ransomed? What's that?"

"I don't know. But that's what they do. I've seen it in books; and so of course that's what we've got to do."

"But how can we do it if we don't know what it is?"

"Why, blame it all, we've GOT to do it. Don't I tell you it's in the books? Do you want to go to doing different from what's in the books, and get things all muddled up?"

These are easily my favorite lines from the book so far. Tom has no idea what Random is, but he assumes it is the thing they have to do because it is what he has read in the books. They can be taken in many ways, and likely have more than just one meaning, but it seems to me that Twain is poking fun at the idea of "the way things are supposed to be done" and the idea that books, perhaps especially old books, contain the "right" way to go about things. 

I think this fits the over all theme of the novel, as Twain put it "...a book of mine where a sound heart and a deformed conscience come into collision and conscience suffers defeat". Clearly Twain had objections to the "conscience" of the day. A code that supposedly told right from wrong yet allowed and defended slavery. 

While it may be a bit off-topic from the direct context of the quote, it got me thinking about books and their place in society. Books can teach us a lot about the time, places, and the attitudes of those who wrote them and their culture. Surely, because there are so many books, they contain many different opinions, what may actually be a better representation of a society is its movies. Because of the investment necessary in making a movie, they usually must be engineered to appeal to the largest possible audience and therefore turn the most profit. In choosing what is, or what seems desirable to the mass populace, light is shed on what a culture values and what it objects to. 

In the case of Huckleberry Finn, 23 major productions have been made with him as a main character. (List) These range from as early as 1917, with at least one every 10 years or so after that.

The 1920 film, which was silent, was quite faithful to Twain's story, they even cast George H. Reed as Jim, who was actually black, in a time when black-face was still acceptable in film. The film Uncle Tom's Cabin, which was ironically anti-slavery, used all white actors in black-face for the black parts. George H. Reed Blackface in film

This video, which was shown in class Daily Show - Huck Finn (comment around 4:15) pointed out that in the 1954/55 production they completely removed Jim as a character. Its hard to imagine that what may be the central point of the book was removed because it made people uncomfortable, but that was largely what happened. 

Another strange and interesting Huck Finn adaptation, bizarrely, comes from The USSR in 1973, called Hopelessly Lost, or more accurately, Совсем пропащий. Link

Similar to "Osterns" (Wild-West style films made in the USSR) it was packed with propaganda. These Soviet films based in historic America "includes a disdain for the business class, organised religion and Christianity and the idea of the "American Dream" and its related ethic." Link The past faults of the United States, especially slavery, could be used as ideological weapons against the US during the Cold War. 

However, Hopelessly Lost was not just a stab at America, it was an adventure/comedy that was  popular in the USSR, which speaks to Twain's genius as an author. His story is enjoyable even by those with little context in the setting as well as a different world-view and culture. 

Movies can tell us a lot about a society, just as books - like Twain's, can tell us a lot about his time and surroundings, as well as the attitudes of those that inhabited them. I think that Twain would want us to challenge the ideas that are taken for granted and assumed in books, movies, and other media. I also think we should be aware of what entertainment says about the groups that produce it. Just as Twain's stories convey a strong message, examining the popular works of a time produces a strong message about the context in which it was made, whether the creators meant to or not.  

"Ain't Got to Lie, Craig"

About three weeks ago, I emailed my flute teacher and asked her if she knew anywhere I could get my flute serviced. She told me about Paul Rabinov and gave me his contact information. I set up a day and time to take my flute to his house and get an estimate on the price of repairs. Later that week, I drove up to La Crescentia. Being the first time visiting La Crescentia, I did not know what to expect, but when I arrived the neighborhood was intimidating in the most surprising way.

Small, clean streets sloped down rolling hills and were crowded with personal gardens and the native flora. I arrived at my designated hill and made the ascent. The higher I went, the nicer the garden displays along the street grew. Regular pedestrians in baggy jeans and t-shirts were replaced with runners or bicyclists clad in bright spandex and water bottle back packs. Cross guards held their posts at almost every street corner, waiting for the kids that would soon be getting out of school. All in all, Paul Rabinov’s house was in a beautiful, well-kept neighborhood, but I could not help but feel uncomfortable.

Finding parking proved to be a challenge at Rabinov’s house, and while driving up and down the private street a few times I noticed the man living next door was now standing in his doorway and casually looking in my direction. Out of embarrassment, I chose a spot in front of Rabinov’s house and parked. By this time, the next door neighbor let his dog into the front yard and the dog proceeded to stand half over the gate that confined it and bark at me, the owner standing silently in the doorway. At Rabinov’s front door, I spoke into an intercom and met the repairman at his garage. Walking back to my car, I noticed the neighbor was still in the front yard with his dog and that more people had ventured outside during my absence. This could obviously have been coincidence, but I was certainly able to draw parallels from the inhospitable vibes I felt here to the cold disposition of the citizens of Hadleyburg in Mark Twain’s short story, “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg.” Hadleyburg resembles my experience in the wealthy neighborhood inside La Crescentia, which was interesting in retrospect considering the Hadleyburgians were exceedingly conceited over an impressive reputation that fell away at the first sign of temptation.

Mrs. Richards, one of the more honorable and esteemed citizens of the town is the first person to realize the façade everyone strove to perpetuate when she told her husband, “…it is my belief that this town’s honesty is as rotten as mine is; as rotten as yours is. It is a mean town, a hard, stingy town, and hasn’t a virtue in the world but this honesty it is so celebrated for and so conceited about; and so help me, I do believe that if ever the day comes that its honesty ever falls under great temptation, its grand reputation will go to ruin like a house of cards” (Twain 430). At this point, any doubts about Hadleyburg’s integrity should be confirmed. This town wanted very much to be seen as a beacon of morality to those in the surrounding area. However, when Mrs. Richardson is given the sack of money, her first thoughts, “Mercy on us, and the door not locked!” (Twain 421) and “…the money is still here, and it is fast getting along toward burglar-time” (Twain 423) express her fear of someone in the town breaking in and stealing that sack.

As the story progresses, more model citizens are sucked into the plot of a vengeful stranger and prove to be selfish and dishonest until the town has little to show for its once spotless record. Despite the town’s efforts to be more honorable than everyone else, the people living in Hadleyburg were normal, imperfect beings. They still had the typical fears of strangers coming into their homes and doing harm. There was still greed, “Why we’re rich, Mary, rich; all we’ve got to do is to bury the money and burn the papers. If the gambler ever comes to inquire, we’ll merely look coldly upon him and say: ‘What is this nonsense you are talking! We have never heard of you and your sack of gold before;’ and then he would look foolish…” (Twain 423). And people still fought, sometimes unreasonably, “Bilson: ‘I did!’ Wilson: ‘I did!’ Then each accused the other of pilfering” (Twain 446). However, I do not think this made the citizens of Hadleyburg evil people, and the same goes for Paul Rabinov’s neighbors. It is probably just beneficial to know that you are human and that imperfection is ok.

*The title of this post is a quote taken from the movie, "Friday" by F. Gary Gray.

A Trial- elements of racism

The trial was a very interesting story in the sense that it focused on the trial or lack there of, of Bill Noakes. Bill Noakes killed Captain Ned Blakely’s black slave. I find it very interesting that the captain is so focused on “justice” for his slave when during that time is a slave was murdered nobody turned a head or even thought about a trial or charges against the murderer. What is even more interesting is how motivated he is about killing Noakes for his crime. Blakely’s deck hands were pushing for a trail. This attitude is very unusual for the time period.

1865

DEC. 6, 1865

The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery. However, Southern states managed to revive slavery era codes creating unattainable prerequisites for blacks to live, work or participate in society. The following year, the First Civil Rights Act invalidated these "Black Codes," conferring the "rights of citizenship" on all black people.

1868

JULY 9, 1868

The 14th Amendment granted due process and equal protection under the law to African Americans.

1870

FEB. 3, 1870

The 15th Amendment granted blacks the right to vote, including former slaves.

Jim Crow laws:

 In the 1870s the Jim Crow laws were introduced. The Jim crow laws lasted between 1877 and the mid 1960s. These laws basically gave a "separate but equal" status to the African Americans living in the United States. The South wanted to keep control of the blacks. All of the southern states had their own sets of Jim Crow laws. Some common Jim Crow laws was that white children and black children would go to separate schools, they were not aloud to mix. In theaters there was separate seating for whites and blacks; they were not aloud to sit together. In some states a black barber was not aloud to cut a white woman or girl's hair. If they did they would be accused of rape. On buses and trains white and black people had to sit in separate compartments. In many states such as Florida, marriage between someone who was white and someone who was black was forbidden. Black men could not shake hands with whites, and had to address them respectfully usually with "sir" or "mam'" whereas whites could call them by their first name. Black and whites were not aloud to eat together.

http://veronicashipechoiceread.blogspot.com/p/discrimination-and-racism-in.html

http://www.sitinmovement.org/history/america-civil-rights-timeline.asp