Thursday, October 25, 2007
Chapters 24-31: Conning the Conmen
What's your opinion of the duke and king at this point? What should Huck and Jim do about them? What do you think is the object of Twain's satrical barbs in the Wilks episode? What is Huck's major moral tranformation? What did you make of his exchanges and thoughts regarding Mary Jane? Could it be love? How does Twain develop the themes of truth vs. falsehood and appearance vs. reality here? Do you notice any irony or foreshadowing in this section? What else were you thinking as you read these chapters?
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15 comments:
I think that Huck and Jim need to leave the king and the duke before they get themselves caught up in any more of their lies. Huck now realizes the significance of his actions and realizes that he will probably not go to heaven upon his death. I do, however, think that Huck may go back for Mary Jane, and help her escape her family. Mary Jane is the first person he comes to after the king and duke steal the money. I think he really cares for Mary Jane.I also feel that Huck will find Jim before his three day "trip" to another town is over, and will take him away on the raft before the king and duke expect him to be back.
I very much dislike the king and the duke! Huck and Jim need to come up with a clever plan to get rid of them. I do think Huck regards Mary Jane in more than a sisterly/brothley way. She is one of the people in the novel that he really feels compassion for. Huck's major moral transformation was that he finally realizes he needs to start doing the truthful thing, because lies are only digging him deeper and deeper. However, he feels like the right thing to do is really not right. I hope Huck finds Jim, and loses the King and the Duke.
I agree with Josh that Jim and Huck need to loose the King and Duke before they get themselves into even deeper trouble. I hope that Huck doesn't take Duke's advice to go on a 3 day trip. I have a feelin that Huck will pull through and have a way to free Jim. I don't really think the relationship between Huck and Mary Jane is love, instead, I think that Huck has feelings towards her because she is the only loving woman he has found on this "adventure." Now that Huck has finally seemed to "do the right thing," good things are going to occur within the last couple chapters.
I did think that the duke and king were just harmless fools, but now I think they are starting to become more dangerous. Stealing money from a dead man is a terrible thing to do and then the dauphin almost choked Huck when they got back onto the raft. That was very disappointing when they came back. Jim and Huck do need to get away somehow. Also, the dauphin ended up using his supposedly helpful idea about Jim being a runaway to benefit himself. I think Huck will use his quick thinking to get him back.
Im very proud of Huck for finally deciding to try to save Jim. Huck makes a drastic internal transformation by this. When he adkowleded Jim's life as a life worthy to be saved, he dismissed his other perceptions of Jim not being fully a human being mearly because of his color. By coming to this reliazation, Huck also willingly sacrifices his own life in an attempt to save Jim's stating that he would rather go to hell doing what to him seems right.
I thought that what Duke and the Dauphin did was horrible. I can't believe the Wilks actually handed over their money along with their estate to these two guys. I felt bad for the slave family that had to be separated as a result of the estate being sold. I think that Huck and Jim should run away from Duke and the Dauphin now before they get into some serious trouble. I thought that Huck and Jim were actually going to get away from Duke and Dauphin when they started to head downstream on the raft, but the Dauphin and Duke found them. I feel bad for Huck now that the Dauphin has sold Jim because now he has nobody to talk to. I hope that he ends up finding Jim.
This chapters were juicy and really fast-paced! The poor Wilkes, now it seems that Duke and the King have gotten to a dangerous point. They are will to do anything for money, gold, property, etc. They threaten Huck multiple times once they realize the sack of gold is missing from his straw bed. I wished they would have pushed them overboard once King and Duke got back on the raft after they dug up poor Peter's corpse. A huge turning point in the novel was when Huck says he would rather go to hell than turn in Jim to Miss Watson. He knows he's in deep when he finds out Jim has been captured, but he knows it's not a good idea to write Miss Watson so she can retrieve him. This shows Hucks conscience and values by choosing friendship and human life over the prejudice and societal rights about Jim. I hope they can escape Duke and King soon because pretty soon Huck and Jim's lives will be endangered by them.
Oh my gosh! I am so angry at the duke and the king, especially the king for selling Jim! That was the meanest thing they could do, and for only 40 bucks! Huck and Jim should have gotten away from them when they had the chance. I figured those two frauds weren't just going to use those slave handbills only for if they get caught, there was deffiantely more behind that. Hopefully Huck retrieves Jim safely and they bail out of there on the raft away from the conmen.
The duke and king seemed pretty harmless before, but Huck and Jim should have tried to get rid of them a lot sooner. At least they didn't get the Wilks girl's money and quit messing with them. Because of what the conmen did, Huck has been forced to make a decision regarding how he feels about Jim, and he has decided to try to help Jim, even though people will look down on him for doing it. This was a very hard and important decision for him. I'm sure that he will start questioning his decision before long. He usually does.
I think Huck is smart for figuring out to hide the money from the men. It wasn't very smart to put it in the coffin though. He could have figured out a better place to hide it. I also was slightly mad when Mary Jane so easily fell for their tricks. I would think she would know her own uncle well enough, even if she hadn't seen him. I suppose they looked nothing alike.
I think that the duke and dauphin are horrible! They are the lowest that they've ever been! That is so awful that they would pretend to be the brothers of a dead man just so they can steal money from him and his family! Huck and Jim need to get away from them as soon as they can. They are only going to end up getting in trouble along with them. I thought it was sad that they were tying Jim up. Also, it was demeaning, but comical in a way when they dressed him up and said he was a sick Arab that was harmless when not out of his head. I thought that it was really nice how Huck is starting to show more feelings. He felt sympathy towards Mary Jane, and even was beginning to care for her, which shows that his personality is changing, and he's growing as a person. He is starting to have more feelings. I really hope that Huck finds Jim! I was sad when I found out he was sold! I really think Huck needs to find Jim, and they need to get away from the duke and dauphin as fast as they can.
So I guess the fraud's little adventure is over.The more they want money the more it corrupts their personalitites.I can't believe they sold Jim!It really makes me upset.I'm really starting to see Twain's suggestion that land can corrupt people and how it is filled with awful things unlike life on the water. Hopefully Huck and Jim get back together and on the right track to their destination. Who knows maybe Huck will see Mary Jane again!
I cannot stand the king and the duke. They are horrible people! All they think about is money and they will do whatever it takes to get it. I thought that Huck should have just snuck out in the middle of the night and meet up with Jim, leaving the king and the duke. Huck really transformed morally in these chapters. He gave into his thoughts of telling Mary Jane all about the king and the duke. Huck seems to be listening to his heart more and it is a step in the right direction.
At first I thought that the duke and the king were harmless but in their quest for money they have become increasingly manipulative and ruthless, even selling Jim. Yet in a way I think that what they did to Jim was a good thing as it forced Huck to stand up for himself and get away from those criminals. I also think that it is ironic that whenever Huck says "All right then, I’ll go to hell" he is doing the right thing. Although society tells him that it is wrong to treat a slave as anything other than property, Huck knows in his heart that Jim is as much of a human being as he is.
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