I’m glad to say that this is a school year where I’ve come to meet many new friends in the form of bound books. When I first heard that we’d be reading Huckleberry Finn for American Lit I couldn’t contain my excitement, only because I’ve never read the book before. Somehow, trying to read it over the summer didn’t prove to be a successful venture because lazy, hazy days don’t fit very well with yellow paper and small print. Not to mention Huck was sailing on the Mississippi and I was stuck in good ole Connecticut.
My first impression of the book? I think I’m allowed to say that I liked it. The only other Twain book that I’ve read is Innocents Abroad and I have to say, I’m a fan of his style. I’m currently trying to write a short story/novella with a first person perspective, and it’s great to pick up pointers from established writers.
I’m guessing comedy/satire is a favored form with Mark Twain. My favorite scene in the book so far is the one that takes place between Jim and Huck when they delve into their superstitions and talk about good luck and signs.
"I said it looked to me like all the signs was about bad luck, and so I asked him if there warn't any good-luck signs. He said:
'Mighty few - an' dey ain' no use to a body. What you want to know when good luck's a-comin' for? want to keep it off?'" (108)
Makes the simplest, perfect sense in a world with Jim's logic, doesn't it?
So far into the book, the theme seems to revolve around friendship, loyalty and the adaptive nature of human being in the face of adversity. As far as loyalty is concerned, I really don't think that Twain could have given Jim much of a choice with his options. I'm trying very hard to not talk about the obvious here, even though the articles we read for the story talk about nothing else. I do have to say that Jim's portrayal reads with a certain stereotypical voice, esoecially where his innocence is concerned. Why does illiteracy always personify itself as a country bumpkin? I know the answer to this question, but I'm throwing it out for discussion anyway.
I love the structure of the novel...every conflict finds a resolution by the end of the chapter, if not by the end of the novel. I still have to get to the end, but I can very well guess what the outcome will be.
I'm also a sucker for the journey. The book reminds me very much of Heart of Darkness, although it should be the other way around. It seems natural for a free-spirited character like Huck to spend the better part of his days on a river that stands to speak for freedom and adventure as opposed to a life of restriction and bondage in the widow's house and with good 'ol Pap. The river stands for a naturally imposed sense or order out in the wilderness. Yet order and chaos seem to go hand in hand, especially in the setting. The river obviously needs a bank. Freedom obviously needs some sort of control or check in place. Yet there's never any dearth of adventure. It's going to be fun to watch Huck Finn grow up by the end of the novel.
Posted by NehaBawa at October 26, 2005 10:15 PM
I agree with you, I'm really enjoying this book and can relate to it more than the female characters we've read about. the crazy wallpaper lady just depressed me. I think jim's philosophies set up a certain feeling throughout the book. it reminds me of thoreau because they are getting away from what bothers them and just enjoying the raft life. huck seems to have changed a great deal already because now he has someone to look out for as well as look up to in jim. PA people always get accused of the country bumpkin thing because of the "yinz", "pitcher", and the "stillers", but meanwhile it always seems that the ones who are made fun of end up being the smartest. if the characters didn't talk that way, the whole book would've changed.
Posted by: erin at October 27, 2005 01:55 PMWell Neha, you know very well about my country bumpkin upbringin', an' so I figure I migh' know a thang er two 'bout il'litracy.
Ok, it's not that bad where I'm from. I was just joshin'!
Part of me wonders where exactly Jim and Huck end up at the end of the novel, because now that I see you speaking of how rivers have banks to keep chaos in check, I realize that rivers also flow into seas or other bigger bodies of water, and there the banks end. Obviously, I don't anticipate the raft floating out into the Gulf of Mexico, but I thought it was an interesting theory. Where the river ends, the chaos begins...
Posted by: Valerie Masciarelli at October 28, 2005 03:43 PM