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.
First of all, I need to apologize for the tardiness of this post. I didn't get lazy...just overwhlemed.
Moving on. I've talked to people about Thoreau earlier, and I've always heard that he's either extremely boring or extremely dry. I couldn't disagree more. Just to begin with a quote that was discussed in class today:
"Occasionally I climbed and shook the trees. They grew also behind my house, and one large tree, which almost overshadowed it, was, when in flower, a bouquet which scented the whole neighborhood, but the squirrels and the jays got most of its fruit; [...] These nuts, as far as they went, were a good substitute for bread" (13.1).
A major theme in "nature literature" is the discovery of a balance of order and chaos. Just to go by the discussion in class today, it seems as though most people would be repulsed by the idea of leaving their comfort zones in civilized society. Yet the innate sense of order driven by instinct is what Thoreau seems to be directing our attention towards. Strangely enough, we find order where we would least expect it.
There's also an indication of the adaptability of human nature in that excerpt. Seemingly, the nuts were "a good substitute for bread. "
As far as the density of detail is concerned with Walden, I'd also like to reiterate that writing involves a dedicated process. In effect, arriving at the end of a written work involves living through a journey where one picks up little flashes of inspiration and stores them away for life. Thoreau's writing is about the process of enlightenment - hardships need to be faced, significant change must occur and people must beyond the complacency that binds them to their lives. If the details were absent, then the process could not have been charted.
My favorite section was Thoreau's description of winter.
"it is so much pleasanter and wholesomer to be warmed by the sun while you can be, than by an artificial fire. I thus warmed myself by the still glowing embers which the summer, like a departed hunter, had left."
It's amazing that any text or visual that triggers a childhood memory can instantly make you happy and take you back through time. The excerpt above reminds me of my winter vacations in Delhi where I spend endless days warming myself under rays of sun that felt as warm as gold. My grandfather and I would pull out wicker chairs into the verandah and pass our time shucking peas for my mom. Which is a great segue into talking about work.
Thoreau definitely did not live the life of a hermit or an ascetic. All he did was learn to survive on his own. Between building chimneys, planting gardens and shaking trees, there's an awful lot of work learned and accomplished in the space of two years.
When I came to build my chimney I studies masonry. My brick, being second-hand ones, required to be cleaned with a trowel, so that I learned more than usual of the qualities of bricks and trowels" (13.5).
There's also an element of self discovery in this section. Sans the influence of Eastern mysticism as a fashion, self-discovery can also mean discovering how much you're capable of learning in your lifetime. If you're willing to push yourself beyond your comfort levels, there's no saying what you might achieve. Worth trying out for at least a day, no?