Dialectic Journal Entry the Last (#3)

The trailer for Thor 2 is out. Go watch it.

Chapter 31

p. 195 "'All right, then, I'll go to hell'-and tore it up. It was awful thoughts, 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 the 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."

Comments and Questions

After Huck discovers that the con men have sold Jim, he begins to reminisce about his time with Jim. Finally, after much thought, he decides that Jim is worth the risk Huck will have to take to rescue him. The interesting thing is, Huck exclaims that he will be going to hell, indicating the severity of his decision. By rescuing Jim, Huck will be committing both theft and social suicide, by undertaking an action that forces the perpetrator to admit the equality of slaves and the white Southerners. He has subconsciously declared Jim his equal. How will this affect his interactions with Jim?

Huck believes that he will be going to hell for saving Jim, but he chooses to do so anyway, despite his misgivings. Although Huck is not religious, he believes in the concept of a possible afterlife for those who do bad things in life. He has no parameters by which to judge the severity of his actions, which leads to him mentally condemning himself for each perceived "sin". With his own proclamation of guilt, Huck lets go of his own morality, an act terrifying in itself. As this implies that Huck no longer has moral boundaries, he would, in theory, be able to lie and steal without psychological repercussions as he has had in the past. I’ll try to watch for this, as this seems to be the next step in Huck's natural progression into the baser side of human nature.

Chapter 34

p. 212 "Here was a boy that was respectable, and well brung up, and had a character to lose; and folks at home that had characters; and he was bright and not leather-headed; he was, without and more pride, or rightness, or feeling, than to stoop to this business, and make himself a shame, and his family a shame, and before everybody. I couldn't understand it, no way at all. It was outrageous, and I knowed I ought to just up and tell him so; and so be his true friend, and let him quit the thing right where he was, and save himself, and I did start to tell him; but he shut me up..."

Comments and Questions

By this point in the novel, I would like to point out the fact that the text is drowning in commas. I feel like I am trawling through a mass of comma-linked independent clauses.

In this passage, Huck is trying to understand why Tom, an intelligent, well-bred (relatively), respectable youth would deign to lower himself to the point of rescuing a slave. Huck knows that Tom understands the social consequences of saving a slave perfectly well and has everything to lose if the rescue fails. It's not really that Huck doesn't want Tom's help; it's more like he doesn't want to drag Tom down with him. Huck has come to terms with the fact that his mindset towards slaves (Jim, at least) is different from that of most Southerners, and Tom has not had the experience with slaves that Huck has been privy to. Therefore, logically, there is no reason for Tom's desire for involvement.

Huck is overly familiar with Tom's penchant for romantic and impractical schemes. Perhaps Huck is afraid that Tom's involvement will jeopardize their plan's success. Perhaps he doesn't want the uncertainty of not knowing Tom's motives, which could have Tom leaving Huck and Jim high and dry at a bad time. I'll try to figure this out by the end of the book.

Chapter 36

p. 225 "Jim had plenty of corn-cob pipes and tobacco, so we had a right down good sociable time; and then we crawled out through the hole, and so home to bed, with hands that looked like they'd been chawed. Tom was in high spirits. He said it was the best fun he ever had in his life, and the most intellectural; and said if he only could only see his way to it we would keep it up all the rest of our lives and leave Jim to our children to get out, for he believed Jim would come to like it better and better the more he got used to it."

Comments and Questions

Can I just point out the utter stupidity of relaxing and smoking while conducting a time-sensitive search-and-rescue operation? If I was rescuing a prisoner from an enemy base, I wouldn't take the time to light a cigarette after locating the target, I would be high-tailing it out of there!

And so we get a glimpse of what goes on inside Tom's noggin. Tom is an adrenaline junkie. He doesn't care about freeing Jim as much as he cares about getting that rush. It's clear that he doesn't view Jim as his equal, as Huck does. His suggestion of leaving Jim to his and Huck's children lies in direct contrast with Huck's goal to free Jim. Their opposing goals may cause friction later, as they did in the planning stages. Although Huck favors practicality, Tom plans with a dramatic element in mind, wanting a grand adventure out of the rescue. Let's see how this will work out.

Tom's thrill-seeking nature makes him dangerous. It's not possible to anticipate his actions, as he doesn't have the target's safety in mind, compromising the mission with the possibility of reckless behavior. His relatively pampered and somewhat confining life has left him itching for adventure, like those he reads about in novels. His sheltered upbringing has left Tom unable to separate fantasy from reality, unlike Huck. However, Huck's experiences have left Huck looking for escape in Tom's crazy fantasies, canceling out Huck's usual voice of reason. This isn't going to end well.

Chapter 38

p. 233 "'...on the scutcheon we'll have a bend or in the dexter base, a saltire murrey in the fess, with a dog, couchant, for common charge, and under his foot a chain embattle, for slavery, with a chevron vert in a chief engrailed, and three invected lines on a field azure, with nombril points rampant on a dancetta indented; crest, a runaway nigger, sable, with his bundle over his shoulder on a bar sinister: and a couple of gules for supporters, which is you and me; motto, Maggiore fretta, minore atto. Got it out of a book-means, the more haste, the less speed.''"

Comments and Questions

In order to mirror the sentences of his fictional characters, Tom insists that Jim carve lamentations of his captivity onto the wall, along with a coat of arms (Tower of London, anyone?). He then launches into a complex description of the desired image, cobbling together ideas from his readings. His speech is peppered with obscure references to different devices used in coats of arms, arranged to mirror the circumstances. The description seems elegant and wonderfully complicated to Huck and Jim. Huck then inquires to the meanings of such terms. It quickly becomes obvious that Tom has no idea what most of the terms mean. The suggested motto, Maggiore fretta, minore atto, according to the footnotes of my edition of the novel, actually means "the more haste, the less action." This incident only serves to provide evidence to Tom's image as a romantic fool. Toms seems to provide comic relief in his own vaguely innocent play. His goals and mindset provide foil to Huck's own in a sometimes humorous way, presenting Tom as an idealistic idiot. However, Tom is actually very intelligent and enjoys puzzles and the like. His idealism turns it into idiocy at times.

Chapter 40

p. 247 "'Now, old Jim, you're a free man again, and I bet you won't ever be a slave no more.' 'En a mighty good job it wuz too, Huck. It 'uz planned beautiful, en it 'uz done beautiful; en dey ain't nobody kin git up a plan dat's mo' mixed-up en splendid den what dat one wuz.' We was all as glad as we could be, but Tom was the gladdest of all, because he had a bullet in the calf of his leg. When me and Jim heard that, we didn't feel so brash as what we did before. It was hurting him considerble, and bleeding; so we laid him in the wigwam and tore up one of the duke's shirts for to bandage him..."

Comments and Questions

It's all fun and games until someone is shot in the leg.

So Jim and Huck are celebrating the success of their rescue mission, OPERATION: CANDLESTICK. Huck comments that Jim is free again, indicating that his definition of free is different from the normal. Jim is no longer captive, but he is still a slave under the law. Huck now completely disregards the law, having found it incompatible with his morals. However, he has also discarded his own morality (lying, stealing) due to his circumstances and seems to be fine with doing such things. Huck has seemingly detached himself from society.

Tom signed up for a grand adventure, one where the hero always triumphs over evil and gets away with no consequences, physical or otherwise. His injury becomes a reality check for all of them, with Huck and Jim returning to reality and Tom getting a bullet lodged in his calf. Unfortunately, the little sympathy the reader has for him is killed by Tom's confession that Jim has been free all along and he led Huck and Jim on so that he could have an adventure. I kind of wanted to punch Tom after reading that. But, you know. He's also fictional.

Chapter 43 (Chapter the Last)

p. 263 "...so there ain't nothing more to write about, and I am rotten glad of it, because if I'd a knowed what a trouble it was to make a book I wouldn't a tackled it and ain't agoing  to no more. But I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and sivilize me and I can't stand it. I been there before. THE END. YOURS TRULY, HUCK FINN."

Comments and Questions

So, this is the end. Very exciting and all that.

Huck concludes his narrative by smashing another gaping hole in the fourth wall. He makes a rather nonchalant comment about making of the book, throwing out a mundane complaint that helps the reader relate to him, just like in the beginning of the novel. It's almost like a farewell, as we get the sense that Huck is happy to have finished telling his story to someone who might listen. I think Twain might be trying to convey Huck's relief, easing the reader away from the excitement of the last few chapters. Huck then hints at his next adventure, giving us a feeling that his story's not really over. Aunt Sally's offer of adoption and Huck's refusal allows the reader to reflect on Huck's complete detachment from society, and his physical and mental departure.

THE END. YOURS TRULY, YASMEEN MUSTHAFA