Huckleberry Finn Thinks

Huckleberry Finn Thinks …

I thought a lot about the title and finally  understand that everything what I am trying to find and write are the ways when Huck begun to think by his free mind, which is established on his personal points of view and is far away from society dogmas and are closer to nature. In The Adventure Huckleberry Finn we see clearly how one’s heart and morals can change in difficult situations. Of course, it’s very hard to handle situations in the way which you had been raised. The book is told in the first person with Huck Finn telling the story. We as readers become Huck Finns while watching through the boy’s eyes. What I like about this style is simplicity and light irony. Huck’s diction is very informal and that’s why we become friends with him very fast.

Huck doesn’t like to speak about his feelings. He just tell everything as it is. First time when we share his feelings are in the first chapter. At Miss Watson’s house in his bedroom Huck is telling about nature and it brings some romantic tone. When we see his surrounding place, feeling of solitary covers our inside world. After this part our river begun to flow.

There were a lot of details in Huck’s life that had influenced Huck’s mind, but I want speak about three, in my opinion, most fundamental events of the adventures. I think these are feud scene, helping Wilks’ orphan girls from rapscallions, helping Jim to get out from slavery.

Let’s begin from the part when Grangerfords, offer to let Huck stay with them for as long as he likes. From the start of dialog first question what a host asks is whether Huck (George) is Sheperdson or not. It was very nice family and house. Huck was treated very well there. The boy could see how Grangerfords were respectful and how everybody does appreciate them. As Huck and we found out, there was another family of aristocracy in that town. These two families hated each other and there was feud between them like between Montagues and Capuletes. For Huck it is unclear what the feud is and when he asks Buck about the meaning and then reason what has caused this everlasting death chain he gets for him very unsatisfied answers.

A feud is this way. A man has a quarrel with another man, and kills him; than that other man’s brother kills him; then the cousins chip in – and by and by everybody’s killed off, and there ain’t no more feud. But it’s kind and takes a long time.^[1]

What is unexpected for Huckleberry and for me is that at present days Buck doesn’t know what trouble caused this feud or who began shooting. Mark Twain show us contrast and if we compare how Buck is talking about killing people, about death and then remember Huck, we will see how difficult is for the boy to touch death, even by words.  For our friend it is unusual situation, so it awakes different and unknown feelings. He sees how Emmilin’s mother cannot let her dead girl go. How she treats her things and Huck know that nobody loves killing and this because of the threat of being killed. This threat can stop the feud or make it everlasting. Grangerfords are very warm to Huck. You cannot say according to their personality that they have so much blood in their background. Their actions tell different stories then their dependence to the foreign boy. Hitler was very kind to dogs, he was drawing in very light, warm colors it seemed that the artworks belonged very high spiritual, kind man, but his actions were saying different: he killed billions of Jews and made blood oceans. So far, ho Hitler could to be good?

Idea that feud is foolishness and cruelty finally covered Huck’s mind when he sees dead Buck. He was his friend and now this lovely boy, because of the human-made chain of death, was in the trouble and cut his life very early. Death cause revolution, fundamental change, in one’s inner world.

When I got down out of the tree, I crept along down the river bank a piece, and found the two bodies lying in the edge of the water, and tugged at them till I got them ashore; then I covered up their faces, and got away as quick as I could. I cried a little when I was covering up Buck’s face, for he was mighty good to me.^[2]

It is the first time when Huck cries and this mean that he was truly disappointed of the feud, but somehow happy, because everything has ended and love between Sheperdsons and Grangerfords has triumph and continues new level without any blood and it is much better in Huck’s point of view:

I was powerful glad to get away from the feuds, and so was Jim to get away from the swamp.^[3]

Huckleberry is honest with himself. It is honesty and natural feelings that helps him make difficult decisions which often contradict the popular views of society.

Now I want continue with the passage when he, the Duke and the king are staying at Wilks’ house and conning the orphan girls out of their inheritance. Huck’s compassion shines very well when he says:

I says to myself, this is another one that I’m letting him rob her out of her money, and when she got through they all jest laid themselves out to make me feel at home and know I was amongst friends. I felt so ornery and low down and mean that I says to myself, my mind’s made up; I’ll have that money for them or bust. ^[4]