Wolfe CP English 9 C

1) M’ name is Jim! I’ve run away down da Mississippi wit’ Huck, and we’re tryin’ t’ get t’ da’ free states! My owna, Mizz Watson, wuz gonna sell me t’ a slave trader in N’ Orleans fer $800. I needed t’ escape an’ try t’ buy back m’ chil-un and m’ wife. They’re still slaves. Howeva’, Huck an’ me missed da town o’ Cairo in sum fog one nigh’, and we kept a’sailing down south! We unfortunately got hit by a steemboat and was seprated. I layed in sum weeds by da riva and by-and-by Huck came long and he told me bout his experences wifout me. I layed low for a bit longer, then Huck and me left on da raft. Then we met da king and duke, who turned out ta be frawds, rippin people off all da time. All da while, we been sailin’ even farther soutnwards…

2) “Miss Mary Jane, you can’t abear to see people in trouble, and I can’t–most always. Tell me about it.”

What does Huck mean by, “and I can’t.” ? Has he changed so that he cares more about others’ feelings?

1. “The higher animals are the only ones who exclusively do their own work and provide their own living.” Mark Twain said this quote, which seems to point toward an anti-slave opinion. “higher animals” would be people that do their own work, not relying on human “property” to do it for them. Mark Twain might not have been racist; in fact, he might have respected the African-American community greatly. He obviously didn’t believe that the slaves were sub-human like most of the south did-including his home state of Missouri.

 http://classiclit.about.com/od/marktwainfaqs/f/faq_mtwain_slav.htm

2. This book sometimes makes fun of human intelligence. While being a lighter subject on insult, it still pokes fun at peoples’ spelling or grammar. A particular instance where Mark Twain makes fun of spelling is when Huck first meets Buck Grangerford. The passage is as follows:

“Can you spell, Buck?”

“Yes,” he says.

“I bet you can’t spell my name,” says I.

“I bet you what you dare I can,” sasys he.

“Alright,” says I, “go ahead.”

“G-o-r-g-e J-a-x-o-n—there now,” he says.

3.  Passage: “I wish I’d never seen that snake-skin, Jim–I do wish I’d never laid eyes on it.”

Huck is refering to the snake he killed and put on Jim’s blanket earlier in the story.

QUESTION: Do you think that Huck now firmly believes in Jim’s snake skin superstition, or is he just saying that (passage)?

1. The theme I chose is superstition. Jim is the more superstitious of the escaping pair, and this comes back to haunt him. According to Jim, touching a snakeskin causes bad luck. When Huck kills a rattlesnake and puts it on Jim’s blanket, trying to prank him, the snake’s mate arrives and bites Jim as he flops down for the night. Says Huck: “You said it was the worst bad luck in the world to touch a snake-skin with my hands….Well, by night I forgot all about the snake, and when Jim flung himself down on the blanket while I struck a light, the snake’s mate was there, and bit him.”  This passage shows that even though Huck is more realistic the Jim, an event like this can change his mind quickly about any subject.

2. Huck admires Tom Sawyer like an idol. One reason he might do this is because of his Pap. Pap doesn’t allow Huck freedom, so Huck sets to wishing he could, and Tom is a perfect example of free spirit. Just as Huck thinks Tom would never pass up and adventure, Huck wouldn’t either. “Do you reckon Tom Sawyer would ever go by this thing? Not for a pie, he wouldn’t.” This quote is using Tom as an excuse to explore the wrecked ship, even though Jim doesn’t want to. Since Tom would go on an adventure, Huck feels he needs to be like Tom and maybe find treasure on the wreck.

3. Passage One: “Pap always said,take a chicken when you get a chance, because if you don’t want him yourself you can easy find somebody that does, and a good deed ain’t ever forgot.” —- This passage is important because it shows that even though Huck can’t stand living with his father, his dad mat have some knowledge of survival, even if it is about stealing.

Passage Two: “He reckoned a body could reform the ole man with a shot-gun, maybe, but he didn’t know no other way.” —-This passage is important because it really shows you how bad Huck’s father is. He is a drunk and won’t give it up, and he is abusive to Huck.

Passage Three: ” ‘What you doin with this gun?’

I judged he didn’t know nothing about what he had been doing, so I says:

Somebody tried to get in, so I was laying for him.”—-This passage is important because it shows you how creative Huck is, especially when he needs to be. His pap would have certainly hurt him if he knew what Huck actually had the gun for.

4.  My 2 discussion questions are:

A)     How do you think Huck would react if he was caught with Jim?

B)      If Pap ever attacked Huck again, do you think that, if Huck was able, he would hurt or kill Pap? Why or why not?