1. Read through chapter 32 of Huckleberry Finn
2. Respond to the following:
Many people consider chapter 31 to contain the climax of Huckleberry Finn. In what ways does chapter 31 parallel chapters 1-4? Why do you think Twain chose to draw these parallels - what literary purpose does this serve?
Use textual support to answer the question.
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In chapter 31, Twain draws parallels of several topics between the first four chapters and chapter 31. Within the first paragraph of the book, lying is mentioned. Twain’s tone makes it seem as if Huck is simply stating what he has observed in his life, and that he has not learned how lying turns out to be very troublesome. Then, throughout chapter 31, Huck is fed lies which could ultimately bring trouble on the person who told them. For example, the Duke lied about where Jim was taken to, and he was convinced that Huck truly believed his lie, but Huck knew the truth. If Huck would have believed the Duke’s lie, Jim could have revealed the Duke and Dauphin’s plans to scam the townspeople. Huck sincerely hoped that Jim would not tell because he “wanted to get entirely shut of them” (213), so that he would not be tangled up in anymore lies. He finally realized how bad lies are and how they can get you into serious trouble. Lies are a part of Huck’s life in chapters 1-4 and chapter 31, creating a parallel topic between these chapters.
While Huck came to see that lying is a problematic action, his mind focuses on the power and punishments that revolve around religion. “Here was the plain hand of Providence slapping me in the face and letting me know my wickedness was being watched all the time from up there in heaven” (208). Religion was a highly referenced topic during the first four chapters as well as chapter 31. Huck did not originally understand the concept of practicing religion, but when Jim was finally captured in chapter 31, Huck began to believe all of Miss Watson’s teachings on the subject. “[Miss Watson] told me to pray everyday, and whatever I asked for I would get” so Huck tried to pray (20). Then he started to think about his sins, “I was letting on to give up sin, but away inside of me I was holding on to the biggest one of all” (209). Once Huck “felt good and all washed clean of sin” (209) he recalled all the nice gestures Jim did for him. He began to feel guilty about how he was going to send a letter telling Miss Watson that he knew where Jim was. “All right, then, I’ll go to hell” (210) was what Huck declared when he decided against sending a letter and instead became determined to save Jim. Going to hell is a view point Huck held in the beginning, except he did not clearly state it. Miss Watson told him that she intended to go to the “good place”, meaning heaven, and he thought, “I couldn’t see no advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn’t try for it” (13). If Huck was not going to heaven, the only other place to go after death was hell. When Twain writes that Huck still held the same beliefs as in the beginning, except he had more moral reasons behind his position, Twain shows the transformation Huck had undergone from being a naïve boy to more of an honorable boy.
Overall, Huck’s views on lying and religion change in their own way. In the end, the reader grasps the idea that Huck has matured. Twain includes these parallels of lying and religion to serve the literary purpose of letting the reader fully develop their feelings towards Huck, and to let the reader compare and contrast the more mature Huck to the Huck in the very beginning of the book.
Starting in chapter 30 of Huckleberry Finn, we see a change in the characters of the duke and the dauphin. The two characters steadily become an increasing threat to Huck and Jim. On page 201, the dauphin nearly strangles Huck for deserting the two criminals, and later on, Huck tells readers, “I never seen the duke look so ugly out of his eyes before” (Twain 212). The danger of the duke and the dauphin is finally apparent when Jim is captured and sold by the dauphin himself (Twain 207). While trying to figure out how to get out of his dilemma with Jim, Huck questions and wrestles with the social and religious ideals that white society has taught him. “a person does a low-down thing, and then he don’t want to take no consequences of it. Thinks as long as he can hide it, it ain’t no disgrace. That was my fix exactly. The more I studied about this the more my conscience went to grinding me, and the more wicked and low-down and ornery I got to feeling. And at last, when it hit me all of a sudden that here was the plain hand of Providence slapping me in the face and letting me know my wickedness was being watched all the way up in heaven, whilst I was stealing a poor old woman’s nigger that hadn’t ever done me no harm, and now showing me there’s One that’s always on the lookout, and ain’t going to allow no such miserable doings to go only just so fur and no further, I most dropped in my tracks I was so scared” (Twain 210). Huck did much more thinking than this, the whole time questioning what was right and what was wrong. At first he was sure that he should turn Jim in to Miss Watson. However, his thoughts kept drifting to all the times that Jim was there for him, and how Jim had said that Huck was his best friend in the whole entire world (Twain 209). In the end, Huck decides to “take up wickedness again” by helping Jim, and says, “All right, then, I’ll go to hell!” (Twain 210). Chapter 31 was definitely a parallel to chapters 1-4, because in chapters 1-4 the issues and beliefs of Huck’s society are brought up by Mark Twain. Readers soon find that slavery is a social norm in this society, and, that everyone, even a good person like Miss Watson, owns slaves. Going down the river, Huck meets many people that make him question what he had been taught. I think that Twain created this parallel, because it shows how Huck is maturing. Twain’s parallel creates a timeline of Huck and his morals, and readers see a change in the way Huck thinks about racism, religion and society in general. Chapter 31 was a sort of turning point for Huck because he breaks away from the duke and dauphin and finally decides that he will help Jim. In chapters 1-4 Huck thought that what his society believed in was the only thing that he could believe. However, in chapter 31, Huck learns that there is more than one way to look at something and once again he questions his morals. This time, they turn out to be different. Another parallel that is seen in the book is the friendship between Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. In chapters 2-3, readers are introduced to the character of Tom Sawyer, who represents romanticism, and witness how Huck and Tom balance each other out. In conclusion, I think that chapter 31 marks Huck’s increasing maturity and it is a turning point for the character of Huck, because he is able to break away from the danger of the duke and dauphin and once again, he questions what is right and what is wrong.
I agree with both Lorena and Joyce that through Huck's decision's in chapter 31, you can observe how he has changed and how his maturity has increased. I think that along with the increase of maturity, Huck has gained an increase of confidence of what he believes in. This is not only shown by Huck's hellish statement (Twain 210), but also by his actions. At the end of chapter 31, Huck decides to follow through with his statement against socity's popular beliefs and go rescue Jim. Immediatly after his conversation with the Duke, the text describes, "So [he] left," (Twain 213). Though in chapter four, before Huck even confronted his father, he sold his property to Judge Thatcher and consulted to Jim's hairball orcale. Although Huck thought even when, "the widow put in a good word for me, ... [it] warn't going to keep off the bad luck," (Twain 24). At the end of chapter four, Huck still doesn't act upon his statement of avoiding bad luck and meets his father anyhow (Twain 27). In different situations, Huck has the oppurtunity to act on his beliefs in chapters 1-4 and chapter 31. Since Huck acts on his beliefs in chapter 31, we can easily see how his confidence, along with his maturity, has grown.
There are many ways in which chapters one through four parallel chapter thirty-one. One is that in both sections, Jim is tricked. On page 15 (chapter 2), Tom plays a quick trick on Jim. The passage states, “Then we got out, and I was in a sweat to get away; but nothing would do Tom but he must crawl to where Jim was, on his hands and knees, and play something on him.” Huck wants Tom to not play a trick on Jim for the sake of time, not because it is cruel to Jim. Later on, after Jim is tricked by the Duke and Dauphin and sold back into slavery, on page 207, the text states, “here it was all come to nothing, everything all busted up and ruined, because they could have the heart to serve Jim such a trick as that.” Through this parallel, Twain shows that slaves were often tricked and nothing was thought of it. It also shows that Huck’s view of Jim has changed greatly.
In the beginning, after Tom Sawyer tricks Jim, Huck continues on with Tom. Huck does not care about Jim. However, after Jim’s freedom is sold for forty dollars by the Duke and the Dauphin (in chapter thirty-one), Huck feels motivated to save Jim. Huck has become much more mature and kind because of his journey on the raft. Also, in both sections, Huck considers religion. However, in chapter 31, unlike in the first few chapters, he makes an important decision that impacts Jim’s life. On page 21, Huck thinks to himself, “I judged I could see that there was two Providences, and a poor chap would stand considerable show with the widow’s Providence, but if Miss Watson’s got him there warn’t no help for him any more. I thought it all out, and reckoned I would belong to the widow’s if he wanted me, though I couldn’t make out how he was a-going to be any better off then than what he was before, seeing I was so ignorant, and so kind of low-down and ornery.” On page 208, Huck thinks, “The more I studied about this the more my conscience went to grinding me, and the more wicked and low-down and ornery I got to feeling. And at last, when it hit me all of a sudden that here was the plain hand of Providence slapping me in the face and letting me know my wickedness was being watched all the time from up there in heaven.” After thinking of Jim, Huck eventually says, “All right, then, I’ll go to hell.”
This parallel also shows how Huck has begun to think for himself, and make his own decisions. In the beginning, Huck does not question Ms.Watson’s teachings, and assumes that they are what is best for him, only questioning how “he was a –going to be any better off then than what he was before” (page 21). However, in chapter thirty-one, after departing on a journey with Jim and sharing many interesting encounters, Huck decides to go against society’s teachings, and, for the good of Jim, will go to hell. The parallel of the tricking of Jim and the parallel of the consideration of religion have the purpose of demonstrating how Huck has matured and begun to make his own strong, important decisions because of his journey on the river with this runaway slave.
I completely agree with Lorena’s opinions on the parallels of religion in chapter 31 and chapters one – four. I agree with her when she states that Huck’s character is developing, and Twain is showing us this thorough his changing and growing ideas and beliefs. Huck’s journey down the river has helped him develop reasons for his beliefs; and this not only shows that Huck is maturing, it shows that he is also affected by the people and places he comes by on his adventure. For instance, on page 210 Huck claims that he will go to hell rather than tell Miss Watson where Jim is after reflecting on the relationship that he and Jim have built over the course of their expedition. In chapter three, however, Huck decides that he will go to hell because “I couldn’t see no advantage about it… so at last I reckoned I wouldn’t worry about it any more, but just let it go” (page 20). Before Huck states that he will go to hell simply for something different, and now Huck has a defined reason in his mind.
Another concept that is paralleled in chapters one – four and chapter 31 is the affect society has on Huck. In chapters one – four, society (mainly Miss Watson) is “reforming” him. He is going to school (most of the time), and learning to become “civilized.” Society- in the form of a gang- also allows Huck to feel included. In chapter 31 Huck is still concerned with society. He frets that he will be an outcast who is looked down upon should he return to his home: “And then think of me! It would get all around that Huck Finn helped a nigger to get his freedom; and if I was ever to see anybody from that town again I'd be ready to get down and lick his boots for shame” (page 208). Earlier in the story, society has a mostly positive affect on Huck, and he at least “can stand it” (page 24). However in chapter 31 society forces Huck to think of the consequences of his actions, and drastically affects his decisions. The affect society has on Huck shows up in both chapters, but increasingly becomes stronger and more important in chapter 31.
I once again agree with Lorena’s opinion that parallels serve the literary purpose of allowing the reader to compare and contrast Huck’s character, and analyze how he’s changed. I also think that parallels allow the reader to see why Huck’s characters have changed. Parallels show us a beginning and an end with similar themes and concepts. In-between those two relating sections, however, is the reason why these themes have changed. Basically, parallels allow the reader to see the cause of Huck’s ever maturing and changing character.
I agree that the parallels between chapters 1-4 and chapter 31 show how Huck has matured. In chapters 1-4 and in chapter 31, Huck makes several decisions that define who he is. For example, on page 12, Huck makes up his mind that he wouldn’t try to go to the good place because he, “couldn’t see no advantage” in it. Also on page 12, Huck says that he “doesn’t take no stock in dead people” and mocks Miss Watson for “a-bothering on about Moses, which was no kin to her, and no use to anybody, being gone, you see.” On page 20, after the widow tells Huck that he needs to help other people, Huck says “I went out in the woods and turned it over in my mind a long time, but I couldn’t see no advantage about it-except for the other people; so at last I reckoned I wouldn’t worry about it any more, but just let it go.” In chapters 1-4, Huck’s thoughts on religion and what is right and wrong show that he only cares about what benefits him and gives little to no consideration of how his actions affect others. In chapter 31, Huck also makes some very important decisions regarding religion. On page 209, Huck decides to redeem himself by writing a letter telling Miss Watson where Jim is. However, on the same page, Huck remembers all the kind things Jim had done for him and how Jim was always so happy when he saw Huck, and so Huck finally decides, on page 210, that he’d rather go to hell than betray Jim. The similar decisions that Huck makes regarding religion and morality are used to show that whereas Huck originally would make the decision that benefited him the most, Huck develops his own sense of right and wrong and seriously considers the morality of his actions.
In both chapters 1-4 and chapter 31, Huck considers the consequences of his actions before he acts. In chapter 2, Tom and Huck have snuck out of the house together and Tom is planning on playing a trick on Jim who is asleep underneath a tree. However, before Tom can play the trick, Huck advises Tom not to, reasoning, "[Jim] might wake and make a disturbance, and then they'd find out I warn't in". This is an instance in which Huck considers the possible results of the actions he takes before he acts. In chapter 31, Huck takes similar precautions before acting. Upon discovering that Jim has run away and been captured, Huck immediately decides that the best thing to do for Jim would be to write to Jim's owner telling her where Jim is, and that way at least Jim would be with his family. Rather than writing the letter immediately though, Huck contemplates what writing the letter could result in. He thinks about the fact that Jim’s owner would be mad at Jim for running away "and so she'd sell him straight down the river again". In addition Huck realizes that Jim would be ridiculed for being an "ungrateful nigger", and Huck himself would be shamed for helping Jim run away. Huck finally decides that due to the unpleasant consequences of writing a letter, he would have to find another way to rescue Jim. The only difference between the situations in chapter 2 and chapter 31 is the fact that the consequences Huck thinks of in chapter 2 would impact only him, while the consequences of writing a letter that immediately stood out to Huck were the negative results that would affect Jim. Huck thought of himself second in the situation in chapter 31. Through the parallels and differences in the two situations, Twain is showing that throughout his experiences, Huck has remained a person who takes risks and gets himself into trouble, however now he is more conscious of how his actions impact others, not just himself. Clearly, the parallels drawn between chapters 1-4 and chapter 31 show a lot about how Huck has matured into a more caring person.
I strongly agree with Lorena when she says that one parallel being drawn has to do with religon. One way that chapter 31 is parallel to chapters 1-4 is we rediscover the relationship between Mrs. Watson and Huck and how a big part of that relationship had to do with religion. In chapters 1-4 Huch doesn't really care for Mrs. Watson but he didn't mean any harm. "Then she told me all about the bad place, and I said I wished I was there. She got mad then, but didn't mean any harm."(Pg. 12) Mrs. Watson would always be annoying to Huck. "Miss Watson she kept pecking at me, and it got tiresome and lonesome."(Pg.13) Later on in the book Huck stole her slave Jim,..."whilst I was stealing a poor old woman's nigger that hadn't every done me no harm..."(Pg.208) Huck then goes on to make reference to religion and his sin. "There was the sunday school you could 'a' gone to it; and if you'd 'a' done it they'd 'a' learnt you there that people that acts as I'd been acting about that nigger goes to everlasting fire."(Pg.208) In chapters 1-4 Ms. Watson encouraged Huck to practice religion etc. and then in chapter 31 he actually prays. " I felt good and all washed clean of sin for the first time I had ever felt so in my life, and I knowed I could pray now."(Pg.209) That praying encourages him to write a letter to Mrs. Watson saying where Jim was but then he ripped it up. " All right, then, I'll go to hell- and tore it up." (Pg. 210) I think that Twain decides to draw these parallels to show the reader how highly we value religion and doing a certain right or wrong. However, sometimes these defined rights and wrongs are not always true. Weaving this parallel throughout the novel shows that even though Huck has matured he still has the same will and decision- making skills.
An important parallel between chapters 1-4 and chapter 31 is the constant theme of immorality and its consequences. This idea is originally brought up by Miss Watson in chapter 1, when she and Huck have the conversation about “going to the bad place,” in which Huck declares he would rather be there and Miss Watson rebukes him (Pg.3). At that time he decides that he will not strive to stay out of hell (Pg.3). There also he was introduced to the idea of Providence, which he comes to understand will provide him with anything he prays for if he is good, but that if he is bad it will take it all way (Pg.12).
All these ideas are brought up once again in chapter 31. Through his travels Huck develops a conscience and begins to feel that he must respect the principles he was taught earlier. “a person does a low-down thing, and then he don’t want to take no consequences of it. Thinks as long as he can hide it, it ain’t no disgrace” (Pg. 230). This is Huck’s conscience speaking. What is plaguing him in particular is what he sees as the sin he has committed in aiding Jim’s escape. He is so conflicted on the matter he cannot think what to do. He sees his predicament as “the plain hand of Providence slapping me in the face and letting me know my wickedness was being watched all the time from up there in heaven...” (Pg. 230). Everything he was taught by Miss Watson is suddenly coming back to him. He suddenly cares about staying out of ‘the bad place,’ and resolves to reform himself to keep out of it. He writes a letter to Miss Watson and feels guilty no more, saying “I had never felt so good in my life...how near I come to being lost and going to hell” (Pg 231). Yet Huck changes his mind in the end, tearing up the letter and resigning himself to hell, condemning himself in his mind (Pg. 231). In this way, the story of Huck’s morality has come full circle; he returns to what he was taught initially and instead his conscience comes to draw its own conclusions. Twain’s purpose in this is showing how twisted Huck’s society is. In helping Jim, Huck has in fact been doing the moral thing all along, but he has been brought up in a world where the institution of slavery is the norm. Huck’s grown moral strength is shown in this climax; he rejects what he has been taught and recognizes Jim as a human being, worthy of saving.
As has been stated, Twain draws several parallels between chapters 1-4 and chapter 31. These parallels include lying and praying.
Even as early as page 11, lying is already established as an important part of the book, as Huck says that everybody has lied at one point or another. On page 23, Tom Sawyer is telling Huck about robbery and how to get genies and other such fantasies. Huck thinks about it and then disregards it as "just one of Tom Sawyer's lies." In fact, the entire "gang of robbers" is, in fact, a lie. The boys did not really steal or kill but pretended that they were. In a sense, their play consists mainly of lies, which can sometimes be harmful to others, like the Sunday School class that they ambushed while pretending to "ambuscade the A-rabs." Although these lies are only play, they can still be harmful to others. In chapter 31, however, Huck has realized that lying is wrong. He sees that the con-men had lied to him and sold Jim back into slavery for only forty dollars. Huck is disgusted by this action, especially since Jim is someone that Huck cares about.
Jim also draws a parallel involving praying. In chapters 1-4, Huck declares that he "don't take no stock in praying" because he didn't gain anything by it. In chapter 31, however, Huck feels the need to pray and feels that he cannot pray if he is lying, a sign that Huck has changed a great deal over the course of the book. In the latter chapter, Huck is legitimately praying for guidance. Although Huck is engaging in the same acitivity as he was at the begining of the book, it is more meaningful to Huck now that he actually feels the need to pray. The outcome of his prayer, however, remains exactly the same: Huck decides to go to hell instead of doing what his society believes will get him into "the good place." On page 209, Huck says that after having written the letter to Miss Watson "I felt good and all washed clean of sin..." But on the next page he thinks about all the times he shared with Jim and how much he cares about him and declares "All right, then, I'll *go* to hell," just as he said in the first chapter that he would rather go to "the bad place" and be with Tom Sawyer. In both cases he is making the decision to go to hell for someone that he cares about.
In these ways, Twain manages to draw several parallels between chapters 1-4 and chapter 31, the climax of "Huckleberry Finn."
Going along with what Ava previously stated, I believe a huge parallel between chapters one – four and chapter 31 is the idea of Huck’s personal morals vs. the morals society wants Huck to have. In chapters one – four, Huck is being taught the moral’s society wants him to have, through Miss Watson, such as how people should yearn to go to ‘the good place’ (page 13). When Huck learns about Moses, he thinks, in a dismissing tone, “I didn’t care no more about him, because I don’t take no stock in dead people” (page 12). Finally, Miss Watson tries to teach Huck about religion and prayer, but he doesn’t seem to understand the full concept of spiritual gain through his prayer, as he gives up on it (page 21). Huck is being fed these ideas that society wants him to learn, but that he doesn’t understand or agree with. However, at the time Huck doesn’t know any other ideas or ways of life and decides to ignore everything and simply try to get through the day.
All of these ideas from chapters one – four come back in chapter 31. However, Huck has matured and grown, gaining his own personal morals, some clashing with the ones implanted at the beginning of the book. After Jim is sold, he has a moral dilemma between the set of morals that he has made for himself as he has matured during his trip down the river vs. the morals implanted in him by society at the beginning of the story. At first he remembers everything that Miss Watson taught him, thinking that “here was the plain hand of Providence slapping me in the face and letting me know my wickedness was being watched all the time from up there in heaven” (page 234). While Huck is thinking through society’s mindset, he sees his actions of helping Jim escape as wrong and sinful and now he is being punished, thinking he should have gone to more Sunday school so he could have taught him that “people that acts as I’d been acting about that nigger goes to everlasting fire” (page 234), as he now cares about Heaven vs. Hell. Huck then writes a letting to Miss Watson, which “felt good and all washed clean of sin” (page 235). However, as he remembers his whole journey with Jim, and how close the two had gotten, and specifically when Huck saved Jim, Jim was “so grateful, and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the only one he’s got now” (page 235), as Huck’s own ideas settle into his head, and his own morals are considered. He then rips up the letter to Miss Watson, deciding that he would go to Hell as long as he could rescue Jim and live by his own ideas and morals (page 236). His internal argument about whether to follow his own ideas vs. the ideas taught to him by society shows his maturity and how he’s grown throughout the story.
I completely agree with Anya when she says that Twain wrote this to show how twisted society was. It shows how difficult it was, for a person who had ideas that were ahead of his time, to function and survive in a society that stuck ideas into people’s heads and taught them to do things to fit the societal norm. However, Huck reaches outside of those ideas and follows his own morals and decides to go out and save Jim, his equal and friend.
The parallels drawn between the first four chapters of the book and chapter 31 can be both shallow in nature, and also quite intellectually deep. There is the shallow parallel of how in both parts of the book, Huck has chosen to go to hell (or so he believes); on page 4, he considers heaven boring, since all you could do, he thinks, would be "to go around all day long with a harp and sing, forever and ever." He ends up deciding that he will go to hell. On page 179, we also hear him proclaim "All right, then, I'll go to hell". But a deeper, more thoughtful look at this reveals that his reasons for doing so are radically different between the two passages. In the first chapter, Huck hardly comprehends the severity of what he is saying; he throws himself into the depths of hell because he would like to be with his friend Tom Sawyer; "I wanted him and me to be together." Yet in chapter 31, Huck fully understands what he is doing. He does it because he would willingly spend an eternity there to save his friend Jim. Twain is trying to draw our attention here. It does take a skilled reader to catch this parallel in chapter 31 all the way back to the first chapter, but the message is incredibly valuable. In just a short time, Huck has come to fully comprehend the meaning of sacrifice and, as Anya made the case for, morality. This is Twain's point in a nutshell. Huck now proves to us how close a bond with an outcast slave can be formed in spirit: so deep a friendship that the promise of eternal torture will not tear it apart. This is Twain's literary purpose here.
Another shallow link is the way in which Huck has disdain and dislike for money. On pages 15 to 16, we see Huck give up his property as pennance for bad luck; yet this is not a comment so much on his superstition, but on how little an immense fortune actually means to him. He will give up huge riches to ward off the bad luck of knocking over a salt cellar. Considering what Tom Sawyer or the Duke or Dauphin would do with this money, we see a very uncaring attitude about it. In the same way, in chapter 31, Huck realizes that 40 dollars, which is a good deal of money, is completely worthless compared to his friend Jim's freedom and happiness. "After all this long journey, and after all we'd done for them scoundrels, here was it all come to nothing...because they could have the heart to serve Jim such a trick as that, and make him a slave again all his life, and amongst strangers too, for forty dirty dollars" (page 177). The deeper message here is that Huck would gladly give much, much more money to see Jim free again, as his statement implies; and a more direct interpretation is that Huck realizes, given what he will pay for something as valuable to him as freedom from bad luck, that a human being is worth infinitely more. This is Twain's literary message, and it is priceless. Jim is worth more than money to Huck; Jim is worth Huck's eternal soul.
The character Huck Finn becomes much more mature during chapter 31. He realizes that what may be best for society can be equally unfair for one person. This is displayed when Huck thinks about freeing Jim from slavery, or writing a letter to Miss Watson saying that Huck knows where Jim is hiding. Huck's conscience kicks in and he tries to pray to relieve himself of the sin he has committed. When he cannot think of anything to say, he writes a letter to Miss Watson saying that Jim is in Pikesville and she can come and get him. After this Huck feels, "…good and all washed clean of sin for the first time I had ever felt in my life, and I knowed I could pray now" (Twain 209). However, he still cannot pray. He reflects on the good times shared with Jim and decides he would rather go to hell than betray his friend. In chapter one, Huck says, "I wished I was there [in the bad place]" (Twain 12). His reasons are different for wanting to go to "the bad place" in chapter one. All Huck wants is to go somewhere. In both instances, Huck is referring to religion. Miss Watson is Huck's teacher who taught him subjects from reading to religion and everything in between. When Huck actually tries to pray, he demonstrates that he can implement a lesson that he has learned from Miss Watson. In drawing these parallels, Twain shows how religion remains constant in Huck's life. With his new sense of maturity, Huck realizes that he can pray to boost his esteem, gaining confidence in the decisions he is making; in this case, the decision to risk his life to save his good friend Jim.
The purpose of the parallels that Twain draws from chapter 31 to the first four chapters is to show the development of Huck. By having Huck deal with similar conflicts or characters, the reader is able to see how he changed. One paralell between the chapters is fitting into society and its standards. In chapters 1-4, Miss Watson tried her best to educate Huck. She "set at [him] with a spelling book" and "worked [him] middling hard for about an hour" for days. She chided Huck many times for not behaving politely by telling him "'Don't scrunch up like that, Huckleberry---set up straight'" and so on. However, Huck was rebellious to many of Miss Watson's requests. When Huck "wanted to smoke, [he] asked the widow to let [him]. But she wouldn't. She said it was a mean practice and wasn't clean." During these first four chapters, Miss Watson strove to make Huck a more respectable and well-behaved boy who could belong to society. But Huck refused to listen to her, and continued his adventurous and troublesome ways. In chapter 31, when Huck is debating whether he should tell Miss Watson of Jim's whereabouts, society surprsingly is a factor to his decision. Huck says, "Everybody naturally despises an ungrateful nigger and they'd make Jim feel it all the time, and so he'd feel ornery and disgraced. And then think of me! It would get all around that Huck Finn helped a nigger to get his freedom; and if I ever to see anybody from that town again I'd be ready to get down and lick his boots for shame." Unlike in the beginning of his adventure, Huck is now afraid of what the other townspeople think of him. He even regretted disobeying Miss Watson's wishes of attending school regularly, because he states,"'There was the Sunday school, you could 'a' gone to it; and if you'd 'a' done it they'd 'a' learnt you there that people that acts as I'd been acting about that nigger goes to everlasting fire." In both ends of the story, Huck dealt with society and his role in society. Instead of living spontaneously and disregarding the future as he did before, Huck matured by realizing that he should consider his actions before fulfulling them in order to avoid profound and unfavorable consequences.
Although chapters 1-4 parallel chapter 31 in many physical ways (e.g., Huck participates in adventures), there is a larger parallel regarding Huck's mental growth. These chapters involve a lot of religion compared to the other chapters, and readers are shown the "deeper" side of Huck. In chapter three, Huck is introduced to the idea of Providence. "Sometimes the widow would take me to one side and talk about Providence in a way to make a body's mouth water...I thought it all out, and reckoned I would belong to the widow's if he wanted me" (20-1). In chapter 31, Huck figures that Providence is lending a hand. "...it hit me all of a sudden that here was the plain hand of Providence slapping me in the face and letting me know my wickedness was being watched all the time from up there in heaven..." (208). Huck even trys to pray, an action which he had once "see[n] no advantage about" (20). Then again, Huck never actually does pray, because he is struck with the realization that putting Jim back in slavery is wrong, and after damning himself, he "never thought no more about reforming" (210). Although it may seem as though Huck has not changed, the reader can tell that he has, because he went so far as to consider praying, when before it was an action which he just shrugged off. Therefore, chapters 1-4 create a parallel to chapter 31 regarding religion.
I agree with Pippa's response to the parallels as far as lying and praying go between the first four chapters of the novel and Chapter 31. While Huck clearly rejects religion in the beginning of the book, it continues to play a role in his life. Though he may not have a full grasp on the morals or concepts being preached, he does feel relieved when he says, on page 209, that he felt "good and all washed clean of sin." Also, to expand upon Pippa's evaluation of Huck's dislike for the conmen and their work, he is personally offended he finds that when someone whom he knows may fall victim to their schemes. Instead of putting himself first, Huck shows maturity when he feels as though it is his responsibility (once a foreign concept for Huck) to protect the people in his life from those who may harm them in some way. Also, while some responses seem to imply that Huck's conscience was not present in the first four chapters but is now, I disagree. Pippa stated that Huck made clear more than once that he was willing to sacrifice himself for someone else. While Huck does show more maturity as the novel progresses, his good judgment is always present, just not always acted upon.
In chapters 1 through 4, as well as in chapter 31, Twain addresses Huck Finn's view on religion, humanity and society as a whole. In chapter 1, Huck was confronted by the concepts of religion and hell, both of which he rejected. However, in chapter 31, Huck thinks about going to hell before making a decision about saving Jim. This shows that he matured in a spiritual way, because he earlier stated that maybe he would go to hell, just as a whatever thing, but i chapter 31 he carefully considers the consequence of going to hell because of his actions. As far as humanity goes, Huck was self-centered in the first four chapters, thinking only of himself and not having a lot of respect for others. Now, though, he is putting Jim before himself. Society's role in Huck's life is changing, because he used to go along with what society taught him, specially about social status, but he has changed in that he now values Jim's live as much as his own, even though society looks so far down on Jim.
NOTE: I did not take my Huck Finn book home, so my page numbers are from online. They may be different from the page numbers in the book. The link for the version of Huck Finn is http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/Twa2Huc.html
and now...for the featured presentation...(my post)
Chapters 1-4 and 31 are parallels because they outline the change in Huck's morality, and view on life. Chapters 1-4 give us the original look on the mischevious, realist Huck that we knew for multiple chapters before the beginning of the journey down the Mississippi River with Jim. Throughout these chapters, we see changes in Huck's morality. Huck apoligizes to a slave, becomes friends with a slave, does not give away the position of Jim, a runaway slave, in a crucial turn-of-events where Huck abandons his "morally correct" thought of turning Jim in. But in Chapter 31, we see the climax of the story because it is here when Huck meets the crossroads of his morality. On page 285, Huck states this by saying, "I was a-trembling, because I'd got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it." Huck has to decide whether to do the morally-correct thing of the time, and turn Jim in, or do what he knows inside, and what his new insight into religion is telling him, is morally-correct. The change is complete when Huck decides to "go to hell", even though we all know he did the heavenly act. This change in Huck is also showed by his views on heaven and hell. On page 4, Huck says,"Then she told me all about the bad place, and I said I wished I was there." Huck sarcastically says he wants to go to hell, while on page 285 he reluctantly says, ""All right, then, I'll go to hell", but in this case, he really thought about it, and knew he had made the right decision, because he couldn't betray Jim. Huck has gone from a young boy, who finds pleasure in robbery and murder, to a mature teenager, who has come to a point where he makes a morality decision that most people of his time thought of as wrong. Huck's morality went from having none (and not caring about it) to having morals years before his time. On page 285, maybe the most important page of the book, Huck thinks back to all of the things Jim has said and done for him, and how they have helped each other out along the way. Huck basically goes against all practices of the mid 1800s, and accepts Jim as a human being. Huck's moral change is shown by the difference in Huck's morals from Chapters 1-4 and Chapter 31.
Another parallel between Chapters 1-4 and Chapter 31 is Huck's view on life and religion. We established early on in the book that Huck was a realist. On page 3, Huck said, "After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushers, and I was in a sweat to find out all about him; but by and by she let it out that Moses had been dead a considerable long time; so then I didn't care no more about him, because I don't take no stock in dead people." Huck takes no stock in what happened in the past. Early in the book, when joining the band of robbers and lying all the time, Huck never thinks of the consequences, or what will happen in the future, either. In fact, Huck doesn't really care about anything except the present. When faced with that moral crossroads, Huck thinks about the past, what happened on his journey with Jim, and everything that Jim had said and done, and this leads him to his decision to stick with Jim, and not send the letter to Miss Watson, informing her of Jim's whereabouts. Huck now uses the past to make a critical decision, showing how he has changed in that way. And finally, Huck's interest in religion was not shown much at all between Chapters 4 and 31. On page 15, Huck says, "She told me to pray every day, and whatever I asked for I would get it...she told me what she meant -- I must help other people, and do everything I could for other people, and look out for them all the time, and never think about myself. This was including Miss Watson, as I took it. I went out in the woods and turned it over in my mind a long time, but I couldn't see no advantage about it -- except for the other people; so at last I reckoned I wouldn't worry about it any more, but just let it go." Huck doesn't care at all about religion. Then, on page 283, Huck says, "And at last, when it hit me all of a sudden that here was the plain hand of Providence slapping me in the face and letting me know my wickedness was being watched all the time from up there in heaven." Huck actually believes in religion and "Providence", showing another change in Huck's character.
Twain used these to show change in Huck, and again to show how slavery was wrong. Jim is the character that brings about this change from Huck to a carefree realist to a moral human being. Twain also shows that being the kind of person Huck now is can also be a lovable person, as throughout the book Twain has allowed us to respect Huck and view him in a positive manner. Many changes are shown by the difference in Huck from Chapters 1-4, where we learned about Huck's original character, to Chapter 31, where we now see the new Huck, a completely honorable person in the eyes of the reader.
Huck's passage down the river has brought forward many different events that have matured and changed Huck from the person that he was up in Missouri. But chapter 31 brings the moment in which Mark Twain decides to ultimately show to the reader the immense change in Huck, and bring them back to the boy Huck used to be. As mentioned by many different people before, I agree that the parallel that Mark Twain brings to us in Chapter 31, between that climatic moment and chapters 1-4, is to the show how Huck as matured. During the climatic instant in which Huck must decide between the morals of society and his own personal ones, he begins to mention moments from the beginning of the book that he regrets his actions in, “I was stealing a poor old woman’s nigger that hadn’t ever done me no harm, and now was showing me there’s One that’s always on the lookout, and ain’t a-going to allow no such miserable doings to go only just so fur and no further.”(206) and “There was Sunday-school you could ‘a’ gone to it; and if you’d done it they’d ‘a’ learnt you there that people that acts as I’d been acting about that nigger goes to everlasting fire.”(206). I think that these parallels that Mark Twain brings to us, were meant as a strong literary device to bring our thoughts back to before the river voyage began, so that we were able to really asses the difference in Huck and how he has changed. Furthermore, chapter 31 also serves as the climax of the book showing the most notable change in Huck yet as he decides to risk eternal damnation, his own soul, for that of another person, not to mention an African American person in the 19th century. As Huck relives the moments he has shared with Jim he decides to abandon society’s morals for his own, ones that I like to call river morals, ones that were developed in the truly free environment of the river. Huck says, “All right, then, I’ll go to hell.”(207) he has essentially chosen to risk his entire life for that of an African-American man, he has said that they are worth the same thing in his mind, in his own morals. Finally, I would like to draw one more parallel between chapters 1-4 and 31 that I see as a foreshadowing of things to come. On page 207 Huck continues in his actions to save Jim and he says, “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.” This seems to serve as a prediction of events to come and it reminds me of the moment in chapter 4 when Jim gives Huck his fortune, “You wants to keep ‘way fum de water as much as you kin, en don’t run no resk, ‘kase it’s down in de bills dat you gwyne to git hung.”(27) These to quotes make me nervous as to what will happen at the end of the story because the distinct parallels that Mark Twain drew earlier were very important and it’s possible that these two may be just as imperative.
A parallel between chapters 1-4 and 31 is the feeling of desperation. In chapters 1-4, Huck is desperate to get out of the Widow's house. For example, he says, "all I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was a change" (Twain 12). In chapter 31, the Duke and King are the desperate ones. They are unable to make any money despite their tireless efforts. Twain describes them as "dreadful blue and desperate" (Twain 205). I think that Twain draws this parallel in order to promote a Romantic viewpoint. In the beginning, Huck is the desperate one because he is constrained by the material world. However, once he is on the river, he is free of his desperation. The Duke and Dauphin however, are full of desperation because they are constantly going on shore and trying to make money. In fact, they are desperate to the point the king selling Jim (Twain 212). The parallel of desperation in chapters 1-4 and chapter 31 advocate the Romantic viewpoint that nature brings happiness, shown through Huck's lack of desperation while living on the raft and counter exampled through Huck's desperation in chapters 1-4 and the Duke and King's desperation in chapter 31.
In chapter 31, Twain draws parallels about how Huck has changed from the first four chapters. It shows parallels by having him go through situations with similar conflits and characters. Lying is a part of his nature when we observe him in chapters one and two. He slips out of the house late at night to have a meeting with Tom Sawyer and his gang and doesn't tell the widow (Twain 14 and 19). He also skips school sometimes (Twain 24). But in chapter 31, Huck begins to rethink his lies. He tries to justify the thought of letting Jim get sold but can only think of the good things Jim has done for him and how nicely Jim has treated him, "But somehow I couldn't seem to strike no places to harden me against him...and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world" (Twain 209). It also shows us how Huck's attitude towards fitting into society's standards has changed. In the first chapter, Miss Watson was always criticizing his behavior. She would say, "Don't put your feet up there, Huckleberry," or "Don't gap and stretch like that Huckleberry-why don't you try to behave?" (Twain 12). Huck never paid her any mind then, but when he starts to think about letting Jim get sold as a slave, he is, suprisingly, concerned about what his home town would think of him helping Jim out. "It would get all around that Huck Finn helped a nigger to get his freedom; and if I was to ever see anybody from that town again I'd be ready to get down and lick his boots for shame," (Twain 208).
There are several parallels between chapters 1-4 and chapter 31 or Huckleberry Finn. For example, both the beginning and end of the book are filled with predicaments and tough choices, but Huck always shows what a good person he is. In chapter two, Tom wants to (harmlessly) trick Jim. "When we was ten foot off Tom whispered to me and wanted to tie Jim to the tree for fun,"(15). Huck really doesn't want to do this to Jim, because he has always been so good to him. So Huck says he doesn't want to tie Jim up. Then in chapter 31, Huck is faced with the predicament of telling Ms. Watson where Jim is, which would mean that Jim would be sold and he would be extremely ashamed of admitting to helping a slave escape, or trying to find Jim by himself and steal him back to freedom. Huck finally decides to "go to hell" (210) and "go to work and steal Jim out of slavery again"(210). This shows what a good person Huck is, even though he has been exposed to such terrible people in his journey to this point in his life. Luckily, he wasn't influenced by his drunken father and two criminals, the Duke and the Dauphin. The point of the parallel was to show how Huck has remained a good person, despite his many challenges. This shows Huck's character's progression over time.
I agree with Kristy’s assertion that Huck has become more willing to accept and even conform to what society dictates. One of his most major changes is his acceptance of religion. Huck’s concept of prayer and religion is clearly stated that the very beginning of Chapter Three: he says that “there ain’t nothing in it.” On page 210, however, he says that his wish to go to hell “was awful thoughts and awful words.” Clearly, his thoughts on religion have progressed quite a bit from the beginning of the tail. He also learns that “you can’t pray a lie.” This realization of what society expects transfers to his thoughts on page 208. He accepts that he has lived a wicked life and that he himself is the only one to blame. He sites his failure to go to Sunday school, “they’d a learnt [him] there that people acts as [he’d] been acting about that nigger goes to everlasting fire.” The workings of his mind demonstrate that he is giving even more thought to his prior dilemma of stealing a slave. He is now more fully aware that society considers his deed wrong. He also comes to the realization that his entire life has been unacceptable by society’s standards. Before he gets too far in repentance, however, Huck shows that he is still the same boy at heart and “never thought no more about reforming.” He “would take up wickedness again.” Twain drew this parallel to maintain his message that what society dictates is not always the right choice. All the time, he has the reader rooting for Jim, and he uses Huck’s near repentance as a tool to show that society will often steer you wrong.
I agree with Sam Ed and others who have said that there are several parallels between chapters 1 – 4 and 32 as to Huck’s views of right and wrong. In chapter two, Huck likes Tom’s idea of joining a band of robbers and becoming a thief and murderer. By chapter 31, Huck has seen the horrendous effect that roughs have on people through the characters of the duke and the dauphin. By chapter 31, Huck has decided to stop traveling according to the duke and the dauphin’s plans. At first Huck tries to leave them behind and travel away on the raft with Jim. When Huck discovers that the dauphin has sold Jim into slavery, Huck decides to rescue Jim and not be bothered with the duke and dauphin’s plans, saying on page 213, “I didn’t want no more trouble with their kind. I’d seen all I wanted to of them, and wanted to get entirely shut of them.” This is a complete reform from chapter two, where Huck does not realize how his actions of robbery would affect others, but instead goes along with Tom’s plan. This shows that Huck has matured, and has developed his own ideas of right and wrong, not just accepting the views of his peers.
Huck’s reform is also shown through his decision to help Jim. When Huck first realizes that he must make a decision to either help Jim or report him to Ms. Watson, Huck first thinks of society’s values, and of those he was taught in chapter’s 1 – 4 by Ms. Watson and the widow. On page 208, Huck goes back to the idea that he has, “helped a nigger get his freedom,” which was bad according to societal views, so Huck concluded that his situation was, “the plain hand of Providence slapping me in the face and letting me know my wickedness was being watched all the time from up there in heaven.” From this point of view the right thing would be to report Jim to Ms. Watson, and when Huck does so he says, “I had never felt so good in my life...how near I come to being lost and going to hell” (Pg 231). However, as Huck begins to think of all the good times he and Jim have had together, and how good of a person Jim was, he decides that he will go to hell if it means that he can save his friend. This is another example of how has grown apart from society and is now thinking for himself. He now gives up the hope of conforming and follows his own morals and independently makes his own decision.
I agree completely with Sam Ed.’s comment about Huck’s interest in deceased people. At the beginning of Huckleberry Finn Huck states, “I don’t take no stock in dead people.” However, during chapters 30-32 Huck begins to mature as a character and begins to evaluate what he values and who he values in his life. He realizes that Jim is the only person who has always been there for him. Even though Huck knows it will be illegal, immoral, and criminal to steal Jim, he says, “All right, then, I’ll go to hell!” This statement shows that Huck has matured as a person and has begun to truly treasure what brings him happiness, and that was Jim. It didn’t matter that Jim was a slave, or that he was captured. All Huck knew was that he was the closest to a friend he had ever had, and he wasn’t going to throw that away without a fight. Even though, in the beginning of the story, Huck took no interest in the deceased, in chapter 32, Huck begins to feel differently. “If a breeze fans along and quiver the leaves, it makes you feel mournful… you feel like it’s spirits whispering... and you always think they’re talking about you.” Huck has grown more spiritual. He is becoming less of a realist and more a romantic character. He is growing and maturing.
I agree with Lorena about the paralells drawn between religion, however it seemes that the concept of religion is used more to impliment society's idea of what is right vs. Huck's morality.
From the beginning, Huck has heaven described to him as "...all a body would have to do there was to go around all day long with a harp and sing, forever and ever. So I didn't think much of it." (pg. 13) Huck saw no purpose of striving towards being in heaven, much less praying and being educated about important people associated with religion. Even still Huck does not understand the concept of religion (as Lorena said) or pursuing it for that matter. Nonetheless, religion, and furthermore, what society sees as right, plays a role in his options, particularly his two major decisions regarding helping Jim vs. turning Jim in. When he first faces a decision regarding Jim's freedom, Huck says of this, "Conscience says to me, 'What had poor old Miss Watson done to you that you could see her nigger go off right under your eyes and not say one single word? What did that poor old woman do that you could treat her so mean?'" (pg. 92). On his next and climactic decision based on the same options, it evolves into being a sin for Huck: "...here was the plain hand of Providence slapping me in the face and letting me know my wickedness was being watched all the time from up there in heaven..." (pg. 208). After thinking up a quick solution, Huck feels "...good and all washed clean of the sin for the first time ever in my life..." (pg. 209). However, in both of these situations, religion has played only a role in his options, but not his decisions. He first chose to keep Jim away from white patrolmen after considering how much Jim considered Huck as a friend. In the later and more intense decision, Huck rips up his letter to Miss Watson, exclaiming, "All right then--I'll go to hell!" (pg. 210). Huck shows he will defy what he now sees as society's conotation as heaven and what is right to hell. This is where Twain draws a parallel: At first, Huck sees no reason and does not understand why to pursue going to heaven, and would rather be with Tom Sawyer in hell. Now, Huck still thinks this way, but has matured in the way where he has reason and values against going to heaven. Through all, it is seen that Huck defies society's idea of heaven for the worth and dignity of his friend, Jim.
I agree with Natalie r. that in Chapters 1-4 and 31 there is a parallel between feelings of desperation. In chapter 1, Huck cannot stand living at Miss Watson’s house. He says, “Miss Watson she kept pecking at me, and it got tiresome and lonesome.” Huck cannot wait to leave that kind of society. Again in chapter 31, Huck feels desperate for a change in scenery after a while with the Duke and Dauphin. He describes, “The duke he fretted and sweated around, and was in a mighty sour way. He scolded us for everything… I was good and glad when midday come and no king; we could have a change, anyway- and maybe a chance for the change.” In chapter 31 the Duke and Dauphin become the new Miss Watson. It’s as if Huck does not want to become akin to Miss Watson or the Duke or Dauphin, and so in chapter 31 he realizes he must become his own person and follow his own morals. Twain displays this idea by paralleling feelings of desperation in the Chapters.
I think that one of the major ways chapter 31 parallels chapters 1-4 is because they both include passages where the ideas of what society considers to be morally correct conflicts with Huckleberry’s actions. For example, on page 12, Huckleberry says, “Pretty soon I wanted a smoke, and asked the widow to let me. But she wouldn’t. She said it was a mean practice and wasn’t clean, and I must try to not do it anymore.” Later, in chapter 31, Huck’s actions again conflicted with what the southern society of the time had determined was right. The society of the time had slavery as one of its fixtures, but Huck does not completely agree with the idea of this system. For example, Huck says, “I was trying to make my mouth says I would do the right thing and the clean thing, and go and write to that nigger’s owner and tell where [Jim] was; but deep down in me I knowed it was a lie…” (210) At the beginning of the story, in chapter 1-4, Huck’s views that conflict with the southern ideology of the time are only about something as trivial as smoking. As others have said before me, Huck matures, and his views mature also, so that by chapter 31 Huck’s views that conflict with the society are about a topic as important as slavery.
I agree with just about everything that everyone has said so far: Twain's parallels showed an increased maturity regarding religion, dishonesty, and moral values. I would like to add that these parallels also show how Huck has become less inclined towards superstition. In the beginning, Huck goes to Jim for information concerning his father, and seems to believe much of what Jim says, because he gives Jim a quarter, albeit a counterfeit one (Twain 26). There are other chapters throughout the book that talk of superstitions, such as the Rattlesnake Skin Does Its Work, in which Jim educates Huck with more superstitions, and Huck finds himself admiring the slave's knowledge. However, by chapter 31, Huck is no longer factoring superstition into his reasoning. Instead, he uses religion, and his memories of Jim to make his decision. The lack of superstition at the climax could be another indication that Huck as matured. He no longer uses myths to make his decisions; he actually sits down and reasons it out. He weighs both sides of the issue, and realizes the magnitude of the choice he is making, thinking "I was a-trembling, because I'd got to decide forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it" (Twain 210). Twain used parallels between chapter 31 and chapters 1-4 to show how Huck has increased in morality by decreasing in superstitious naivety.
I agree with Kristy's post about the parallels between chapters 1-4 and chapters 31. However, I also think that Twain is trying to show the reader how Huck has stayed the same throughout the book. For example, Huck still has some similar views on religion—in both chapters he states that he'll go to hell, although for a different reason in chapter 31 than in chapters 1-4. On page 12, Huck says that “[Miss Watson] told me all about the bad place, and I said I wished I was there.” Then on page 210, Huck again makes a statement about the “bad place”—“alright, then, I'll go to hell.”However, Huck makes these similar statements for completely different reasons. When he says he wishes he would go to the “bad place” on page 12, he also says that he “didn't mean no harm. All [he] wanted was to go somewheres; all [he] wanted was a change, [he] warn't particular.” On page 210, Huck makes a similar statement because he decides to not tell Miss Watson that he knows where Jim is. This shows that, although Huck is still stubborn and a bit ornery, he is so for the right reasons—instead of proclaiming he'll go to hell because he's bored, he instead makes a conscious decision to do something right and suffer the consequences.
I agree with most people in that the parallels between chapters 1-4 and 31 show that Huck has matured a bit. His relationship with Jim has obviously been strengthened. It's obvious that Huck barely knows Jim, like when Jim nearly catches Huck and Tom sneaking away (Twain 15), and even when Huck is curious about his future, so seeks Jim's oracular hairball (Twain 26). However, in chapter 31, one can see that Huck really likes Jim, since he's going against his own morals to save Jim. Huck's views on the afterlife have also changed. In the beginning, Miss Watson had told Huck about "the good place," and he decided that he would rather go to "the bad place" with Tom Sawyer (Twain 13). In the end, however, he thinks that his decision to save Jim will bring him to hell, which was a really dramatic decision for him, and I think it scared him a bit to think that he was bound for "the bad place." (Twain 210).
There are many parallels between these chapters. In both, Huck attempts to escape. In chpt. 1, Huck "cant stand it no longer" living with Widow Douglas and Ms. Watson, and so "lit[s] out". In 31, he tries to get in the raft with Jim with the King and Duke are occupied, saying "Set here loose, Jim; were alright now". Also, in both, there are oppressive situations/people. In 1, the situation is such that Huck says of it "I couldn't stood it
much longer." In 31, He "wanted to get entirely shut of them [the two con men]". Another parallel is the preponderence of heaven and hell. In the first part, Huck discusses his and Tom Swayer's place in the afterlife. In the second, Huck contemplates and agonizes over his decsion of writing or not writing to disclose the location of Jim. In both, as well, he decides he prefers Hell. When the Ms Watson says both he and Tom will go to hell, he says he "was glad about
that". In the second part, he decides not to rat out Jim, who has become his friend, and he declares, "All right then, Ill go to Hell!"
I think the reason the parallels were created by the Tawin is for the purpose of reconnecting. They serve as connections to the start of the story, reminding the reader of the story's origin, and bringing the narrative in full circle. Also, it may serve a more literal purpose as well, as they might be in place to reinforce these issues or topics as concepts of highest importance in the books overall figuration. Lastly, in the plot itself, it is to show that Twain is still talking about the same Huck and the same story, even though it has gone through so many changes and metamorphoses.
Sorry for the late post,
I agree with others when they say that a parallel between chapters 1-4 and chapter 31 is the influence society has on Huck. In the beginning, Huck thinks no more of Jim than a slave because that is how society has taught him, calling him “Miss Watson’s big nigger” (page 14). Huck displays his feelings, influenced by society, in chapter 31. When he finds out Jim has gone missing he weights his options, stating, “It would get all around that Huck Finn helped a nigger to get his freedom; and if I was ever to see anybody from that town again I’d be ready to get down and lick his boots for shame” (page 208). Huck is afraid of what society would think of him after they found out he helped a slave; the prejudices of society has affected him. There is also the battle between Huck’s morals against the one of society. In chapter one Miss Watson, “she went on and told me all about the good place” also known as Heaven. But, in chapter 31, Huck ignores her explanation and decides “ ‘All right, then, I’ll go to hell’ “ (page 210). As you can see, society has had a negative influence on Huck but he learns to follow his own morals.
In the first four chapters of the book, Mark Twain addresses Hucks religious beliefs and opinions. On page 12, in the first chapter, Huck states, refering to heaven, "Well, I couldn't see no advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn't try for it." This shows how Huck is unsure and lost when it comes to religion and life after death. In chapter 31, Twain once again chalenges Huck's idea of religion as he parallels chapters one through four. Huck's situation is as follows: Jim has been captured as a runaway slave, and Huck wants to go out and save him. However, for the first time since chapters one through four, Huck is questioning his morality and religiousness. "And at last, when it hit me all of a sudden that here was the plain hand of Providence slapping me in the face and letting me know my wickedness was being watched all of the time from up there in heaven" (208). This comment shows that Huck's view on religion has drastically changed, and proves how Twain directly paralleled Huck's situation from the first four chapters. This parallelism also shows the reader how Huck has matured from the boy that "took no stock in dead people" (11).
I agree with Lorena that one of the parallels between chapters 1-4 and chapter 31 is religion. For example, in chapter 3, Huck discusses the topic of prayer and says that it doesn't work when he prays. He says, "[Miss Watson] told me to pray every day, and whatever I asked for I would get it. But it warn't so. I tried it. Once I got a fishline, but no hooks. It warn't any good to me without hooks. I tried for the hooks three or four times, but somehow I couldn't make it work" (Twain 14). In chapter 31, Huck feels bad about helping Jim escape Miss Watson because he says she "hadn't ever done [him] no harm" (Twain 270). Huck later says, "And I about made up my mind to pray, and see if I couldn't try to quit being the kind of boy I was and be better" (Twain 271). Mark Twain chooses to draw this parallel to show how Huck has matured. When Huck tries to pray in chapter 3, he prays for hooks so that he can fish. When he prays in chapter 31, he prays to become a better person.
I also agree with Lorena and Lani that another parallel between chapters 1-4 and chapter 31 is lying and trickery. In chapters 1 and 2, Tom Sawyer helps Huck escape Widow Douglas's house and Jim almost catches them. When Jim eventually falls asleep, Tom plays a trick on Jim. He says he, "slipped Jim's hat off of his head and hung it on a limb right over him, and Jim stirred a little, but he didn't wake" (Twain 8). Huck has been around trickery and lying his whole life, and he even does it himself very often, but he doesn't see anything bad in it. For example, in chapter 15, Huck plays a trick on Jim by saying that a day that happened was just a dream. However, in chapter 31, Huck realizes that lying is bad because the duke and the king sell Jim behind his back. He says, "After all this long journey, and after all we'd done for them scoundrels, here it was all come to nothing, everything all busted up and ruined, because they could have the heart to serve Jim such a trick as that, and make him a slave again all his life, and amongst strangers, too, for forty dirty dollars" (Twain 269). Huck learns how lying and trickery are bad through the duke and the king's actions. This parallel also shows that Huck has matured because before, he didn't see anything bad in lying, but now he understands its disastrous effects. In conclusion, Mark Twain draws parallels of religion, lying, and trickery beween chapters 1-4 and chapter 31 to show how Huck has matured throughout the story.
As most people have already stated, Twain draws many parallels between chapter thirty-one and chapters one through four regarding Huck’s emotional development and increasing maturity. The majority of people said that these connections include his attitude towards dishonesty, religion, and Jim. However, some have stated that Huck’s changes are bringing him closer to society’s ideals and values. I strongly disagree with this, and instead concur with what Ahsante, Sam Ed., and others have said about Huck beginning to pick and choose for himself what is moral and what is wrong. Throughout the book, Huck has adventured, gained much knowledge of the world around him, and has had the opportunity to see several issues presented in a different light. In chapter thirty-one, instead of letting all of his newfound information go to waste, he sorts through his experiences and contemplates what he believes are the right steps for him to take in his life. For instance, in chapter two, he was extremely eager to join a pretend gang of robbers with his friends. Part of the initiation process involved every boy picking someone in their family who they could kill as punishment, in the event of one robber harming another. Huck said that “they talked it over, and they was going to rule me out, because they said every boy must have a family or somebody to kill, or else it wouldn’t be fair and square for the others” (Twain 17). Because of this conundrum, as terrible as it may sound, “[he] was most ready to cry,” not because he didn’t want to kill anyone, but because he wanted so badly to be in the gang. He even offered his guardian as someone to kill soon after (Twain 18). Still, on the contrary, in chapter thirty-one, Huck and Jim suspect that the Duke and the Dauphin are ready to rob anybody just for money. Huck and Jim swore that “they wouldn’t have nothing in the world to do with such actions, and if [they] ever got the least show [they] would give [the Duke and the Dauphin] the cold shake and leave them behind” (Twain 205). They became “pretty scared” that [the Duke and the Dauphin] was going to break into somebody’s house or store, or was going into the counterfeit-money business, or something” (Twain 204-205). Huck’s drastic change from a boy who loves to simply pretend robbing people, but with no idea of the actual consequences, to a boy who is fully aware of how awful thievery really is, and has no intention of being involved with it any longer, comes only because he witnesses the Duke and the Dauphin perform their evil deeds. It was never mentioned in the book that Huck matured because somebody came and told him robbery was wrong; he did so on his own, after seeing the depressing effects of the Duke and the Dauphin’s attempted theft of Mary Jane and her sister’s money (Twain 183-184). Huck does the same “picking and choosing” with his view of religion, dishonesty, and especially slavery. He couldn’t have been conforming to his society’s principals if he blatantly stated that he would go to hell just to save Jim, a runaway slave (Twain 210). For each of the problems he faced, he carefully analyzed his opinion of them and remained the independent character he was throughout the entire book. Just as he said at the end of chapter thirty-one, “I didn’t want no trouble with [the Duke and the Dauphin’s] kind. I’d seen all I wanted to of them, and wanted to get entirely shut of them” (Twain 213). Huck debated what was right vs. what was wrong for himself, not for anyone else.
I am sorry that I could not get this done at the appropriate due date. Please excuse my late response.
One parallel which I noticed between chapters one through four, and thirty-one, is Huck's view of religion. Other than in those two chapters, there is barely any other spot where Huck gives his opinions regarding religion. From what I recall, the only other place in the book where religion is mentioned is on page 121 where Huckleberry went to church with the Grangerfords, and here he did not really talk about his opinions and values regarding religion. In the beginning of the book, when Huckleberry used to live with Miss Watson, he used to have to pray everyday (Twain 11). At this point in the book, Huck can not think of anything "cheerful", because everything seems so lonesome, morbid, and dead (Twain 11). Huckleberry ends up not praying at that earlier instance, which represents how Huck neglected religion since the beginning. When Huckleberry tries to pray, so he can receive things, he never gets anything he prays for (Twain 19). After thinking about how nobody seemed to get what they wanted, Huckleberry questioned the validity of religion. After getting some explanations from the Widow, Huck decides that helping other people all the time, and never thinking of himself (Both topics the Widow discussed in her explanation of religion and receiving things) did not seem to have very many benefits. This thought made Huck decide that religion was not worth his time and he should just forget about it (Twain 20). Early on in the book, Huckleberry even decides that he would rather go to hell (Twain 10). Huck wanted to go to hell, because he "wanted a change", and because Miss Watson said she was striving to go to heaven, and Huckleberry would prefer to not be where Miss Watson is (Twain 11). For the most part this attitude toward religion, and the actual benefits of it continued for the rest of the book, because after moving away from the widow, Huckleberry stopped his routine prayer, and overall just disregarded religion and doing the "moral", or "correct" thing. After making all these decisions about his opinion of religion, and sticking too them for the majority of the book, in chapter thirty-one Huckleberry does something very unexpected, he cares about his sins. On page 226, Huckleberry thinks about what an evil and wicked thing he did (or so he thought based on the morals and values of the time period), which was to assist a black slave become free. He also thinks about how his sins are being looked upon by God. Huckleberry also thinks to himself about how he could have learned to do what is right, and he could have gone to church every Sunday. When Huck confronts his sins, he is stunned by the horrible things that he let himself do. At this point, Huckleberry decides to pray. This action is very different from what he decided in the beginning of the book, when he decided he would rather go to hell. Huckleberry now wanted to do the "right" thing, and give up his sins (Twain 227). Huckleberry also recalls information he had previously learned regarding religion which was that "you cannot pray a lie" (Twain 227). When Huck decides to write the truth down, to give up his sins, he feels excited and happy. He also notices that this is the first time that he has ever been cleansed of all his sins. He considers that he almost was on his way towards hell, and also about how good Jim was to him. Huckleberry really considers right and wrong, and how his actions now will lead to consequences proceeding his death, something Huck would have never done previously. After considering all the good things Jim has done, Huck rips up the note and decides he will go to hell (Twain 228). The actions that take place in chapter thirty-one are completely contradictory of the morals he had previously set for himself (and stuck to) in chapters one through four. This parallel drawn between the climax of the book, and the beginning of the book is there to show the journey and transformation Huck has gone through, and the changes of morals and ideals it has brought to him. In the beginning of the book, he would rather go to hell, did not care about religion, and decided it was not important to help other people and not think of yourself. Here Huck considered right and wrong, prayed to become sin-less, and cared about whether he would go to heaven or hell. This moral and emotional change exhibits how Huck now is more aware of right and wrong, and of the consequences of his actions. Although he ends up not going through with his plan to rid himself of all sins, his choice of what to do ends up being moral based on the general values of religion, instead of the ideals of the time period, which represents how a change has been instilled in Huck.
I apologize for the late response.
I accidentally left my book at school, so I found an online text of Huckleberry Finn. However, the text does not include page numbers, so I have included the chapter numbers instead.
In Huckleberry Finn, there is a parallel between chapters 1-4 and chapter 31 regarding Huck’s relationship to Jim. For example, in chapter two, Jim is ridiculed and tricked by Tom and Huck: “Tom said he slipped Jim's hat off of his head and hung it on a limb right over him, and Jim stirred a little, but he didn't wake.” Huck does not try to stop Tom or think about what Jim might feel after being tricked. Jim, to Huck, is just “Ms. Watson’s big nigger” (Chapter 2). A similar situation occurs when the duke and the dauphin trickJim by capturing him and selling him to the Phelps’ farm. Huck thinks, “I'd see him standing my watch on top of his'n, 'stead of calling me, so I could go on ; and see him how glad he was when I come back out of the fog; and when I come to him again in the swamp, up there where the feud was; and such-like times; and would always call me honey, and pet me and do everything he could think of for me, and how good he always was; and at last I struck the time I saved him by telling the men we had small-pox aboard, and he was so grateful, and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the ONLY one he's got now” (Chapter 31). Huck, after numerous self-debates, decides to help Jim, even though he’ll “go to hell.” Jim is a black man, who, according to society, is beneath a white man. Huck, by helping Jim, will supposedly go to hell, while Jim will be free; Huck is ultimately putting Jim’s well-being before his, which is unheard of. Although the trickery is parallel in chapters 1-4 and chapter 31, Huck’s relationship with Jim has evolved into a deep friendship.
In chapter 31, like in chapters 1-4, Huck struggles with morality, and social responsibility. In the beginning of the book, Ms. Watson and the Widow Douglass try to teach Huck how to be moral and socially responsible. However, the lessons his guardians try to teach him, and the lessons he learns himself once he leaves home are very different. Ms. Watson tries to scare Huck into acting the way she (and much of society at that time) believes is right. She says that if he doesn’t change his ways, he will go to the “bad place”, as she calls it, or hell. Despite this message that there is one correct way to behave, over the course of the book Huck grows and matures enough to look past what society dictates that he do, to choose the course of action which he knows in his heart is right. In chapter 31, Huck has to decide whether he should contact Ms. Watson to tell her where Jim is, or try to protect Jim and save him from slavery. Society is telling Huck that turning in runaway slaves is the moral thing to do, but Huck rises above that and decides that protecting his friend Jim is more important. Huck says, “All right, then, I’ll go to hell.” His willingness to undergo anything, even going hell, just so that he can do the right thing shows how much he has grown over the course of the book. There are many parallels between chapter 31 and chapters 1-4 that I think Twain includes because it brings the story full circle. It shows where Huck started out, and how far he has come since then.
sorry, I (also) left my book at school, and used an onlinecopy.
In both chapters 1-4 and 31, Twain adds suspense to draw the readers into the story. Such as at the end of chapter 4, when Huck was describing his father, the last line was "When I lit my candle and went up to my room that night there sat pap -- his own self!" ALso, in chapter 31, Huck discovers Jim is missing, and that he was sold. Aftr Huck escaped the duke and the king, he called out for Jim "but there warn't no answer, and nobody come out of the wigwam. Jim was gone!" and when he was talking to the boy: "'...He's a runaway nigger, and they've got him. Was you looking for him?'" The parrallels I found was the panic Huck experienced, especially with Jim. Also, as people said, there was a lot of morality issues. Huck had some problems in 32 about going to hell, and as he remembered "There was the Sunday-school, you could a gone to it; and if you'd a done it they'd a learnt you there that people that acts as I'd been acting about that nigger goes to everlasting fire." Now, Huck has defiantly found value in the meaning of praying and hell v. heaven. In chapter 1-4, he doesn't mind going to hell as long as he can be with Tom Sawyer. I think Mark Twain used these parallels to show change and growth over time; how Huck experienced lessons that brought him to new conclusions about life.
Sorry, this comment board hasn't been working...my dad fixed it today, I guess it was the computer blocker that wouldn't let me access it.
I agree with what many people have said about Huck maturing. He has definatley matured in the later chapters because he has shown signs of realizing the society's imperfections; such as the discrimination against blacks. Also, he is finally beginning to decide for himself what his morals are, and isn't listening to other people's criticisims about his own beliefs. Though he is still a relatively young boy, he is beginning to realize the importance and the weight of his actions. He is also beginning to analyze the world more closely, and is starting to include himself in it, rather than just living his own life in his own little world. He now has the desire to make a difference, rather than when he just didn't want interfere with other's matters. He is deciding to STEAL JIM OUT OF SLAVERY, which not only is against most of the white society's personal rules, but is also against the law. He no longer cares if people are disappointed in him or if he gets in trouble, he follows his heart, AND his conscience, which I think is a sign of the highest level of maturity in Huck's confused world.
Twain draws numerous parallels between chapters 1-4 and chapter 31. In each portion of the book, Huck questions his own moralities, and continues the ongoing debate of what is right and what is wrong in society, and what sacrifices should be made either countering society or acting on behalf of it. Huck's moral values were immature and that of a young child, and at the beginning of chapter 3, he deemed himself to be "kind of low-down and ornery" (Twain 21). However, as Huck floats along the river with his partner Jim and the duke and dauphin, he mind begins to develop and his personality emerges, such as the time when he foils the plans of the duke and dauphin so the money of Mary Jane and her sisters will not be stolen, as he finds their trickery inconceiveable.
Also, during the duration of chapters 1-4, Miss Watson always has to explain various topics such as Providence (Twain 21) and the importance of dead historical characters (Twain 21) to Huck, and is constantly addressing his endless curiousity. Now, in chapter 31 on pages 82-85, it is Huck that is explaining historical figures like King Solomon to Jim.
Another parallel is that Twain makes Jim a central part of the conflict in chapter 2 and chapter 31. In chapter 2, as Tom and Huck are finding a way to sneak past Jim so they can meet with their gang of robbers, Jim is an obstacle that they must deceive. However, in chapter 31, Jim becomes less of an burdensome obstacle, and more of a lost companion that Huck, after discovering his own values, is desperate to find.
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