QUOTE:
“’Don’t you give me none o’ your lip,’ says he. ‘You’ve put on considerble many frills since I been away. I’ll take you down a peg before I get done with you. Your educated, too, they say; can read and write. You think you’re better’n your father, now, don’t you’” (Twain 120).
SUMMARY:
Pap catches up with Huck and decides to drag him down to his own low level. He doesn’t want Huck to be any “better,” and he only wants the money Huck has.
RESPONSE:
Twain creates an uneasy feeling right before Pap returns, and it’s almost like reading a thriller or scary novel. At first it seems pretty silly when Jim gets out his magic “hair-ball” that has a spirit inside of it, but it actually predicted the future! (Or did it??) I don’t know whether Jim already knew Pap was back or not, but assuming that he didn’t, this is definitely the part of the book that puts me into “movie-mode.” I’ve always liked books that can create a vivid picture in my mind (and it seems like almost everything I’ve read in the last class as well as this one have become little movies in my brain), so this part of the story helped to hook me into reading more.
From this point on in the story, however, I started to get more and more frustrated with Pap. I couldn’t wait to read how Huck finally escapes, and of course he fakes his own death! That must be a running theme for Twain because I think Tom Sawyer ends up at his own funeral in his book? I guess the idea of a person faking his or her own death is pretty fascinating. I wonder if Twain found the idea fascinating as well, so he wrote about it in his books? However, it seems like a pretty tricky situation to “stay dead” once Huck plants all of the evidence. I actually thought, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” when Pap passes right by Huck in the skiff. Even though I already knew that Huck escaped, I was still uneasy reading this whole part.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Journal #11 Mark Twain: Good Lessons For Kids!
QUOTE:
“She said all a body would have to do there was to go around all day long with a harp and sing, forever and ever…I asked her if she reckoned Tom Sawyer would go there, and, she said, not by a considerable sight. I was glad about that, because I wanted him and me to be together” (Twain 110).
SUMMARY:
Miss Watson tells Huck about heaven, “the good place,” but he realizes that he probably wouldn’t care to go to heaven. This foreshadows Huck’s tough decision later in the story.
RESPONSE:
This little conversation about heaven and hell in the beginning of the story sets up the nature of Huck’s character. He seems to think like a young boy who would rather play all day than take life seriously, but he is also a loyal friend. He would much rather go to hell and be able to have “fun” with his friends, than go to heaven and stroll around the clouds with a harp singing. I think Huck truly believes in heaven and hell, and especially because he is so superstitious. Just from killing a spider, Huck ends up completing at least three actions “to keep witches away” (110), and yet he still has no problem with sneaking out to start a gang with Tom Sawyer.
This gang is pretty violent and nasty, however, Tom Sawyer’s Gang doesn't actually do anything in real life that is “bad,” such as killing people. The first couple chapters set up the book to be about a bunch of kids playing “make-believe” games, so I can see why a lot of people thought Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was going to be a Tom Sawyer Part II. When I first started reading (probably up until Huck’s father comes back), I was even thinking what a great book this must be for young kids. However, even after reading about Huck’s father, a part of me still thinks there is a lot in this book that is probably better for kids to learn at a young age. Maybe? I guess I think kids can handle a lot more than people give them credit for.
“She said all a body would have to do there was to go around all day long with a harp and sing, forever and ever…I asked her if she reckoned Tom Sawyer would go there, and, she said, not by a considerable sight. I was glad about that, because I wanted him and me to be together” (Twain 110).
SUMMARY:
Miss Watson tells Huck about heaven, “the good place,” but he realizes that he probably wouldn’t care to go to heaven. This foreshadows Huck’s tough decision later in the story.
RESPONSE:
This little conversation about heaven and hell in the beginning of the story sets up the nature of Huck’s character. He seems to think like a young boy who would rather play all day than take life seriously, but he is also a loyal friend. He would much rather go to hell and be able to have “fun” with his friends, than go to heaven and stroll around the clouds with a harp singing. I think Huck truly believes in heaven and hell, and especially because he is so superstitious. Just from killing a spider, Huck ends up completing at least three actions “to keep witches away” (110), and yet he still has no problem with sneaking out to start a gang with Tom Sawyer.
This gang is pretty violent and nasty, however, Tom Sawyer’s Gang doesn't actually do anything in real life that is “bad,” such as killing people. The first couple chapters set up the book to be about a bunch of kids playing “make-believe” games, so I can see why a lot of people thought Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was going to be a Tom Sawyer Part II. When I first started reading (probably up until Huck’s father comes back), I was even thinking what a great book this must be for young kids. However, even after reading about Huck’s father, a part of me still thinks there is a lot in this book that is probably better for kids to learn at a young age. Maybe? I guess I think kids can handle a lot more than people give them credit for.
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