Huck Finn: Part 1

Jamie Beckman
English period-2
September 22, 1998

I enjoyed the first half of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn very much. I'm finding Huck to be a very interesting character. He seems to want to be extremely independent, but the reader can sense that he is still dependent on others. It's not so much that Huck needs others for survival, but I think he would drive himself crazy without company. This is why Jim is such an important character in the book. He provides Huck with much needed companionship.

I was confused about the trick that Huck played on Jim when they got separated in the fog. He told Jim that they were never really separated or in any danger of losing each other, and that it was all just a dream. I think he might have done this in order to gain a sense of control over Jim. That was the way of the people back then. African-Americans were inferior to whites. It is also possible that Huck was afraid Jim might try to take advantage of his friendship because he’s been treating him as an equal on their journey. Playing this trick on Jim allowed Huck to regain dignity and feel powerful because Jim didn't know the truth. It forced Jim to believe what Huck was saying.

I also wondered why Huck felt guilty for abandoning the gang of robbers on the sinking boat. I now think Huck felt a wave of compassion for the robbers. He said in the book that it was such a dreadful predicament and that he might someday grow up to be a robber. Then he applied the golden rule by reasoning that he wouldn’t want someone to leave him on a sinking ship if he were a robber so he found a watchman who could help the gang.

I'm wondering if there is really a point to this story or if it's just going to be an account of Huck Finn's journey. Despite it's seemingly pointless plot, I've enjoyed reading the first half and look forward to the second part.