Huckleberry Finn was a huge step in literature, especially for the times when it was written. I think that the book expresses an amazing pro-acknowledgment of the realities of slavery. I think that the last 13 chapters are incredibly important in the book because, even though quite satirical they express an incredible reality of the hardships of slavery and the way that white people simply believe that it is just alright.
I want to base my paper first around the three transformations of Huck Finn and how he stepped out from the norms of society (even though he was trying to be forced into them through Ms Watson's rules and schooling). His first transformation happens on Jackson's Island when he says "they are after us," to Jim. His second one is when he says he'll go to hell for the freedom of Jim, and the third is his final ability to humble himself to Jim after playing a rude trick on him. This not only represents the transformation of a young boy, but the idea that one day society may transform into the belief that blacks do too have rights. But does society really change? No. The end of the book proves this through Huck's submission to Tom's cruelty. It's like this glimpse of hope has been snatched up in what is really reality, what is still partially reality today. Still, society has a frame of mind biased towards colored people. Though the cruelty of slavery still may not exist, the reality of racism and outward, demeaning acknowledgment of racism does.
After using the three transformation scenes, I will use different examples of slavery from Tom's harsh cruelty towards Jim in the end. When he makes him write with blood, sleep with snakes, dress as a woman for almost pure enjoyment. I will truly hit hard that he knew all along he was free, making the cruelty even harsher. It represents societies "true knowledge" (I guess you could say atleast some people knew it was wrong) that slavery was immoral. People such as Huck. But they too get sucked back into what is society: slavery.
T.S. Eliot proves my point in saying that "the story descends to the level of Tom Sawyer."
Leo Marx: "Jim's yearning for freedom, is made the object of nonsense. The conclusion, in short, is farce, but the rest of the novel is not."
Trilling: "there is a certain falling off" (at the end) "yet it has a certain formal aptness"
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Kenya,
ReplyDeleteI really admire the approach you are taking here--especially in your celebration of the ending as a bitterly satirical confirmation of the very wrong-headedness on society's part that Huck has managed to rise above. I think it would help your case to identify specific scenes from the novel (not just those related to Huck and Finn, but the cruelty shown during the feud, by Col. Sherburn, the King and the Duke, etc.) that can can use to show that the entire novel aims at satirizing human foibles (especially the foibles of those dwelling in the slave holding south), which may not be limited to race. Keep in mind Huck's observation that humans CAN be terrible to one another (I can't recall the actual quotation).