Today we are going to discuss chapter 9-10 of Huckleberry Finn, review a little, and look at chapter 11.

Unit Learning Goal: Students will demonstrate knowledge of nineteenth century foundation works of American Literature by analyzing satire in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and relating one of its main themes to another text and issue of the time. 

 

TEXTS:

“Historical and Context of the transition from Romanticism to Realism”; selected poetry by Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson; excerpts from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas; “The Gettysburg Address”, “The Emancipation Proclamation”, “Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address”; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

By the end of the novel students will be able to

1)    Define realism, satire, dialect, antihero, unreliable narrator, irony (situational, dramatic, and verbal), episodic plot, romanticism, dramatic foils, hyperbole, motif, picaresque novel, parable, sarcasm, simile, metaphor, oxymoron, allegory, euphemism, bildungroman

2)    Pick out examples of symbols, irony and dialect

3)    Example the meaning of at least one major symbol

4)    Discuss how Huck is both an unreliable narrator and an antihero

5)    Discuss how Huckleberry Finn, the novel, fits both a bildungsroman and picaresque novel

6)    Give examples of and discuss the following motifs in the book: superstition, parodies of previous literature (romantic novels and Shakespeare), the adopting of personas (or reinventing self), childhood games, religion, lies and cons, death, and perhaps one or two others that I will bring up in class

7)    Be out to pick out and example five – ten allusions

8)    Outline the plot according to the six elements

9)    Break up the book into three sections or three movements (and briefly explain each movement)

10) Break up the book into 9 episodes

11) Give a list of characters in the book with a brief description of each and their general purpose in the novel

12) Compare and Contrast Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer

13) Discuss the idea of and the historical reference of Family Feuds

14) Discuss the different types of conflict found in Huckleberry Finn

15) Discuss how Mark Twain uses allusions to back up his major themes and develop his characters

16)   Keep a list of Huckleberry Finns stories and pranks

17) Discuss how Huckleberry Finn is honest in dishonest world

18) Briefly explain the following themes: Racism and Slavery, Intellectual and Moral Education, The hypocrisy of society (appearance vs. reality), conflict between the individual and society, the quest for freedom (both freedom away from society and freedom within society), superstition vs religion, death and rebirth, coming of age and the hero’s journey, the concept of family, the role of the outsider, the nature and the significance of the following traits: gullibility, ignorance, and naivety, tolerance vs. prejudice. 

19) Define and use various vocabulary words that appear in the book

20) Develop a project based on some aspect of the novel.

21) Answer study questions as you read.

 

Episode 1: (Chapters 1- 4) Huck is living with the Widow Douglas, who is teaching him about region and having go to school. Tom Sawyer starts a gang who says there are gonna steal for passing wagons. Tom plays a trick on Jim. Huck is in Tom's gang for a little while but nothing really comes of it and he quits. Huck realizes his dad is back and gives all the money to Judge Thatcher. This episode ends with huck's dad in his room. Huck goes to Jim for advice or a prophet and Jim really doesn't tell him anything important. ends by Pa showing up.

Episode 2: (5- 7) Pa gives Huck a hard time for being eduated and tells him to stop going to school or he'll whip him. Then he questions Huck about the money and Huck says he doesn't have it. Pa says he will get it from Judge Tatcher cause it's his. Then he goes to the Judge and demands for the money. The judge decided he wanted custody of Huck and go to the law. Well there is a new Judge in town who doesn't want to break up a son and dad. Pa then plays off the judge's Gullibilty, saying he would quit drink and is a changed man. The judge gives him a room and new clothes, pa gets drunk and the judge gives up on him. So Pa tries to get the money again, and he also kidnaps Huck. Well they live in a cabin and Pa is careful not to leave anything Huck could use to escape. Huck eventually finds a saw and starts sawing through the floor everytime Pa leaves. One night Pa comes back really drunk and tries to kill Huck. The next day, Huck finds some logs and Pa takes them to the town to sell them. While Pa is way, Huck finishes sawing thorugh, makes it look like he was killed and leaves.
 
Episode 3: (8-11)
Episode 4: (12-16) 
  

THEMES:

 

Major Themes: Mark Twain described the major theme of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as an irony: "A sound heart and a deformed conscience come into collision and conscience suffers defeat." We can define the "deformed conscience" as a conscience influenced by the laws of society and a sense of duty toward those laws. The laws of society at the time of Huck's journey considered people of African descent as property and, therefore, less than human. Huck's struggle with his "deformed conscience" represents a major conflict in the novel. Furthermore, the novel is rich in common themes, themes that we will discover in many other pieces of literature.

1. The conflict between the individual and society - Huck's struggle with his "deformed conscience"
2. The conflict between the emotional and the rational
3. Appearance vs. reality - hypocrisy and "phoniness"
4. Superstition - as a method of explaining and understanding
5. Tolerance vs. prejudice
6. Dehumanization - dehumanizing human beings to oppress them
7. Death and rebirth
8. Coming of age - the hero's journey
9. The role of the outsider
10. The nature and significance of the following human traits: gullibility, ignorance and naivete

Other significant themes include: the feeling of loneliness and isolation; the quest for freedom; romantic vs. real; implied vs. literal; the role of women; the concept of family.  

NOTES:

Picarsque Novel: Usually a satirical novel which depicts in realistic detail the adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who survives by his or her wits in a corrupt society.

Bildungsroman: A novel whose principal subject is the moral, psychological and intellectual development of a youthful main character.

Episodic Plot: A structure that features distinct episodes or a series of stories linked together by the same character. Huck Finn can be broken up into 8 or 9 episodes.

Romanticism:
Work of literature that deal with imagination, that represent ideals of life, these works often include fantastic adventure stories, spiritual connections with nature, gothic stories of the fantastic. Authors include: Sir Walter Scott, Fenimore Cooper, Poe.

Realism:
Works of literature that depict life and people as they really appear. Hence Realistic.
Themes include corruption of society as a whole, racism.

Anithero:
A protagonist who doesn't fit the traditional description of a hero.

Persona:
An assumed identity or character.

Satire:
A work of literature that uses irony and hyperbole to attack and mock some aspect of society as a way to promote social change. 

 

Huck Discussion Questions: V - XI (5 -11)

1. Pap: "I won't have it. I'll lay for you, my smarty; and if I catch you about that school I'll tan you good. First you know you'll get religion. I never seen such a son." Discuss the meaning and irony.
2. How does the refusal of the court to grant custody of Huck to the Widow Douglas and Judge Thatcher reflect on society?
3. Even though Huck is regularly beaten, he prefers to stay at the shanty. Why? How does this reflect one of the major themes?
4. Comment on Pap's drunken tirade over the "govment." What message is Twain sending?
5. What major theme is reflected by Huck's escape from his father and his discovery of Jim?
6. What is ironic about Huck wishing Tom were there to help plan the escape? How do you think the plan would have developed had Tom been there? Would it have been successful?
7. Discuss the irony in Huck's finding bread to eat. He also seems to modify his position on prayer. Discuss.
8. Discuss Jim' actions after meeting Huck.
9. Discuss how running into Jim represents Huck's rebirth. Discuss the resulting conflict in Huck's mind.
10. Significance: "People would call me a lowdown Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum."
11. Even though Jim seems to rely on superstition, many of his predictions are rooted in knowledge.
Explain the significance.
12. Discuss the trick that Huck plays on Jim. It that typical of Huck's character? What does he learn?

13. What do we learn about Huck's character from his trip to shore?
14. When Mrs. Loftus discusses the money that Tom had found, a common human trait emerges. Discuss.
15. Discuss the satire revealed in the amounts of the rewards.

 

Chapters 11-14

1. Compare and contrast the lies Huck gives to Mrs. Judith Lotus to the lies he tells the watchman? (chap 11 and 13). Think about purpose and results. Remember lies and inventing (or reinventing) personas is a motif. What theme do you think these lies reinforce?
2. Make a list of names Huck uses or invent.
3. Contrast the gang on the Walter Scott to Tom’s Gang (you might even look at some of the rules of Tom’s Gang). What is the significance of these two gangs? What idea is Twain trying to reinforce?
4. Look up Walter Scott on the internet. Why would Twain name the sinking boat Walter Scott? What is he making fun of? (Hint: Research the name and read about who Walter Scott was).
5. Look up the dimensions of the Mississippi. Write them down. Look up the Mississippi in Illinois and Missouri. What does the internet say about the river in these two states? Find a picture of the Mississippi. Why do you think Twain used the Mississippi as a symbol?
6. What are Huck’s descriptions of the river when he and Jim first leave Jackson Island (before the storm)? What theme does this reinforce?
7. Why does Huck want to save the gang of murders? What is funny about this? What does it say about Huck?
8. What is the significance of the following quote: “Do you reckon Tom Sawyer would ever go by this thing? Not for pie, he wouldn’t. He’d call it an adventure—that’s what he’d call it; and he’d land on that wreck if it was his last act. And wouldn’t he throw style into it?—wouldn’t he spread himself, nor nothing? Why you’d think it was Christopher Columbus discovering Kingdom-Come.”
9. What is funny about the discussion between borrowing and stealing? Discuss what you think the significance of this is.
10. Make a list of references to death so far in the novel.
11. List the allusions so far.
What was your favorite event that happened in chapters 11-13? Why?


Huck Discussion Questions: XV - XX

1. Discuss the significance of the fog incident and Jim's interpretation of it. "The lot of towheads was troubles we was going to get into with quarrelsome people and all kinds of mean folks, but if we minded our business and didn't talk back and aggravate them, we would pull through and get out of the fog and into the big clear river, which was the free states, and wouldn't have no more trouble" (64). Consider the major themes as well as foreshadowing.

2. How does Huck feel about playing the trick on Jim? Comment: "It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and I warn't sorry for it afterwards, neither" (65). How does this statement contribute to the overall meaning of the novel?

3. Discuss the significance of the following quotes from Chapter XVI:

"Jim said it made him all over trembly and feverish to be so close to freedom. Well, it made me all trembly and feverish, too, to hear him because I begun to get it through my head that he was most free -- and who was to blame for it? Why me. I couldn't get it out of my conscience, no how nor no way." (66).

"Here was this nigger which I as good as helped to run away, coming right out flat-footed and saying he would steal his children -- children that belonged to a man I didn't even know; a man that hadn't ever done me no harm." (67). Explain the irony in this quote as well as the significance.

"Well, then, says I, what's the use you learning to do right, when it's troublesome to do right and ain't no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same?" (69).

"Doan' less' talk about it, Huck. Po' niggers can't have no luck. I awluz 'spected dat rattle-snake skin warn't done wid its work." (70).

4. Why do the bounty hunters give Huck money? What is ironic about their reaction to Huck's story?

5. What does the destruction of the "naturally" created raft by the "industrially" created steamboat symbolize?

6. Speculate on why Twain put Huckleberry Finn aside for a few years at the end of XVI?

7. Describe the Grangerford house. What is satirical about the furnishings, art, and poetry? What does this description say about the Grangerfords?

8. The first part of Chapter XVII reveals an example of the theme of Huck playing on Buck's gullibility. Discuss this example as well as other examples of the novel's major themes evident in

Chapters XVI & XVII.

9. What does Huck's reaction to "Moses and the candle" indicate? Discuss the meaning of "Moses" as a motif in the novel.

10. What does Twain satirize in his description of the church service and the hogs that sleep under the floor?

11. What does the feud symbolize? Does this remind you of another famous piece of literature? Explain. Through the feud incident, Twain satirizes human traits and behaviors. Discuss.

12. "I was powerful glad to get away from the feuds, and so was Jim to get away from the swamp. We said there warn't no home like a raft, after all. Other places do seem so clamped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft"(88). Discuss the paradox. Furthermore, this excerpt from the final paragraph of Chapter XVIII is significant in that it pertains to the major themes of the novel. Explain.

13. Huck and Jim's manner of dress on the raft is symbolic. What do clothes represent?

14. Why doesn't Huck expose the Duke and the King (Dauphin) as frauds?

15. Who is the most shrewd, the King and the Duke or Huck? Why? Give some examples.

16. What does Twain satirize in the plan to present Romeo and Juliet? Discuss Romeo and Juliet as a motif.

17. Discuss the significance of the pirate and the revival meeting. What is Twain satirizing?

18. Is Twain making a statement about society through the antics of the King and Duke? Explain.