Huck Finn #3: p.47-66

"Jim said bees wouldn’t sting idiots; but I didn’t believe that, because I had tried them lots of times myself, and they wouldn’t sting me" (56).

It is sad to see that Huck views himself as an idiot. We have to remember that Huck is only twelve years old and to view himself as an idiot at this age could only foreshadow a sad future. Tom Sawyer did call him ignorant before but encouraged him to read; the Widow Douglas tried to"sivilize" (9) Huck with proper manners and an education. Though Huck was getting better, his father put him in his place and told him to forget about all that he learned. Huck may not have the best formal education, yet he did successfully escape from Pap in a very impressive way, diverting their attention with the hog blood and trail. He has a great knowledge of the outdoors and has been able to take care of himself well. Huck may be an idiot with books and writing, but he sure is a genius in the outdoors life.

"But he's lucky, dey say, en I see I warn't lucky" (57).

Jim's story about his money problems seems unbelievable due to his great belief of superstitions. Touching snakeskin or how birds fly are all omens to Jim, and they actually turn out true. It is hard to understand how Jim could have dealt with his money anymore foolishly. Unfortunately, Jim found no bad omens and found his pockets almost empty. It is somewhat humorous that a slave, one to not have much of anything, was greedy for more money. Hopefully, Jim will find something of value on his journey with Huck. As I said earlier about Huck making his own path away from good or evil, Jim is also in search of freedom, not just slavewise, but from all the distractions of life. He wants to know what works behind these omens, what makes things come true, what makes him live the life of a slave. If we remind ourselves of the obedience model of morality, God is watching our movement between good and evil. Huck and Jim have broken off this scale and are possibly headed down the river toward the man who controls prayers, the man who controls life.

Vocabulary:

"It most give me the fan-tods" (51).

fantods- n. state of extreme nervousness or restlessness

"we lolled on the grass and eat it smoking hot" (53).

loll- v. sit, lie, or stand in a lazy, relaxed way