Jim’s manner of speaking isn’t necessarily less educated than Huck’s, but his accent is distinctly different.  For example, the sheer quantity of apostrophes in the written form of his accent shows that his speech is peppered with elisions and deletions - most of which can be attributed to his social class and the setting.  The Southern predisposition for non-rhotic speech and gliding vowels is clear in Jim’s case, though because he is a slave, he may also be missing teeth, which would also affect his speech.  The general state of an individual’s health is often highly dependent on social class, and may heavily affect their diction.

Huckleberry Finn being young, uneducated, and unaware of proper etiquette and expectations that are imposed on boys like him at that time makes him very different as a person when compared to the common crowd. Naturally, Finn is going to be unalike other members in his society due to his uncommon upbringing. As a result, he pursues certain decisions that would be seen as absurd to other white people, like helping Jim escape from slavery. Overall, the takeaway from his actions is to show that Finn is very different, and his character does not reflect the general ideals of people in that setting.

Respect, status, and conformity are all significant values in Southern society. Finn’s rebellious nature and lack of willingness to abide by typical societal expectations reflects the rashness of his character, emphasizing how opposing his actions are to the other characters in the book. Finn, however, is not the only person whose actions do not abide by the typical expectations of society– his father, Pap, being an alcoholic and an absent father, is also looked down upon. Meanwhile, those of higher status (who also happen to be slave owners), are respected, outlining what’s deemed positive and negative in Southern society. Of course, not every character is perfect, however, through their reactions and opinions on particular issues and topics, we as readers can see what the overall norm is.

When Huck finds Jim in the forest, not only is he glad to have someone else to help him survive, but he is happy to not be “lonesome, now” ( page 52 ). Being emotionally and supportively  abandoned by his father, Huck is strongly motivated by companionship. His relationship with Jim is significant, because it reflects how strong this motive is. Living in 19th century deep south, slavery and racism is dominant. For Huck to confide and live along Jim, even though he has abolitionist values (page 53), reflects just how lonely he is. 

Adventure is a popular topic amongst young boys in this time period, with pirate adventures and heists creating the basis for games.  The leader of the group of boys in the neighborhood, Tom Sawyer, is a strong figure and prominent in affecting Huck. Huck views Tom as a role model. In the passage where Jim and Huck find an off-shore steamboat, Huck and Jim argue about whether to loot the ship or stay away from danger.  Huck mentions multiple times how he “wishes Tom were here”, as Tom would love the idea of danger, despite Jim’s warnings. 

Huck has a complicated relationship with his biological and non biological figures in the story.  His father is always trying to steal his money, is a drunk, and is abusive. He takes Huck to the forest in a cabin, and locks him up in his room depriving him of food. Huck is ashamed of his father, and in the beginning of the story readers are to believe he doesn’t even have family: In the passage mentioning punishments for betraying Tom Sawyer's gang, a member mentioned “ Here’s Huck Finn, he hain’t got no family”(16). Huck was “ready to cry”(16) in this moment, reflecting the rare moment in the story so far when Huck’s emotions are on display. Huck also stands up against his father multiple times; running away from him, going to school, 

The closest to a father and mother figure Huck as, is the Widow and Judge Thatcher. They both look out for Huck, and even though he doesn’t realize it, they are watching out for him. The Judge protects Huck’s money, and the Widow takes care of Huck. His naivety towards these 

figures help reflect  Huck’s age, and also tells the reader who is trustworthy. In chapter 4, Huck wants to protect his money because he is afraid his father would take it all. He means to give it all to Judge Thatcher, and instead of the Judge exploiting Huck, he manages to legally protect Huck’s money by “[selling] all your property to me”. 

Friends 

I would categorize Jim as Huck’s friend in the story so far. Huck and trust Jim, because he knows no one would trust Jims word. Also, Jim and Huck both have dependent relationships. Huck relies on Jim for survival and companionship, and Jim relies on Huck not to sell him out. Jim helps Huck survive, with his intuition “Jim said it [the flying birds] was a sign it was going to rain” proving useful. 

In this passage, Jim and Huck are discussing how they think the stars ended up in the sky.  Huck thinks that they just happened, while Jim thinks they were made.  This seems to echo a much larger argument about whether things in life just happen, or whether there is someone out there making it happen.  While Huck thinks it would take too long to make so many stars, he doesn’t actually say who he thinks would be making them.  The closest they get to broaching that question is when Jim suggests that maybe the moon laid the stars and Huck thinks of a frog laying eggs.  Even here, Huck’s perspective is coloured by his relationship with the world and with nature.

What do their respective stances on the origins of the stars say about Huck and Jim?  We already know that Jim has certain superstitions - more than Huck, anyway - and his opinion that the stars were made seems to fit with his personality, so I wonder how this aspect of his personality will affect his actions in future.

Because Huck prefers nature over ‘civilization’ he tends to view things through the lens of his preference.  While a more educated or ‘civilized’ person in this era might say that God made the moon and the stars, Huck and Jim are content to debate whether or not the stars were made or just happened, or whether perhaps the moon laid the stars like a frog lays eggs.  

Huck seems particularly disgusted by the king and the duke in this vignette, and it shows in his choice of language.  He mocks the king’s overblown, flowery language, but also shows that the king is really doing a very poor job of imitating the person he’s supposed to be.  The king says ‘diseased’ instead of ‘deceased’ - one of many linguistic mistakes he makes (see ‘funeral orgies’) - in between his insincere but effectively flowery language.  

I wonder why this particular vignette is when Huck loses patience with the king and the duke.  Was it prompted by the conversation he had with Jim in the previous chapter?  Or was he already tired of them before, but didn’t really start to be disgusted until now?

Part of the reason why Huck is now appalled by the king and the duke is because they’ve started impinging on his moral values.  To some extent, Huck values that which is genuine.  He doesn’t mind the king and the duke at first, even though he knows they’re lying, because that’s simply who they are.  He accepts that they’re con artists and doesn’t bother to let them know that he knows that they're lying, because he thinks that people like that should just be left alone to pretend as they will.  However, when the king and the duke start imitating a dead man’s brother, it goes a little too far for Huck’s conscience.  He hates the overblown displays of emotion the king and the duke create and incite, and he dislikes the whole scheme in general.  It offends his sense of morality, and his ideas about how people should behave.

As we continue to read the book, it’s evident that Pap referring to Huck as the “Angel of Death” is intentionally meant to be foreshadowing for the overwhelming amount of deaths surrounding Huck that occur later on in the book. As we see a personal perspective of Pap’s alcoholism, we also note that Huck is someone who is independent and makes an effort to put himself first. This is most recognizable when Huck holds a gun in Pap’s direction as he sleeps in order to protect himself… despite him being his own father and what not. Being a child who is not dependent on any other parent would naturally make it difficult for him to simply get up and avoid the situation all together, so instead, we as readers can see that Huck, as much as he desperately wants to get away, can simply protect himself with his mere abilities and nothing more.

The story Huckleberry Finn takes place in the antebellum south, in other words illustrating the time period before the civil war concurred. The use of the n-word is only but because of the time period, to us right now perhaps it’s even absurd how much it’s flung around in the story, but it might have been less intense back then. In truth, it was but its significance in portraying or even being insulting has changed significantly. But, it was still used as a term of inferiority. GIving he’s from the antebellum south there was a lot of tension between if someone was considered an abolitionist of slaves. St. Elmo Brady was the man who they spoke about having gotten an education and been a professor. It’s a very tough time, and it was very easy to place the blame on a person of color. Missouri wasn’t a place necessarily for agriculture, this allowed for a lot of slave and “owner” relationships that were different from other regions but it doesn't mean it wasn’t as severe. 

Language is correlated with a lot of things, the language was really watered down between whites and slaves, the drastic difference showed a clear distinct nature between the two. Many boys were expected to be educated, hard-working, and have a moral guideline, he’s different in that his education has been obstructed, and he would’ve never helped Jim escape. 

New Family

Boat interaction

I found it interesting they referred to the boats as she, although it may be obvious for some the use of the female term originates from how men like boats, that they be named like goddesses. Why? It’s a form of holy protection, they also name them women who are important in their lives, and over the years have cultivated a use of female terms to describe boats, showing huck’s proximity to bodies of waters. The mentioning of Cairo, is mainly brought up with the fact it’s a free state for illinois, however it seems as if a big part of it is missing that even on landing, Jim wouldn’t be free, slave departure laws would bring him right back to his”owner”. Jim’s moral alignment to rat out Jim is one aligned with the time, that although he still referred to Miss watson as a good person, it’s without a doubt a big push in his moral compass that he still admits that turning Jim in would still feel wrong regardless of that miss watson is a good person. Showing a full display of what southern culture has taught him as correct. The entire section for which the grangerfords and shepherds acted was once based on the romance novels of the time Mark Twain wrote the story, they acted brash and careless with their lives at play on the fact, that many although owning hundreds of slaves and owning large estates for they’re country men they were as dumb as ever with their lives. Jim’s play with using huck as a power to not have the boat taken away was a big show of racism at the time, and Jim and Huck’s reaction to serve the men, were more of the realization that these two men were capable of ratting them out more than anything. The family was incredibly wealthy a showcase on the wealth from slaves, given the time and the great time, the culture at the time was heavily based on horses, balls, dances and much more, presence of calvinism is present foreordination and predestination between the feud of the family, that just because that’s how things are. Finally, the boat scene referenced King Louis XVI who had been in full support of French Support to the Americans, there child had mysteriously disappeared and a conspiracy floated around of his presence in American soil, to avoid the revolutionaries who killed his mother and father. The second person named was the Duke of Bridgewater who otherwise created the first canal in use in England for inland navigation,

Because he was a changed man now, and happy for the first time in his life’ and poor as he was, he was going to start right off and work his way back to the Indian Ocean and put in the rest of his life trying to turn the pirates in the true path; for he could do it better than anybody else, being acquainted with all the pirate crews in that ocean; and though it would take him a long time to get there, without money, he would get there anyway, and every time he convinced a pirate he would say to him, “Don’t you thank me, don’t you give me no credit, it all belongs to them dear people Pokeville camp-meeting, natural brothers and benefactors of the race- and the fear preacher there, the truest friend a pirate ever had!

Thoughts:

I thought this passage was very synonymous with slavery perhaps? The passage was very much sounded like ending slavery, especially with how it had ended with a phrase that Jim said? Truest friend a pirate ever had, I also just enjoyed the realism in this scene, the passage felt like one of those church meetings where everyone is crying, everyone just balls out and starts acting hysterically from the powerful words of the pastor. It’s creepy but interesting at times how these were the influencers of the time, 

Questions:

Why is this even shown in the passage?What does it say about slavery?What is the meaning of this passage in the world, what about the culture of the south? What does it portray?Why is it important that he use pirates than anything else? Why did he aim to change them? How does this depict anything about the civil war at the time? Why is it relevant to the Indian Ocean?

Epiphanies:

This passage is the representation of the need to change, the exploitation, and even how easy it is to sway the population with influencers at the time.