Monday, January 28, 2013

Blog Prompt for January 28th

I think Twain crafts this morally ambiguous world for Huck to navigate because he wants to let us as the readers know that the world is not as safe as we might think regardless of us seeing it perfectly while living with our parents/guardians. Twain puts real-life scenarios for Huck to show part of what can happen when you are on your own and you encounter strangers. Luckily the two con men were what they were and not killers. All the immoral actions that Huck has been engaging in has really been playing on his mind in a bad way. It constantly troubles his conscience and causes him to rethink whatever he had done or was about to do. I say this because every time he engages in something immoral he remembers what the widow would have to say about it and her Christian way of life. He's always thinking of things that she might say or remember bible scriptures that has something to do about his current experience. He would always feel bad and think that he shouldn't be doing what he was doing but he was not in much of a position to say or do otherwise because of what he had brought on himself by picking up the two men. The moral values came from Huck living with the widow and Ms. Watson. Even though he didn't like Ms. Watson's way of thinking and preferred the widow's, he would always remember what they would preach to him for him to do what was morally right. Twain might be suggesting that people  from our grandparents' generation are usually ones to be actively involved in the church and its teachings. With that said they would normally try to enforce those beliefs upon us regardless of the life we choose to live. Twain is also trying to show that females in late adulthood are usually embracing their religious beliefs. With that said it is more likely for them to spread "the word" to whomever they can.

4 comments:

  1. I agree, for those of us who have lived a "sheltered" life with our parents, we are unaware of what children from troubled families face growing up and how they are forced to take care of themselves. Especially long ago when children were more likely to fall through the cracks of welfare/social systems of the courts. Luckily, children today are more likely to be put in the care of approved legal guardians to provide for them and protect them.

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  2. I agree with you Ramone. One idea that I like specifically is that Twain created such a world to show the reader the reality of the world. Huck starts off the novel very innocent. While he had been on "adventures" before, Huck still lacked the raw exposure to wrong. Upon leaving St. Petersburg he is thrust into a world where things do not always go according to plan, and things are not always morally right. Twain does this to illustrate to the reader the reality of the world and to warn us of the wrong in the world. He also shows Huck's innocence as something to be cherished and not taken lightly. As Huck progresses on his journey with Jim, he is exposed to more and more wrong and his innocence fades away. It is here that Huck is faced with a choice; whether to give in to the corruption of the world, or to change it. He chose to change it.

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  3. I strongly agree with ramone on the fact that Huck's conscious plays a big role in his developement throughout the novel. I never really thought about it but Huck does seem to think about his actions either before or after he commits them and even though he is never really concerned with what Ms. Watson says, the wise words from her still loom in the back of his mind. And they seem to show us that side of Huck that we know is there but he disregards.

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  4. I think you are completely right about how the world is an unsafe place, regardless of what Huck thinks when he is living with Miss Watson. I think that he realizes this right around the time he and Jim finnd the dead body and climb aboard the wrecked steamboat. I agree with you about Huck's morality, and was almost surprised when he told Mary Jane the truth about the king and the duke.

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