Sunday, December 8, 2013
After finishing Huck Finn over the weekend, I think I definitely agree that the ending is frustrating! It seems as if in the end, everything works out too cleanly, between Mrs. Watson leaving Jim his freedom, Huck's being adopted by Uncle Silas and Aunt Sally since his Pap is dead, and Tom Sawyer getting away with his crazy plan for Jim's escape with no serious consequences for Jim or Huck. Do you think that Mark Twain does this on purpose, maybe to point out how improbable this ending is so that we realize how terrible the ending could have been if Jim hadn't been freed before he was caught the second time? Also, I know when we read the part about Tom Sawyer's gang at the beginning of the story, we talked in class about how Tom Sawyer's character could represent romanticism, and how Twain makes his character ridiculously fanciful and childish to show the flaws in romanticism. If this is the case, do you think that Twain is trying to make a point about romanticism by having Tom's crazy plan not actually lead to any serious harm to Jim, when it actually would have ruined Jim's chances if Ms. Watson hadn't freed him first?
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ReplyDeleteThose are very interesting questions, Sophie. You've made a great point... there are many other ways Twain could have ended the novel, such as the death of a major character or rejection of Jim's freedom, but I was semi-satisfied with the ending. I think two of the more important ideas are that Jim achieves his freedom and Huck decides not to be civilized. Huck ends the novel by saying, "Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I been there before." This is significant because Huck learned to step away from his friends, family, and the rest of society (pretty much everything he knew) if he didn't agree with them, even at his young age.
In terms of Tom representing Romanticism, Tom's elaborate plan, or playful adventure, often made me worried that Jim would be caught. Jim is very dependent on Tom for his freedom and he doesn't like the crazy, unnecessary ideas. What flaws of Romanticism did you have in mind? Tom definitely falls under the "imagination" and "nature" characteristics with all of his stories (from beginning to end). Personally, I think he would also fit the "focus on individual" characteristic when he was shot in the leg towards the end of the novel. This would NOT qualify him as the "Romanic Hero" because he sacrificed himself for the adventure and thrill, and not because he was saving Jim. Tom was simply looking for him self to have fun (by dragging other people into it).