Huck discussion questions 15-20

1.) It is a foreshadow of what will happen later on in the story, and it enforces the theme of superstition as a method of explaining and understanding things.

2.) It show the corruptness of society and how black people were not considered people. Huck feels bad and realizes tricks aren't always fun.

3.) This series of quotes show us how Huck's brain has been manipulated by a corrupt society. It is Huck debating between what is right and what is wrong. He has a hard time deciding because he likes Jim but because of where he was raised, he thinks of black people has property, not people. These quotes go along with the theme of the conflict between emotional and the rational, The coming of age, but mainly the conflict between the individual and society.

4.) They give Huck money because they feel sorry for Huck and that they can't help him. It's ironic because you'd expect the bounty hunters to be mean and uncaring individuals because they are hunting for black people, which is another person.

5.) The break of Huck from his thoughts of turning Jim in and being held back because he was raised in a corrupt society. (I'm not quiet positive on this one and I couldn't find the quote in the book.)

6.) Twain didn't like where he was going with Huckleberry Finn and didn't know where the book was going, or what the major themes were, so he quite writing it until he got some sort of inspiration and picks the book back up to continue writing it.

7.) There house it neat, well keep, and you can tell the are one of the richer families in town. With all of the stuff Huck tells us is in the Grangerford's house, it makes me think they believe in a romantic way.

8.) I can't really find much on Huck playing with Buck's gullibility except for, when Huck has forgotten what the name he gave himself was and asks Buck to spell it. We see the themes Coming of age, the conflict between emotional and the rational, the conflict between the individual and society. Mostly coming from Huck deciding whether to turn Jim in or not. Death and rebirth is also a theme the reappears in chapter 17 with the poetry. also the concept of family and sticking together, always backing each other up.

9.) That Huck doesn't get jokes and only believes in a realistic way.

10.) Religion is a joke, and worthless. The men have guns in church and the hogs live there, people just go to church because it is what society thinks is the right thing to do.

11.) The feud symbolizes the corrupt society and their ignorance, not really knowing what they are fighting for. It also symbolizes romantic notions society is built upon, one of the reason you so many references the to revolutionary war in the house hold. It is also why Huck describes Colonel Grangerford as a gentleman The feud reminds me of the feud in Romeo and Juliet. I believe Twain was showing us that people fight just to fight with no real reason. The feud also shows how a family will back each other up even if it is putting there own life in danger.

12.) The raft is much smaller than most any home. The theme it follows is freedom, because on the raft they are free.

13.) The clothes in a way represent society, but they mainly symbolize lack of freedom, restriction. When Jim and Huck are Free they don't wear clothes, when they are with society, they wear clothing.

14.) Huck doesn't expose the Duke and the King as frauds because he doesn't want to create any trouble on the raft, and it didn't really matter to tell Jim or not so Huck just didn't.

15.) I believe Huck is. Both the King and Duke are running away because they have both been caught. Huck has not been caught in his actions yet. Huck also realizes he shouldn't that the Duke and King are frauds in order to keep everyone happy and not have any trouble.

16.) The old man is playing Juliet, the Duke says no one will notice because he will be in costume but I don't think the costumes the Duke has and disguise an old man as a young gal. Romeo and Juliet are a motif that enforce romanticism which Twain is trying to make fun of all the time.

17.) The pirate says that because of this town, he says how he is happy even though he is poor. He is playing on the towns gullibility. The pirate is there to show how blind some people are. It also plays on the theme of emotional vs Rational because Twain believes religious people are more emotional.

18.) Society is gullible and will believe anything is they get fame from it. I believe this mainly from the "Kings" work, and they way everyone believed him because he said it was because of them and he would tell everyone about this town.