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Post by Mr. Thomas on Dec 13, 2013 13:45:53 GMT -5
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Post by johnmarano on Dec 15, 2013 12:00:46 GMT -5
John Marano
Mr. Thomas
English 11
15 December 2013
A. I would like to relate what happened in Chapter 16, to something I have learned. During my years at Xavier, I made great friends who I wouldn’t turn in for the world. Friends that I could trust with everything. In chapter 16, Huck again realizes he is “stealing” Jim away from Mrs. Watson so he again feels like he cant be like his dad and be a thief. He decides he is going to turn Jim in until Jim reveals his feelings about Huck. I think Huck notices how much of a bond the two have created and he even constructs lies to the guys looking for run away slaves. He changes his mind because he realizes how strong of a friendship they created. I think this is so amazing because I feel the same way about my friendships. I No matter how nuts my friends can drive me, I wouldn’t trade them for the world, and I think Huck learns that as well. Aside him learning how to survive, he learns the importance of friendship.
B. I would like to point out Huck’s reaction to being “taking in” by the Grangerfords. At first I was kind of nervous because he creates another lie about himself, but he seems to make the best out of it. Don’t forget that he is separate from Jim and this is hard on him. The family takes him in though and really shows care for him, providing him shelter and food. Huck learns that the dead daughter was a poet who never received a poem towards her, and he feels bad. My adoration for Huck really takes off when he decides to give it a shot and write her a poem. I don’t know why but I just think back at Pap. Pap was so terrible to Huck but Huck remained stronger than him and built a future for himself. He became such a kind and caring young guy. The fact that he writes this for a girl he has never met demonstrates his pure heart.
C. Although I understood chapter 18 really well, I question the actions of Huck and I grow a feeling of disappointment. Why does he blow off Jim like that?? Come on. I hate when people who find better just forget about those who were always there. Also, why doesn’t Huck help Buck?? In the beginning of the story, Huck and Tom were these boys who would fight any day. Now that it comes down to it, he doesn’t help and watches his new friend die right in front of him. Last question, does Jim understand that Huck only comes running back to him because he has no one else? I would be so annoyed because Huck is only coming back in times of help.
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Post by bourdonm15 on Dec 15, 2013 21:02:18 GMT -5
Matthew Bourdon
Mr. Thomas
English 11
12/15/13
C. I can say that I am honestly confused as to why Huck would even think about wanting to separate from Jim and to turn him in. Why is it that Huck feels this way? “Why, she tried to learn you your book, she tried to learn you your manners, she tried to be good to you every way she knowed how.” (Page 87) I don’t understand why Huck is even having these thoughts of trying to get Jim back to Miss Watson. Apparently he isn’t Jim’s friend, because if he was he wouldn’t want Jim to be suffering and hurt, he would want Jim to be free and in a place that he is comfortable in. This is another visible moment that we see that Huck doesn’t think rationally.
A. I can relate the part where he is taken in by the Grangerfords as being somewhat of karma for Huck. He shows that he is thinking about turning in Jim to Miss Watson so for him to be separated from Jim is karma. He basically got what he was thinking about. What is most shocking to me is how he doesn’t try to look for Jim or doesn’t show any sign of thought for Jim.
I. I agree with John’s comment to why does Huck treat Jim the way he does and to why he doesn’t help Buck. It seems as if Huck is on an adventure where he feels like it is every man for his own. I feel like Huck is showing signs of being a person that only cares about himself.
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Post by danokeefe15 on Dec 15, 2013 21:08:37 GMT -5
Danny O' Keefe
Mr. Thomas
English 11
15 December 2013
C. After reading chapters 16-18 I found 17 and 18 to be kind of pointless. I don't really understand the significance of the Grangerfords and all that happens with them. I expected more from the chapters and was expecting something big to happen to either Huck or Jim.
B. I found Chapter 16 to be very important. I think that we see how far Huck has come from the beginning of the book. He thinks more now than he use to and shows that he cares about everyone and he at most times does the right thing. he finds that the things that he used to do is now wrong. He went from stealing and plotting illegal things and having no problem doing it to felling bad about doing it and finding someway to make what he did wrong better.
E. After reading these chapters I remembered a point that was brought up in class, it was that Jim was sort of a father figure to Huck and I found that it isn't true. Huck constantly is thinking about giving Jim up and how it would be the right thing to do and can sometimes be get a little racist when Jim is around. If Jim was a father figure these thoughts shouldn't even come to mind. I think Jim and Huck are still together to keep each other company and because they both know that they aren't going to get anywhere without each other.
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djmat
New Member
Posts: 39 
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Post by djmat on Dec 15, 2013 21:44:16 GMT -5
Dj Mat
Mr. Thomas
English 11
15 December 2013
C. What makes Huck bump into this moral crisis in chapter 16, if you could call it that. They have been traveling together for a few chapters now and Huck and turning in Jim has never crosses his mind until now. It is not like anything special happened. He just remembered Jim was Ms. Watson's slaves and his mind he was basically stealing from her by bringing Jim to the free states. Could it that Twain is trying to show off Huck's sympathetic side similar to the situation with the robbers? Maybe its just me but it does seem like a pretty random moment for Huck to be thinking about turning in Jim.
I. To comment on Matt and John's comment, we have to remember Huck is still just a kid, he a few years younger than us and i guess he does not really know how to treat certain people. No one can really say they were the perfect kid and cared about everyone. At one point i think most of us had a period of time where they only thought about themselves. Also, he is only human and we expect a lot from him since he is the main character. Huck does do some remarkable things but Mark twain was a realist and was pretty accurate on how a kid would act.
E. At the end of chapter 17 for the first time in a while Huck seems kind of happy with the Grangerfords. He's never really had a real family because he has a nonexistent father and we do not know much about his mom.
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Post by Sgarlato on Dec 15, 2013 21:46:28 GMT -5
Stephen Sgarlato
Mr. Thomas
English 11
12/16/13
D. I feel bad for Huck because he is caught in a bind with Jim. He has to choose to give him up or keep going on with him. Although Huck doesn’t care too much for slavery or racism I feel as though he has some racist qualities. I only think this because when has feelings about giving Jim up. Like, he has thoughts of doing and if he was totally against it then he wouldn’t have these feelings.
C. I do not understand why Buck has so much trouble with the Shepherdson family. He says that they have had beef for generations but I don’t think they explained fully what the problem was. He says that they go to church together and they keep guns between their legs just in case they need to fire on each other
I. To answer Danny O’Keefe’s question about what the real significance was about 16-18 I would say that they were just story builders. It was just to add more story to the book. Something will probably happen to Jim and Huck in the next couple of chapters. This has been the recurring theme that something happens than the story builds and then something happens again.
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Post by 1adams12 on Dec 15, 2013 22:02:12 GMT -5
12/15/13
I. I personally want to agree with John. Even though I have been really busy with school work and jobs ever since I started working at Xavier, I have made some pretty close friends. I would never trade their lives for anything that I was tempted to. For example, I would not give my friends life if someone would give me a million dollars. I also would not give my friend's life for that. That is exactly what Huck is trying to reassure himself with when Jim says that he is not comfortable and that he is afraid that the masters would capture him again as a slave.
F. I feel that the connection between Huck and Jim is getting even stronger simply because of the fact that Jim is confiding in Huck to protect him and not let the men take Jim back as a slave. "It was jack-o'-lanterns, or lightning-bugs; so he set down again, and went to watching, same as before. Jim said it made him all over trembly and feverish to be so close to freedo. Well, I can tell you it made me all over trembly and feverish, too, to hear him, because I begun to get it through my head that he was most free--and who was to blame for it? Why, me. I couldn't get that out of my conscience, no how nor no way. It got to to troubling me so I couldn't rest; I couldn't stay still in one place" (Page 85). If Huck didn't care for Jim, he would have probably been able to sleep, and not worry about what Jim had said about being free. The thing that also shows Huck and Jim having a stronger relationship, is through the beginning of the book. What I mean by that, is that origanally, Huck regards Jim as a piece of property, but later on in the book, especially chapter 16, Huck starts to care about Jim.
C. I did not understand what the point of the Grangerfords was. Was it the fact that Huck still had people that would help him out when he needed? Or was it the fact that Huck just knows how to be friendly with people and that is the point of the Grangerfords? I feel that the story would not have changed at all if the Grangerfords were not part of the story.
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Post by epoccia on Dec 15, 2013 22:43:03 GMT -5
Eddie Poccia
English 11
Mr. Thomas
12/15/13
Chapters 16-18
When I read about the daughter in the Grangerford family running away, I immediately thought of Romeo and Juliet. The daughter of one feuding house sneaks away to see the son of the other feuding house. Even though this wasn't a major part of the story, it still caused me to make the connection.
In chapter 16 Huck once again shows his ability to think quickly and get himself out of difficult situations. He tells the men that are looking for runaway slaves that his father is in the raft with smallpox. This keeps them away from Jim and he gets some money out of them.
I also feel that these chapters were kind of unnecessary. Basically, Huck and Jim get separated and then they find each other again. It makes me feel like the whole fued between the two families were unimportant because they just leave it all behind.
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Post by frankclarke on Dec 15, 2013 22:53:25 GMT -5
Frank Clarke
Mr. Thomas
English 11
15 December 2013
E. About 2 pages into chapter 16, we see Jim longing for freedom, and Huck wishing he had told someone about him. He questions his actions over and over again saying “What had poor miss Watson done to you that you could see her n***** go off right under your eyes and never say a single word?” This shows that even though Huck and Jim seemed to collaborate well together (for the most part) that Huck may have some regrets. This may be the first time we see that Huck doesn’t want to be with Jim. When Jim constantly mentions Cairo, Huck says that he reckons he would “die of miserableness” Interesting tones set here. Also, as we see Jim say that Huck is his only friend he begins to protect Jim against the two skiffs. This part is alittle confused, but then again, so is Huck at this point. He doesn’t know whether to protect Jim or not, but he does decide to in the end.
C. “ I heard the people the people stirring around in the snow now, and see a light.” I chose this quote to signify where I am…. I’m very confused on the transition from the end of chapter 16 to chapter 17. Why did Huck choose this house? Did he somehow know that they would take him in? Why did he choose the name “George Jackson”? Maybe because of George Washington and Andrew Jackson. Does Huck look up to these people? Does Huck even know who they are? There could potentially be thousands of questions here…
G. I’ve enjoyed the way Huck carries himself around, lying and changing identifies. Becoming anyone he wants, again this reminds me of Frank in “Catch me if you can”! Yet, right now if I were Huck I’d be getting sick and tired of travelling all the time, especially with Jim who never seems to not be on his feet and pondering. If I were Huck, or on the run or “Into the wild” (greatest movie of all time) I would want to be alone and at peace with my thoughts.
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Post by georgebaroudos on Dec 15, 2013 23:36:26 GMT -5
George Baroudos
Mr. Thomas
English 11
15 December 2013
I – Through out our discussions of Huck Finn we have seen that Huck does embody his father. All children possess something their father has. Sometimes they are good and sometimes they are awful. Huck maintains that racist element that his father has. It is a mixture of his society and his home. When Huck realizes that Jim will achieve his freedom he regrets it really. Huck realizes that he helped someone that he views as less then him escape. Huck is wrong for that, but it is his father’s fault.
A – I really enjoy the part when Jim tells Huck he is his only friend. This reminds me of a saying. I would rather 4 quarters then 100 pennies. This to me means that I would rather four true friends then 100 fake friends. Jim really trusts Huck and this relationship is important to Jim. Jim knows Huck has scratched his back, now he will return it. Jim sees that Huck helped him out with that little confrontation with the men who want to search their raft. Jim will give back eventually.
D – “So the question was, what to do?” (84). We will always find ourselves asking this question. This question has always been asked. But it is usually asked in a time of distress. Sometimes it is so difficult to come to a decision. But we must explore all the options. As we see Huck, sometimes we do what we have to do to survive. That’s why we see Huck making these lies like he is George Jackson. The mind is a tool, we must use it.
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Post by rodriguezj15 on Dec 16, 2013 0:56:04 GMT -5
Joel Rodriguez Mr. Thomas English 11 December 16, 2013 The Adventure of Huck Finn 16-18 B. You could see a big tone shift in chapter 18 at the end. Mark Twain describes the feud at between the Grangerfords and Shepherdson as sort of a joke through Buck. Buck describes it as, “A man has a quarrel with another man, and kills him; then that other man’s brother kills him;then the other brothers, on both sides, goes for one another; then the cousins chip in—and by and by everybody’s killed off, and there ain’t no more feud (pg. 111).” But like we seen before the tone shift into much more seriously when Buck dies in the gunfight. F. I can imagine Huck having an angel and devil on his shoulders both persuading him what to do. First it keeps him from getting lonely but also it would explain why he is so conscientious. For a thirteen year old boy he thinks which is good. For example, when he is contemplating whether to give up Jim or not in chapter 16, but decides not to because of Jim confessing how genuine their friendship is. Huck is so confused when making these decisions, because he is being tugged by what is morally right or what is socially right. I. It think his decision at the end of chapter 16, to forget making morally correct or wrong decisions but instead, “always do whichever come handiest at the time” is going to lead him into trouble in the future (pg. 95). |
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Post by michaelannunziata on Dec 16, 2013 11:57:33 GMT -5
Michael Annunziata
English 11
Mr. Thomas
12,15,13
A. One part of the reading that really stood out to me and made a big impact on me was the part where Jim tells Huck he’s all he’s got and that he’s his only friend. This part impacts me a lot because it made me realize to take advantage of what you have while you have it and to not take it for granted. I know so many people who are given the world and they don’t take advantage of their opportunities, and it just makes me wonder what I would do.
C. One part that I do not understand is why Buck has so much trouble with the Shepherdson family. One thing that has me very confused is that they say that that have been an enemy for generations but there is no reason for it. I never get those rivals that go on for generations in general because the people only hate each other because of their ancestors. Like just because the person has the same name doesn’t mean that they haven’t changed, it just doesn’t make much sense to me.
E. One thing that caught my eye while I was reading was actually something that most of my peers agreed upon in class. It was that Jim was a father too Huck. Jim does anything he can possibly do to help Huck and take care of him and Huck doesn’t feel the impact that Jim is doing for him just like what a father does for a son.
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Post by fotia15 on Dec 16, 2013 22:36:03 GMT -5
a. I find chapter 16 some what sadding. Ive gotten so accustom to jim being there for huck or vis versa. to think that he will not be by his side any more kind of frightens me. I hope down the line he randomly comes back like how he find him. Just out of no where jim just appears. It super intresting because huck coming from such a racist background, he actually became quite fond of Jim. Its going to be a strange adventure with out his right hand man for sure but if anyone could make it through its huck. This isnt the first time he will be alone and have to fend for himself. Hes been doing it all of his life and he aint gonna stop now.
e. This house he goes to must be so strange for him. Just their customs are weird they way they wake up in the morning and eat. Hes is given strange cloths to wear by Buck. Buck is kind of different obviously but he is nice to huck.'he got me a coarse shirt and a round about and pants of his." This is a very friendly jester to a stranger. I bet huck feel really confused about being treated nicely. He isnt really use to it.
I. Id like to comment on what joel said about the angel and devil on hucks shoulders. This kid born in such a strange place in strange circumstances, you would think he is always gonna listen to the devil. But huck has this good heart in side of him. he has a weakness for people who care for him. This allows him follow the angel alot more in his life.
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Post by bourdonm15 on Dec 16, 2013 22:36:45 GMT -5
Matthew Bourdon
Mr. Thomas
English 11
12/16/13
C. I don’t understand how is it that if Huck knows that these two con artists are lying about their identity why doesn’t he try to devise a plan to escape? He should know that many people are already curious of Jim and he very easily can get caught. “It didn’t take me long to make up my mind that these liars warn’t no kings nor dukes at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds.” (Page 125) HELLO! If that is the case don’t you think you should do something about that Huck? The past couple of chapters I have been very angry with Huck and his decision making, because his decision making is opposite of mine.
B. I can sense that the story is starting to heat up considering the con artists have been starting to print out warrants of capture for Jim. “The reading was all about Jim and just described him to a dot. It said that he run away from St. Jacques’s plantation, forty mile below New Orleans, last winter, and likely went north, and whoever would catch him and send him back he could have the reward and expenses.” (Page 133) This goes to show how poor decision-making is now going to hurt the two. I also feel like these two con artists are showing both Huck and Jim the flyer to see if they react and to see if they give away signs of Jim being a slave.
I. I agree with Eoin’s comment on how Huck is smarter than Jim. Jim displays that he is too gullible and shows his lack of common sense. Huck on the other hand isn’t doing much better either because of his poor decision making. This reading honestly made me very frustrated.
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