Racism in Huck Finn?

While reading Huck Finn, I constantly went back and forth trying to figure out if Huck was indeed racist or not. This also makes us wonder if Mark Twain was racist himself. I think for Twain’s time, this was a highly controversial book. It made a black slave and a white boy have a friendship that overpassed racism, or did it? Huck and Jim become friends and I believe his innocence allows him to look passed his skin color in many cases, but this is not always the case as later see. Huck constantly battles in his head if what he’s doing is right, and claims that he is going to hell. Jim always listens to Huck no matter what he asks him to do, and although Huck is not always mean about what he asks of Jim we do see a mean side to Huck. He tricks Jim and messes with his head, leaving Jim upset and emotional. Huck gets amusment out of that and shows us how he takes advantage of him and treats him like a lesser human being. The end of the book really annoyed me and here I thought that Twain and Huck were indeed showing signs of being racist. In the end, the “escape” of Jim is just plain frustrating. They put Jim’s life and freedom in great danger just for their own amusement. The "gang" could leave at any point in time but instead treat Jim as an object and make him do all of these ridiculous things for their own benefit. They taunt him and tell him that he needs to have a rattle snake in his shed, and Jim is basically in tears telling him he is afraid. While in class on Tuesday, I think this is what really made me think that racism was present. When Amber gave her presentation about the pictures in Huck Finn, it made me think deeper. In a previous English class here at Plattsburgh, we did a lesson on Black Face and the usage of these terrible images. Although I often did not even look at these pictures, when I looked back in class it showed me that racism was indeed present. Twain did not have to include these pictures in this book if he did not want to. I wish that the pictures in the book were different because Jim is looked at as a very good man in the book, and I wish that the pictures gave him a little more justification. Jim helps Tom in the end when he gets shot and always is a loyal friend throughout the whole book. He is a good man and never disobeys a single thing that he is told. The last few pictures in the book are what really got me the most. Jim is almost praised a little at the end when they find out that he has helped Tom with his wound, yet his typical “Black Face” photo is still present. His mouth is always open and he is seen as an animalistic figure that doesn't know a single thing. The pictures of Jim could have evolved and the game that Tom and Huck put him through could have ended. Instead Jim is treated like an object and only used for amusement which makes me see that Twain and Huck can indeed be seen as racist. 

Getting students ready and interested in Huck Finn

When I become a teacher and if I have to teach a book like Huck Finn in my class then I think it is extremely important to give my students some historical context first. Huck Finn raises some very important ideas and concepts from its times, which is very different from today. Some students may feel uncomfortable about what they are reading or may not know what is actually going on. I would introduce slavery and racism before I got into reading the book and maybe have my students do a free write about what they know about slavery and racism and any questions that came to their minds. After we could discuss as a whole what people wrote so people were comfortable with these issues. I think it is also worth discussing the usage of the “N” word because what the word means today does not have the same meaning as it did back then. Calling someone a nigger back then was not such a derogatory word as it is now. Another idea is to give out a handout or some type of literature on the times. If they are educated about slavery or problems that people faced then they may understand the book better. Lastly, a way to get students to relate to Huck Finn would be to pose this question: “Have you ever done something that was against what society thinks is “right”? How did you feel and did you take your stance and continue what you thought was right?” This is what a great deal of the book is about and I think that many people can say they have went through at some point or another. This may get students interested and informed about what is to come. 

Huck Finn - Free write & thoughts

Huck Finn

In my free write one thing I focused upon was education. Education is supposed to be looked at as power and a positive experience but here Huck is forced by his father to believe otherwise. Huck’s father wants nothing to do with him besides his money which is the only reason why his father sticks around this time. He criticizes Huck saying that education is nothing and that him and Huck’s mother got along fine without it. He yells at Huck saying that he is no better than anyone else and certainly not better than his father. Huck is alone in the world and has never experienced a true family or positive upbringing, which ties into my lens of alienation. Although Huck started to get an education while living with the widow, Huck still does not feel right. He feels that he is pestered to learn and even though he now has skills that many people dream of having, is he really happy and more “civilized?” Huck at this point of the book is stuck in the cabin with his father and is looking for a way out to freedom. Huck will leave behind education and this new life for the adventure that he dreams of.

The part of the book that I chose to look at is in the middle of chapter 16. Here Huck is confused and stuck at a point of realizing that he in fact helped a slave run away to freedom. Jim sees a piece of land ahead and exclaims, “Dah she is!”, and it is that moment he realizes what he has done. Huck’s emotions and feelings are all over the place at this time. Although Huck and Jim have bonded and became friends, it seems that he forgot all about the color of his skin and what is morally “right” at the time. Huck’s innocence to racism is still not matured and it can be debated if Huck really is racist himself. Personally, I think that Huck looks past it but in this passage it seems that he does have racist thoughts in the back of his mind. Yet, when a boat passes by and asks him about the man with him, he covers for Jim and says it is his father that has small pox instead of Jim. Huck goes out of his way for Jim and puts himself in danger, but this is the only real friend Huck has had in a long time. Huck says at this time, “ I got to feeling so mean and miserable I most wished I was dead.” Huck talks a lot about suicide and now that the idea of helping a run-away-slave has finally entered his mind, a piece of his innocence I feel may be slowly fading away. 

Huck Finn

Blog 1: 

When I first found out that we were reading Huck Finn for this class I was excited. But as I came to find out, I was thinking that it was a different book. In class when people started to talk about the book, I realized that I thought I would be reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Although I did read Huck Finn in middle school, I completely forgot what it was about until someone mentioned their memory of the book which someone said “took place on a raft.” When reading the mandatory books throughout my schooling I do not think that I fully appreciated them as I do now. In class, while going through the lists of what this book could be about we thought of religion, isolation and alienation, racism, and a few others. That’s when it started to come back to me a little. I was excited to read this book because when I saw the books that we will be reading this semester it made me realize that I would someday be teaching these books so I want to gain a greater appreciation for them. What I expect to encounter while reading Huck Finn this time around is a greater understanding of important themes and gain a greater appreciation for this piece of literature. In middle school and part of high school I did not have some of the greatest English teachers until I got to 11th and 12th grade. Many of my younger teachers I felt did not challenge us enough or relate the book to our lives so I was not always interested. That is one thing that I am looking forward to the most while encountering this book, figuring out how to do exactly that.

Blog 2:

“Although this book may seem to be a book about a boy on a raft, it is really about isolation and alienation.”

In the first chapter of the book I got a sense of alienation from Huck. Huck is still getting used to living with Miss. Watson and starting an education and gaining new knowledge and ideas. Huck says, “Miss. Watson kept pecking at me, and it got tiresome and lonesome (4).” Huck later goes on to say that sometimes he felt so lonesome that he wishes he was dead. Yes, he may now be living in better conditions and have a bed to sleep in but it is not what he is used to. This reminded me of when the Native Americans were “civilized” and told how to live. They were seen as barbarians but before that they got by just fine. With all these new ideas and knowledge that Huck is being told I feel that he does feel alienated and out of place at times. 

Next, when we are introduced to Huck we are immediately informed of his unfortunate family life. Huck has no mother and his father is nothing but a low life alcoholic that is now after Huck for his money. He wants nothing to do with his son as he is only after the money so he can get into a terrible drunken stooper every night. In chapter 3 Huck says, “Pap he hadn’t been seen for more than a year, and that was comfortable for me; I didn’t want to see him no more. He used to always whale me when he was sober and could get his hands on me” (14). Huck never really knew what it was like to have a normal family and be loved unconditionally by his family so in a way he is isolated and alone. His friends have people to go home to at night but besides the new presence of Miss. Watson, he is unlike the rest of them.

In chapter 6 in particular is when we see Huck physically being isolated. His father takes him to a cabin in the woods and here he is locked inside and cannot get out. His father once leaves him three days straight and does not come back, letting him fend for himself. “Once he locked me in and was gone three days” (31). His father does not want anything more than to get every cent of Huck’s $6,000 and he is doing everything in his power to make that possible. He does not let Huck leave yet he tries to make an escape to get out, but fails when his father comes home while he is trying to saw his way out. Huck is isolated from society not only emotionally but physically at this time. 

Sonrisas

Sonrisas 

When first reading Pat Mora’s poem, I scored myself a 4 on my comprehension. From the start I felt a little intimidated since I saw that there were Spanish words sprinkled throughout the poem. I had studied French and was completely clueless when it came to another language. The title being “Sonrisas” was the first thing I looked at, and wanted to know what it meant so that I could indeed know what this was actually about. My first reading I was trying to figure out where this was taking place. I saw that there were only women, and noticed all the details from the start. I did not really get what this poem was about at all the first reading, so I went on and read it a few more times. After re-reading this poem I broke it down line by line. I wrote next to each line what I thought the author was trying to say and it seemed to work for me as I went on. When Mora says, “I live in a doorway between two rooms,” I figured that she was stuck between two things. Maybe not even physically, but mentally she may have felt this way. The constant noise with that sounds of coffee cups and serious faces led me to believe that they had to be in some work setting. Yet the second set of the poem brought confusion because I saw the Spanish words begin to sink in. When the narrator looks into another room, she sees these women all in the same beige color dresses and none of them really seem to be happy, in my opinion, yet concealing their happiness (if they even were happy). My questions at this point were they being forced under some conditions to hide back any emotions and simply work? I decided I would score myself a 5-6. The third time I read it I scored myself a 7. I admit, I did cheat and look up what the title meant which turned out to be “Smile.” After this, it made a little more sense to me. With the title being smile it seemed to be the exact opposite with how these women were really feeling. What I got from the poem was that these Mexican women were put to work. I’m still not sure where this takes place, yet to me it seems that they are forced in a way. They seldom sneak smiles and their “dark eyes” seem to always be serious. The narrator seems to be stuck in a situation where she may not want to be, but possibly does not have a choice. The only sounds seem to be the noise of objects, coffee cups and the constant busy workplace sounds. Although the last time I did read it I saw the word laughter which I did not notice before, for some reason I did not feel that it meant happiness since right after it they talk about how they scold one another. As far as morals go, I still think that is up in the air. I did not really get a moral out of this poem like a lot of poems provide but I think it is more supposed to be story and showing of an event more than anything. 

Thoreau

While first reading the quote, "Sometimes we are inclined to class those who are once and a half witted with the half witted, because we appreciate only a third of their wit," I was very confused. When we were told to choose on a scale of 1-10 what we thought our understanding was, I gave myself a 4. I was thrown off by the repeated use of the word wit, and hearing the "one-and-a-half" and "half witted" really threw me off. It took me about five times to read this quote before I felt more confident that I in fact might know what it meant. My understanding of the quote was that maybe we are inclined to teach those who are sometimes "witted" or in other words those students that we know have the potential but do not always apply themselves. When those students try and show that they are making an effort and the light bulb really turned on for them then it is those times and moments that we really enjoy teaching them. It was then that I rated myself a 6 in understanding. Next, we were told to join groups. My partner and I came to the conclusion that we had a pretty similar understanding of the quote. We agreed with the author because although we are both not teachers yet, we both had experiences working with children. Personally, I have worked at a summer camp and taught swimming lessons to children and although many of them often became frustrated and wanted to give up, when they finally got the hang of it they felt great about themselves. It is those teaching moments when we feel good for what we do. Overall, I think that my understanding and confidence in the quote became a 7-8. The cool thing about this experience was that a lot of people saw and concluded something different while they read this, but that is the beauty in English, there can usually always be more than one answer.