Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Mark Twain
Katja
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 10, Twain
30 January, 2007
"I went to the raft, and set down in the wigwam to think. But I couldn’t come to nothing. I thought till I wore my head sore, but I couldn’t see no way out of the trouble." (Mark Twain 357)
The quote refers to the point in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, when Huck realizes that his companion, the runaway slave Jim, has been captured.
The novel places Huck in the very active role of problem-solver numerous times. Being a boy of marginal background the reader sees Huck fall back on his quick streetsmarts to salvage a situation or deflect attention from himself or whomever he is trying to protect at the time. Huck is constantly thinking and scheming; playing out potential scenarios in his head. Huck Finn takes his thinking seriously, and makes time to sit down and really meditate on the issue at hand. The reader can easily visualize Huck in deep though almost like a cartoon with a thought-bubble over his head.
Mark Twain has granted Huck with means of strategizing, reasoning and clear judgement, attributes not usually bestowed upon a character of such lowly status, or a child for that matter. Twain’s genius lies in this ability to draw characters that are just regular people and to give them value by allowing them to be smart, capable and highly functioning human beings. Twain lends credibility and integrity to the entire American population in a way, because Huck’s character reflects Everyman.
Even though Huck states that he cannot see a way out of his troubles, he resolves to try to "re-steal" Jim back from his captors. This drive to do one’s very best mirrors a sentiment rooted in the American spirit so well illustrated by Mark Twain.
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 10, Twain
30 January, 2007
"I went to the raft, and set down in the wigwam to think. But I couldn’t come to nothing. I thought till I wore my head sore, but I couldn’t see no way out of the trouble." (Mark Twain 357)
The quote refers to the point in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, when Huck realizes that his companion, the runaway slave Jim, has been captured.
The novel places Huck in the very active role of problem-solver numerous times. Being a boy of marginal background the reader sees Huck fall back on his quick streetsmarts to salvage a situation or deflect attention from himself or whomever he is trying to protect at the time. Huck is constantly thinking and scheming; playing out potential scenarios in his head. Huck Finn takes his thinking seriously, and makes time to sit down and really meditate on the issue at hand. The reader can easily visualize Huck in deep though almost like a cartoon with a thought-bubble over his head.
Mark Twain has granted Huck with means of strategizing, reasoning and clear judgement, attributes not usually bestowed upon a character of such lowly status, or a child for that matter. Twain’s genius lies in this ability to draw characters that are just regular people and to give them value by allowing them to be smart, capable and highly functioning human beings. Twain lends credibility and integrity to the entire American population in a way, because Huck’s character reflects Everyman.
Even though Huck states that he cannot see a way out of his troubles, he resolves to try to "re-steal" Jim back from his captors. This drive to do one’s very best mirrors a sentiment rooted in the American spirit so well illustrated by Mark Twain.
# posted by Katja @ 3:19 PM 
