What intrigued me most about the first reading was how
Huck's naive ways influenced how he perceived everything in his world, which,
in turn directly influences what the reader sees of the story. Since
Huckleberry is unable to understand certain things fully, it becomes apparent
that he is not a completely trustworthy narrator.
For example, right away in the story, he and Tom Sawyer,
and his other buddies go to start a gang where they vow to rob and then kill
hundreds of people. Not only do they not understand what consequences would
surface from such actions, but also they don’t even understand how the process
works. For example when the group was
setting up the “plan of attack” for say they didn’t know what “ransomed” was,
they just went by what Tom Sawyer read in his pirate novels. “Maybe it just means to keep ‘em till they
die!” To the reader, it’s obvious that they have a farfetched definition of the
word and therefore a distorted view of the world.
Another thing that labels Huckleberry as an untrustworthy
narrator is his uncanny belief in superstition. Thinking that Jim’s hairball “from
the fourth stomach of an ox” had “a spirit inside… that knew everything” is
probably one of the childish things we hear from Huck throughout the entire
first section. Some may say that this reliance on superstition is simply a
representation of the time period, but, to me, it reveals how incredibly
foolish Huck is. It makes the reader wonder if anything he says can be taken at
face value.
The second thing I’d like to discuss is the possible
biblical reference when Jim and Huckleberry are resting at Jackson’s Island.
Once the pair is reunited, everything, at least temporarily, seems perfect.
Huck describes his experience as “powerful lazy and comfortable.” Jim and Huck hardly have any troubles in the
world on this lush island. They have access to any food they need, are free of
the people that would otherwise keep them captive, and no longer are lonely!
This reminds me of the story in Genesis of the Garden of Eden, when Adam and
Eve are in their paradise. Like Huck and Jim, Adam and Eve have no worry of
becoming hungry and have each others’ company. This extreme bliss for
Huckleberry and Jim seems to foreshadow latter events of uncertainty and
unease.
No comments:
Post a Comment