[F] Dan: Chapters 41-the Last

In the following passages, Twain uses irony as his weapon to target the Southern society and the system of slavery.

1) “…and then (Aunt Sally) said she’d forgive us, and maybe it was all right enough anyway, and about what a body might expect of boys, for all boys was a pretty harum-scarum lot, as fur as she could see; and so, as long as no harm hadn’t come of it, she judged she better put in her time being grateful we was alive and well and she had us still, stead of fretting over what was past and done.” (Page 212)

-Aunt Sally clearly doesn’t care about Jim other than being property. Here’s another important place where Jim is left out.

2) “Laws know I wanted to go, bad enough, to see about Tom, and was all intending to go; but after that, I wouldn’t a went, not for kingdoms.” (Page 213)

-What happened to Jim? Does Huck not care about him anymore, does Huck now only care about Tom?

3) “It was Tom Sawyer on a mattress; and that old doctor; and Jim, in her calico dress, with his hands tied behind him; and a lot of people.” (Page 213)

-The irony of this statement is very powerful. Tom, the trouble-maker and immoral kid is being carried on a mattress while Jim, the moral person is in chains and is humiliated by wearing women’s clothing, for not even doing anything wrong. In fact, he helped the doctor treat Tom.

4) “I like the nigger for that; I tell you, gentlemen, a nigger like that is worth a thousand dollars—and kind treatment, too.” (Page 215, the doctor)

-Here’s another ironic statement, the doctor is saying how Jim is a good and kind person, however even he disparages Jim by calling him a nigger and talking about him as if he is property.

5) “Then they all agreed that Jim had acted very well, and was deserving to have some notice took of it, and reward. So every one of them promised right out and hearty, that they wouldn’t cuss him no more.”

-Jim’s reward for helping save Tom, the precious white child who played games with Jim’s freedom and even his life, is that the crowd won’t cuss him anymore? That’s not very much of a reward for risking his freedom and life to perform such a praiseworthy, selfless act.

6) “Then what on earth did you want to set him free for, seeing he was already free?” “Well, that is a question, I must say; and just like women! Why, I wanted the adventure of it; and I’d waded neck-deep in blood to—goodness alive, Aunt Polly!” (bottom of page 217- top of page 218, Aunt Sally to Tom Sawyer)

-what is the significance of the interruption? Why do you think that Twain placed this interruption here? This was all clearly just an adventure for Tom.

7) “…Tom Sawyer had gone and took all that trouble and bother to set a free nigger free!” (Page 218)

-what is Huck’s relationship with Jim now? Is Jim just another nigger to Huck? Is this a sign that Huck has lost all of his progress on his “road to morality”?

Questions

1) What is the significance of Jim’s disappearance at the end? Is Jim important to Huck anymore? What is their relationship?

2) Is Jim free? (Can he ever really be free?) The ending is a happy one for Huck and Tom but what about Jim? Jim’s feelings about everything at the end are completely left out.

3) What is the significance of the whole prison section (why did Twain include this section)? Does the represent Jim’s entire odyssey or is it a metaphorical representation of any sort?

4) We know that these are all just adventures for Tom and everything is just a game for him, but was toying with Jim’s life and his freedom and Huck’s entire odyssey just a game for Huck?

5) What are Jim’s feelings right now? He seems happy that he is free but is he just feigning this happiness and secretly angry at the two boys? When it was thought that Jim was Huck’s father figure, did Jim really care for and care about Huck, or was he just trying to get to the North and be free?

The following are some notes on the ending:

-When Tom proposed the idea that the three of them go on another adventure in the “injun territory”, Huck responds but Jim is either left out for this part or doesn’t even respond.

-When Huck states that he does not wish to be “sivilized” again, is this Twain metaphorically telling us that the Southern society is very prejudice and racist and they brainwash innocent children into becoming immoral, disgraceful human beings? Isn’t it ironic that it is this civilization that taught Huck to be a racist, and when Huck was finally progressing on becoming a truly moral person, only through a long journey with Jim, the Southern society quickly changes him back to being a prejudice racist.

-The saddest part of the ending of Huckleberry Finn is that Jim is never really free; he is still trapped in this racist society. Also it is very sad to see that through this entire journey, Huck hasn’t changed at all, he is still just as racist and prejudice as he was at the start of the novel.