[H] Kyle: Chapters 38-40

As what was discussed in the last couple of chapters, we see that Huck is going on a moral journey where he is learning that ownership give you power making ownership over a person give you more power. In these chapters, there is moral development is not necessarily a steady path. The interactions between the three of them influence Huck’s growth.

In the beginning of chapter 38, Tom has this idea that talked about Jim having a coat of arms. In the medieval times, a coat of arms was a distinctive heraldic bearing or shield of a person, family, corporation or country. Basically, this was necessary to know who your friends were and who your enemies were. On the bottom of 194, we see that Huck has this idea to create a coat of arms for Jim. “ Look at Gilford Dudley; look at old northumberland! Why, Huck, spose it is considerable trouble? – what you going to do? – how you going to get around it? Jim got to do his inscription and coat of arms” (194). The question to be asked is do you think Tom knows whom Jim is or does he care? In my opinion, this whole situation is just a joke to Tom and the only reason why Tom created this idea was just for the sake of the “game”.

On the subject of this “game”, Huck and Tom enslave Jim in a cabin for three weeks. During this process, Tom puts snakes and spiders in the cabin where Jim is staying for the sake of his sadistic game. Even though it is evident that Huck’s moral development is developing in a slow, unsteady path, we see that Huck’s motives stay strong. On PG 201, we see that Huck is questioning Tom’s motives for the game when involving the letters, “but looky here, Tom, what do we want to warn anybody for, that something’s up? Let them find it out for themselves –it’s their look-out” (pg 201-202).

Even though Jim was put in this situation, we see that Jim has the strongest coat of morality. On page 207, Tom gets shot and Jim, not only calls the doctor but even believed that Tom would do the same thing for him, “well, den, dis is de way it look to me, Huck. Ef it wuz him day ‘uz bein’ sot free, en one er de boys wuz to git shot….No, sah – I doan’ budge a step out’n dis place, ‘dout a doctor; not if it’s forty year!” (207) By Jim saying thing, Huck states that Jim is “white inside”. In my opinion, I think that Huck is referring to Jim as actually a person with feeling and morals not just an object for their game.