Nina contributed very astute observations on the significance of Huck's hiding the stolen money in Peter Wilke's coffin, noting the irony of a coffin acting as the vehicle to not only save the financial life of the Wilkes family , but also as a means to reintroduce the motif of death(and rebirth) as representative of Huck's moral rebirth . We studied Huck's internal dialogue wherein he contemplates the value of telling the truth, having himself told so many lies, and compared this passage with Huck's earlier struggle with conscience as textual examples of Huck's moral development . Last, we continued locating and discussing Twain's use of satire, in these chapters of the outlandish funeral obsequies of Peter Wilkes.
We continued our study of satiric elements of the novel, specifically Twain's trenchant satire of gullible rural townspeople . We noted Twain's use of diction to create satire by identifying the many malapropisms spoken by the imposter con-artists who pretend to be brothers of the deceased Peter Wilkes. Critically, we then discussed Huck's ongoing character and moral development as he decides to upend the plot to steal the deceased's money. In this regard, we studied controversial passages where Huck recognizes Jim's humanity as Huck wrestles with the realization that Jiim, an escaped slave, is as human as the members of white society.
As Huck Finn has often been described as the "Great American Novel", today's sessions focused on the literary and narrator archetypes that have contributed to the novel's reputation. After I explained the term"archetype" , we read a section of the novel that evokes America as Eden. I then discussed the thematic archetype of America as a corrupted Eden, and in this regard ,we discussed two works we read last year, "Of Mice and Men" and "Death of a Salesman" and noted the recurrence of this theme. I further previewed " The Great Gatsby" as part of this examination. I then discussed Huck as a narrative archetype ,or the innocent observer who loses his innocence by his experiences . Nina discussed Huck's encounters on land with con artists and feuding families , and we again discussed the symbolism of the river as a contrast to the depraved morality of the society we see on "land." We further noted the American cultural ideal of freedom as illustrated in the novel. Last, we explored Twain's satire of Southern rural life as plagued by its characteristic frontier justice and gullibility .
As yesterday's session focused on writing an essay analyzing Twain's use of satire to condemn religious hypocrisy, we today analyzed the next chapters of the novel and identified further examples of religious satire. We discussed the irony of the feuding family displaying a copy of Bunyan's "Pilgrims Progress" in their living room and attending a church service about "brotherly love" since this family engages in wholesale murders of a neighboring clan for reasons that have been long forgotten . We further discussed Huck's revulsion when he observes this violence, again highlighting the moral depredation he sees on "land" as contrasted with the Edenic life of the river. Nina raised some questions about the plot development as Huck and Jim are forced to "host" two con artists on their raft which I addressed and noted Twain's barbed criticism of the rural populations who are so easily duped . Based on today's discussion of satire and yesterday's essay work on satire analysis , for homework Nina is writing a second essay on satire in the novel using examples from today's lesson.
During our first session, we reviewed Nina's essay on Twain's use of satire in the first chapters of the novel. I distributed a model essay response as a learning tool in order to demonstrate the functions of an opening and concluding paragraph, the need to respond to all the essay parts, and critically, how to embed quotes(textual examples) along with commentary into the essay. We further examined ways to edit word choice and sentence structure. During our second session, we continued an in-depth examination of the novel's theme of Huck's moral and character development as he and Jim, both run-aways, take to the river to avoid capture. We contrasted the hypocrisy and moral depredation of the characters Huck meets on land with Huck's creation of a separate moral code on the river as he wrestles with his conscience .I explained how Huck's moral development corresponds with his adopting new names or identities and is further physically manifested in Huck's "reincarnation" i.e. twice seeming to return from the dead after Jim believes Huck has died. We further contrasted Huck's chronic fabrications with the frauds perpetrated by the King and the Duke, noting how in Huck's distinct moral code all lies are not the same. Huck lies to protect Jim,not to enrich himself.
We discussed textual examples of Huck's moral development and tied this progress to the symbolic significance of the river(vs town or the land).I noted how only on the river can Huck create a moral code of his own distinct from society's evidenced as he refuses to report Jim as a run away slave and attempts to rescue a band of thieves and murderers stranded on a wrecked steamboat. Nina did very well in explaining how the relationship between Huck and Jim is developing into a father-son relationship notwithstanding the racial divide. We located specific examples of Jim's fatherly concern for Huck ,notwithstanding (as Nina pointed out) that Huck remains rather childish in his pranks at Jim's expense. Relative to Huck's character development, I addressed the "rebirth " motif as now, for a second time in the novel ,Jim thinks Huck is dead and is surprised when Huck "reappears". Although Jim exclaims Huck is "the same ol Huck", we discussed that, in fact , a new Huck Finn arrives after each "death" . Last, we continued to identify examples of the novel's satire of religion.
As we are examining the novel as a seminal literary step in American literature from Romanticism to Realism ,today's session addressed the novel's tension between realism and the lyric Romanticism of Twain's descriptions of the natural world on Jackson's Island. Nina perceptively noted the Edenic imagery of the descriptions and ,in that regard ,I noted the appearance of a snake and its relevance to that imagery. We compared Jim's superstitious perception of the snake with the similar biblical interpretation as an example of Twain's satire of religion. Last, we studied how Huck resolves his first moral dilemma as he is faced with deciding whether to report Jim, a runaway slave. I noted how only by running away from the "land" - representing societal convention- can Huck develop as an independent moral character who can discern right from wrong on his own terms.
