I'll have to admit that these chapters were so much easier to read and were a lot more interesting! One thing that really kind of threw me off was that Mary Jane and the other girls didn't know what their uncles looked like. Did they never visit? I was really surprised that the King and the Duke were able to pull off being the uncles. I think that it had to do with how the girls were in a vulnerable state and just chose to blindly believe what they were told. Also, why didn't anyone believe the doctor? Back then, a doctor should have been a prominent figure in towns, but no one believed him! Furthermore, when Huck, the King and Duke were being questioned, why didn't Huck tell the truth and rat on the other two? If he had done that, he would have had a better chance of being let go by the people. Did he not think that lying could get him into more trouble? Later on when Huck was able to slip away from the King and Duke, how did they find him so fast? To me, it's still unclear on how they were able to make out to the raft. Huck and Jim were in the middle of the river, so did the other two men swim out there? And if they did, why didn't Huck and Jim try to paddle the raft to get away from them?
After reading these chapters, it became very evident that Huck was tired of having to be around the King and the Duke. He seemed to become tired of their fraudulence and wanted to leave them somewhere. Also, I realized just how dumb the King and the Duke were. They were complaining about the gold being stolen, but then each claimed to have stolen it! They even argued over who stole it! They lie to everybody so much that their lies will start tripping them up. Another thing that I took away from these chapters was that a whole town was so shook up by the death, that they would believe anything. At that point in time the King and Duke showed up and made a huge scene which made the town feel sorry for them. They didn't even stop to question whether or not they were frauds. By the time someone questioned it, the King and Duke were being looked at like saints by the townspeople. When the doctor claimed that they were frauds, the townspeople responded by trying to show the doctor how they really were Peter Wilks's brothers. The town and the girls were in denial that those two could be frauds and made hasty decisions. Mary Jane is a great example of how people were trying to prove they trusted the King and Duke by giving them the money to invest. In the end, the denial of the people allowed the King and the Duke to take advantage of the entire town that was grieving.
Something that I really liked about these chapters was that Huck Finn finally took matters into his own hands. Instead of letting the King and Duke do whatever they wanted, Huck was able to throw their plans off. First, he hid the money from them and was able to put the blame on the slaves instead of himself. Although he didn't want to get the slaves in trouble, he needed to do it in order to execute his plan of exposing the frauds. He gained the trust of Mary Jane and told her the truth and, "It jolted her up like everything, of course; but I was over the shoal water now, so I went right along, her eyes a-blazing higher and higher all the time." Now that he had Mary Jane on his side, he just had to wait for a little while. His plan didn't go smoothly and they were exposed quicker than Huck wanted. Mary Jane wasn't around to bail him out so all three were in danger of being hung. However, Huck got away, but the Duke and King found him. Even though he wasn't able to execute his plan smoothly, he took charge and tried to make a change and I really liked that.
After reading these chapters, it became very evident that Huck was tired of having to be around the King and the Duke. He seemed to become tired of their fraudulence and wanted to leave them somewhere. Also, I realized just how dumb the King and the Duke were. They were complaining about the gold being stolen, but then each claimed to have stolen it! They even argued over who stole it! They lie to everybody so much that their lies will start tripping them up. Another thing that I took away from these chapters was that a whole town was so shook up by the death, that they would believe anything. At that point in time the King and Duke showed up and made a huge scene which made the town feel sorry for them. They didn't even stop to question whether or not they were frauds. By the time someone questioned it, the King and Duke were being looked at like saints by the townspeople. When the doctor claimed that they were frauds, the townspeople responded by trying to show the doctor how they really were Peter Wilks's brothers. The town and the girls were in denial that those two could be frauds and made hasty decisions. Mary Jane is a great example of how people were trying to prove they trusted the King and Duke by giving them the money to invest. In the end, the denial of the people allowed the King and the Duke to take advantage of the entire town that was grieving.
Something that I really liked about these chapters was that Huck Finn finally took matters into his own hands. Instead of letting the King and Duke do whatever they wanted, Huck was able to throw their plans off. First, he hid the money from them and was able to put the blame on the slaves instead of himself. Although he didn't want to get the slaves in trouble, he needed to do it in order to execute his plan of exposing the frauds. He gained the trust of Mary Jane and told her the truth and, "It jolted her up like everything, of course; but I was over the shoal water now, so I went right along, her eyes a-blazing higher and higher all the time." Now that he had Mary Jane on his side, he just had to wait for a little while. His plan didn't go smoothly and they were exposed quicker than Huck wanted. Mary Jane wasn't around to bail him out so all three were in danger of being hung. However, Huck got away, but the Duke and King found him. Even though he wasn't able to execute his plan smoothly, he took charge and tried to make a change and I really liked that.