After reading these chapters, I had quite a few questions. First off, I was wondering if there was a warrant out for the King and the Duke? I mean, after they scammed so many towns I would have assumed that the other towns down river would have been warned about the frauds who might show up. Or was communication still lacking between towns back then? Also, was it all part of the plan when the Duke and Huck left the raft and Jim was taken? I know that the Duke and King were responsible for it, but I wasn't sure if the Duke purposely acted uneasy in order to get Huck away from the raft. I was kind of surprised at how quickly the King believed Huck's made up story. Does everyone believe the lies they are told in this book? I still can't believe how lucky Huck got when he ended up at Tom Sawyers relative's farm. Did Tom actually believe that Huck was a ghost for a little while? I mean, I know he has quite the imagination, but really? Were people actually believe that much supernatural stuff back then? There seems to be quite a bit of talk about witches and ghosts/spirits throughout the book. Additionally, why did Tom agree to help Huck do something that could end badly for the both of them? Was their friendship that strong that he would do something like that?
Huck really changed during this part of the story after he discovered Jim was gone. I realized that he still knows right from wrong and that made me pretty happy. In the beginning of the story, Huck used his head to decide what was right and wrong, but now he is deciding in his heart what is right. He was so conflicted about what he should do after he discovered that Jim was taken and he began to realize that Jim really needed him. He knew that if wrote to Ms. Watson about Jim's whereabouts that Jim would likely be punished harshly for running. Yet, he believed that if he didn't do anything, he would go to hell. This is where Huck had the most difficulty in deciding on what to do. In the end, Huck decided that he would rather go to hell than lose Jim's friendship and he would do anything to get Jim back. He said, "And for a starter I would go to work to and steal Jim out of slavery again; and if I could think up anything worse, I would do that, too; because as long as I was in, and in for good, I might as well go the whole hog" (Twain 214). Huck went from wanting to turn Jim in at one point, to making a decision to go to hell to get Jim back. Huck realized how much his friendship meant not only to him, but to Jim as well. Huck decided that a friendship was worth going to hell and back for.
There were several things that I liked and found interesting during these chapters. First, I really liked how Huck was willing to sacrifice himself in order to keep his friend. Similarly, Tom Sawyer was immediately willing to help Huck find and get Jim out of slavery. That was really surprising because Tom had been living his life thinking one of his best friends was murdered. Then to find out the truth that he had just ran away and Tom wasn't even a little angry at Huck. Tom was just so relieved to know that Huck was alive and well that he didn't care that Huck didn't tell him or the fact that Huck was pretending to be Tom. Tom was being a genuine friend. This was another thing that I really liked about these chapters, the importance of friendship. Tom was a true friend to Huck and would help Huck do anything he asked without question. Likewise, Huck was doing the same thing for Jim and was willing to be condemned to hell, because he knew it was the right thing to do. True friends should be willing to sacrifice themselves for the other, and Huck, Tom, and Jim all displayed this throughout these chapters. On another note, as bad as it may be, I was glad read that the Duke and the King were caught by the village. The fact that Jim was the one to rat them out was even better. I mean, they sold Jim out, and karma came back to bite them in the butt when Jim ratted them out. I don't know if that is a bad thing that I was happy or not, but they deserved every feather that was stuck to their body. Sweet, sweet revenge.
Huck really changed during this part of the story after he discovered Jim was gone. I realized that he still knows right from wrong and that made me pretty happy. In the beginning of the story, Huck used his head to decide what was right and wrong, but now he is deciding in his heart what is right. He was so conflicted about what he should do after he discovered that Jim was taken and he began to realize that Jim really needed him. He knew that if wrote to Ms. Watson about Jim's whereabouts that Jim would likely be punished harshly for running. Yet, he believed that if he didn't do anything, he would go to hell. This is where Huck had the most difficulty in deciding on what to do. In the end, Huck decided that he would rather go to hell than lose Jim's friendship and he would do anything to get Jim back. He said, "And for a starter I would go to work to and steal Jim out of slavery again; and if I could think up anything worse, I would do that, too; because as long as I was in, and in for good, I might as well go the whole hog" (Twain 214). Huck went from wanting to turn Jim in at one point, to making a decision to go to hell to get Jim back. Huck realized how much his friendship meant not only to him, but to Jim as well. Huck decided that a friendship was worth going to hell and back for.
There were several things that I liked and found interesting during these chapters. First, I really liked how Huck was willing to sacrifice himself in order to keep his friend. Similarly, Tom Sawyer was immediately willing to help Huck find and get Jim out of slavery. That was really surprising because Tom had been living his life thinking one of his best friends was murdered. Then to find out the truth that he had just ran away and Tom wasn't even a little angry at Huck. Tom was just so relieved to know that Huck was alive and well that he didn't care that Huck didn't tell him or the fact that Huck was pretending to be Tom. Tom was being a genuine friend. This was another thing that I really liked about these chapters, the importance of friendship. Tom was a true friend to Huck and would help Huck do anything he asked without question. Likewise, Huck was doing the same thing for Jim and was willing to be condemned to hell, because he knew it was the right thing to do. True friends should be willing to sacrifice themselves for the other, and Huck, Tom, and Jim all displayed this throughout these chapters. On another note, as bad as it may be, I was glad read that the Duke and the King were caught by the village. The fact that Jim was the one to rat them out was even better. I mean, they sold Jim out, and karma came back to bite them in the butt when Jim ratted them out. I don't know if that is a bad thing that I was happy or not, but they deserved every feather that was stuck to their body. Sweet, sweet revenge.