In tonight’s reading, we further follow the text in the
adventures of Huck with the duke and the king. So far, it has seem that the
text has praised deception and mystery, for the duke and the king appear to be
getting away with all their scams on innocent people. The king lied about being
a reformed pirate to take up a collection. Together, they tricked people into
paying for their terrible performances, and now, they are pretending to be the
relatives of the deceased Mr. Wilks in order to scam the family. There are so
many acts of deception, but there is no punishment. In fact, the response of
the victims highlights even more deception, for when the audience of the first
night of the performance realizes that they’ve been scammed, they drag in more
people the second night in order to salvage their own pride so that they were
not the only ones being deceived. Obscuring the truth also seems to be integral
to preventing conflict. When initially Huck and Jim meet the king and the duke,
they play along with their stories in order to prevent disagreement, as we
discussed in class. It seems that all these instances of deception have been
condoned, if not praised.
Throughout these episodes, Huck is usually a bystander or an
accomplice, watching as the scams unfold and not warning anyone about them.
However, in tonight’s reading, he finally does take action through taking the
gold at the end of Chapter 26. What he does with it is yet to be seen, but the
fact that he has made a choice in opposition with the deception of the duke and
the king does seem to demonstrate a change. Why does he do it? It isn't
absolutely clear. Maybe it’s because he’s attracted to Mary Jane and wants to
help her? Maybe it’s because he just finally felt his conscience telling him to
do the right thing? I think this is a key question in understanding Huck’s
development at this crucial juncture.
However, I do see a trend in these episodes. It seems that there
is a progression in the level of deception. First, it started with the simple
white lies of playing along with the false stories of the king and the duke.
Then, it started escalating to alienating and deceiving people, albeit the
people may not have been the most honorable (trying to drag others down with
them). It finally reached a tipping point perhaps with the Wilks
family. It seems that this scam may be the most intimate, affecting specific individuals
who don’t deserve it, and I believe that this may be what causes Huck to act.
Having seen a very real face to the individuals that his inaction was harming
instead of the many blank faces of the mobs that were previously scammed leads
Huck on this path of trying to rectify the wrongs of the duke and the king. It
is here that Huck is able to clarify his own thoughts and decisions regarding
morality.
The deception and mischief caused by the king and the duke is important, and I think one of the first time we see opposition to it is in Jim. Besides being tied up and later dressed as an "Arab," Jim has to suffer the most throughout all of these scams. And although Jim does not know that these scammers are not actually a duke and a king, he points out to Huck his growing frustration at their wild and snotty behavior. Perhaps this is Twain remarking that Jim is growing used to and liking his new-found freedom as a runaway slave, and he does not want it taken away anytime soon or to be looked down upon by other people. I further think that Twain uses the tricks and scams of the king and the duke in order to further his satire, as he can not only ridicule their ridiculous behavior but also the reactions of the crowd and the ridiculous ways in which they react to getting scammed.
ReplyDeleteI believe the reason Huck decides to act against the duke and king is because he has always been in tune to the severity of certain actions. Like you said, there has been escalation of of deception in the king and duke's actions, and I think Huck only goes against them when he believes the actions have gone above simple practical jokes. We have seen that Huck loves to play jokes on Jim. He has also been slightly rude to Jim in the past, but with a harmless feel. However, when it is important and the action matters, like when he decides to not turn Jim in, Huck sides with his conscience. In my opinion, Huck's conscience has not developed as of yet, but he has just decided to make the decision that sides with his conscience when the level of deception has greatly increased.
ReplyDeleteYou talk about Huck clarifying his thoughts on morality. I wonder about the connection between deception and Huck's conscience. My opinion is that Huck does not even consider deception an ethical issue at all. It seems like the things that he feels bad about, and decides to rectify, do not make him feel bad BECAUSE of deception being involved. If the deception was a vehicle for wrongdoing, then sure, he would feel bad, but as far as deception goes, he seems to consider it a necessary, and even enjoyable, part of living.
ReplyDeleteHuck is in an interesting position because this deception is also helping Jim escape to freedom; paradoxically, Jim is humiliated a bit in the process, as Anisha mentioned above. In the incidents before, where he chose to remain silent, he must have determined that although he is lying, stealing, and cheating, he is obeying a higher law. Perhaps Twain wants to challenge readers notions of what is right or wrong. Citizens like the widow and Miss Watson seem to have a more binary view of the world, and it's been interesting seeing Huck's transformation from a more binary view of the world (a world opposite of the widow's and Miss Watson's) to a grayer one.
ReplyDeleteIn these episodes, it is important to note Huck's opinions as well as his actions. Therefore, I'm going to have to say that Anisha's post was erroneous. From the reading, it has been made clear several times how Huck disagrees with the methods of the duke and king, especially during the Wilks' story arc. After the duke/king first pretend to be the relatives of the late Mr. Wilks, Huck says that "it was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race" (Twain 178). Later, during the funeral crying scene, Huck says that "I never seen anything so disgusting" (Twain 178). Huck does in fact have qualms about the deceptions of the king/duke... Or, at the very least, this ties in well with the discussion over emotional arguments vs. logical arguments. Perhaps Huck is disgusted by the duke/king's actions because they are utilizing emotions for their manipulation?
ReplyDeleteI agree that the deceit reached a tipping point when it came to the Wilks family. In chapter 16, Huck said, "What's the use you learning to do right, when it's troublesome to do right and ain't no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same?" In this context, he realized he would feel guilty in spite of which course of action he chose, so he chose to do the one that was less troublesome. This was an important event in developing his own moral code. Now, he has been faced with a new situation, one in which the two options, keeping quiet or hiding the money, do not have the same outcome. The fact that he chose to hide the money shows that his loyalty to his conscience is greater than that of his loyalty to his companions and to money.
ReplyDeleteAs we have seen in the text, Huck is able to use his common sense to see through the lies of others. He also uses this ability to construct sound lies to fool others when necessary. However, I think Huck realizes that some people do not possess this same common sense and logical mental framework that he does, and scamming them seems unfair. In essence, he feels bad for them, which speaks to the idea that Huck is sympathetic. We saw this recurring image earlier when Huck lied to protect Jim and after the rattlesnake incident. I think that Huck takes the gold from the duke and the king because his conscience takes over, and he finally realizes the difference between right and wrong, a significant transformation in his character.
ReplyDeleteIn this last episode, Huck basically chose morality over the companionship and community that as we saw he desperately desired in the past. This is a big shift for Huck because before he had said he didn't care about going to hell if Tom Sawyer was going to go there. We see that now, by taking the gold, Huck has changed his opinion, whether consciously or unconsciously. In this episode Huck's individuality is once again put against cohesion to the group, and once again Huck chooses individuality by betraying his group.
ReplyDeleteI do think that we have seen a bit of a disintegration of Huck's morality since the beginning of the book. Originally, when he and Jim were traveling around hungry, the idea of stealing good came up. However, they called it "borrowing" since stealing could not be condoned, and they limited the produce they would take. Furthermore, as Jim and Huck discuss the two men, Jim seems uneasy about their scheming behavior, and Huck basically agrees, saying they are tricky rapscallions. However, in tonight's reading, we see Huck's perception of morality changing as he begins to assume the role of rapscallion like his two companions. Although in the Past he has had no trouble telling white lies to save himself, that same ease of deception is beginning to transition to the type of lying that is for personal benefit at the expense of others.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anisha's point. I don't really feel Huck has any issues with deception and finds it a very necessary part of living. I think, however, he does have issues when the consequences of the deception are too much. We saw with Jim that he felt horrible after lying to him when Jim was worried about him while he was lost on the river. He hasn't had an issue with the duke and the king up until because their deception hasn't really had dire consequences.
ReplyDeleteSorry this is so late! Checked last night and posts weren't up yet, then forgot to recheck. Anyway, I agree that the deception committed by the king, the duke, and Huck has thus far been free from negative consequences and has been praised at times, but I believe Huck uses deception in a different way than the king and the duke. In earlier chapters, he lied to a ship captain in order to try and save three murderers on a shipwreck, and he also told the smallpox lie and fibbed to the king and duke themselves in order to not give Jim away as a runaway slave. His use of deception is more positive, and when he sees that the duke and king's form of deception is selfish, cruel, and devoid of any compassion for other human beings, he finally takes action and steals the money back for the women. I agree that he finally takes a stand because, as Jimmy said, he sees and gets to know the wronged people on a personal level rather than viewing them as a mob.
ReplyDelete