Does Huck Keep His Little Joke A Secret
Fishbowl Essay #2 Chapters 8-13 Tommy Jankowski
Question #6 When Huck curls up the snake at the foot of Jim’s blanket, he does not tell Jim he has done it. What is the reason for keeping his little joke a secret? What lesson does Huck learn from it? How would Jim have felt if Huck would have told him the truth? Discuss your answer.
While Huck is more mature than most of the other characters in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he is still an immature and young narrator on a journey to adulthood. These aspects of Huck's personality are revealed when he puts a dead rattlesnake next to Jim’s blanket thinking “there’d be some fun when Jim found him there” (54). After Jim is bitten by another rattlesnake, Huck refused to tell JIm that he …show more content…
This unique void in the relationship stems from Jim’s fear that if he disagrees with Huck, Huck could sell him out to the authorities. Despite the thought never crossing Huck’s mind, the ominous tone remains in the back of Jim’s head. On the other hand, Huck feels insecure in his relationship with Jim at this point in the novel, and fears that he could lose Jim’s friendship and he “ warn’t going to let Jim find out it was all my fault”(55). This is one of the only inhibiting factors in the relationship between Huck and Jim, as both of them did not want to fully express themselves in fear of retribution from the other. Huck learns to respect Jim’s superstitions after the rattlesnake bite, and he was “getting to feel that way myself “ (55). Ironically, after the experience, Huck became more level headed when it came to pranks, not because of logic and reason, but due to his agreement of superstition. As the novel progresses, the reader learns how Huck adapts his behavior to his most recent experiences. After Jim got bitten by a rattlesnake, Huck becomes more superstitious, but he soon reverts back to his normal attitude, as life gets better; a trend that will begin to manifest later in the
Question #6 When Huck curls up the snake at the foot of Jim’s blanket, he does not tell Jim he has done it. What is the reason for keeping his little joke a secret? What lesson does Huck learn from it? How would Jim have felt if Huck would have told him the truth? Discuss your answer.
While Huck is more mature than most of the other characters in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he is still an immature and young narrator on a journey to adulthood. These aspects of Huck's personality are revealed when he puts a dead rattlesnake next to Jim’s blanket thinking “there’d be some fun when Jim found him there” (54). After Jim is bitten by another rattlesnake, Huck refused to tell JIm that he …show more content…
This unique void in the relationship stems from Jim’s fear that if he disagrees with Huck, Huck could sell him out to the authorities. Despite the thought never crossing Huck’s mind, the ominous tone remains in the back of Jim’s head. On the other hand, Huck feels insecure in his relationship with Jim at this point in the novel, and fears that he could lose Jim’s friendship and he “ warn’t going to let Jim find out it was all my fault”(55). This is one of the only inhibiting factors in the relationship between Huck and Jim, as both of them did not want to fully express themselves in fear of retribution from the other. Huck learns to respect Jim’s superstitions after the rattlesnake bite, and he was “getting to feel that way myself “ (55). Ironically, after the experience, Huck became more level headed when it came to pranks, not because of logic and reason, but due to his agreement of superstition. As the novel progresses, the reader learns how Huck adapts his behavior to his most recent experiences. After Jim got bitten by a rattlesnake, Huck becomes more superstitious, but he soon reverts back to his normal attitude, as life gets better; a trend that will begin to manifest later in the