Here are where my October reflections on our September study of Huckleberry Finn have rested....
First, let me add Austin's title since he's in Hawaii and won't be getting to this anytime soon. Austin's title: "Society is for Idiots" or maybe it was "Civilization is for Idiots."
I agree with Austin's emphasis here on "civilization" as the book's main theme. Twain wanted his readers to recognize good and evil apart from what man and his broken system's define them to be. He calls us, rightfully I believe, to consider a higher moral source that would allow those who tapped it to know what is right and wrong in whatever situation they came across. Twain does not name this moral source, nor does he create a character who perfectly aligns with it, which of course, deeply bothers all of us idealist readers, right?
One more thought. Is Twain's world one in which humans are ultimately free or restricted? I wanted to deal with this question more directly at our meeting, but totally forgot to bring it up as I was absorbed in all my fellow readers' observations and interpretations which never ever fail to bring my own scattered and fuzzy ideas into a nicely knitted piece. Thank you all so much for this gift.
So, my take on the above question is that Twain does not allow man to be free from restriction because he allows that evil penetrates even our best attempts at escape. Proof of this is that Huck and Jim cannot successfully escape civilization (the ultimate antagonist?) even on the raft. For example, the raft is not exempt from penetration by evil (Duke & King). Also, Huck is away from civilization when he is held captive in Pap's hut, another illustration of the evil that certainly still lurks beyond the corruption of society. Another place beyond civilization that Huck occupies in the novel is Jackson Island with Jim. Huck and Jim have to flee the island to avoid being caught by those who've sniffed them out and hope to "restore order" by re-enslaving the runaway Jim. So we see that our best attempts at freedom will ultimately fail. We are a restricted humanity, argues Twain, and we are restricted by our own ignorance, blindness, evil, pragmatism (one man's pragmatism is another man's enslavement -- exemplified when the two frauds must resort to giving up Jim to make some money).
Finally, Twian will have his hero, Huck, move out to "Injun Territory" to again attempt an escape from civilization. However, he leaves his readers (at least myself) knowing with certainty that evil would penetrate out there as well because, we are not free and cannot become so, according to Twain. Hence the logical exhaustion we ended up with for this novel's final chapter.
Yes Laurel. Thanks for more thoughts from the discussion and beyond. I too thought about the civilization theme. Huck is running from civilization. But the question is, can he escape it? I think Twain shows us that we can't. This is what I tried to bring out in my summery...that should Huck get away from all the corruption, duplicity, hypocrisy, and power-plays of society he still can't get away from himself (although he makes a good effort by his role-playing). It's like the idea of total depravity--every part of our being is tainted by sin. A good argument against the Amish:) Don't retrench from society because you take sin with you.
ReplyDeleteI almost feel like the slavery ideas here are really just parenthetical...slavery--it's not a main point just a by-product of a corrupt society. It just proves his point that civilization (and religion which is an establishment of civilization) only warps our consciences.
Babies awake--more thoughts later.
Ok, to finish my thoughts...
ReplyDeleteLaurel--where do you get that Twain is calling us to "a higher moral standard"? I see him breaking down all External Truth. As far as I see, the only truth is within yourself--and maybe not even there. I think he is showing us that the purest of us, are children who haven't yet been tainted by society. But, for the rest of us--just do what works--that's all that there is. Survival. Maybe I'm way off...
Also, I found it interesting that although Huck can't stand Miss Watson, he quite admires the widow for her faith (but he can't buy into it himself). Other than that, he admires Mary Jane for her trust and trustworthiness and Jim, of course for his genuine friendship. These are the closest he gets to ideals. Although Huck idealizes Tom, we see clearly that Twain does not hold him up for us to idealize.
I think I agree that we aren't free, according to Twain. That's the whole point of the book, isn't it? Huck wants freedom...from civilization...but he can't find it because he realizes that every human is a part of civilization, including himself. (Is that partly why he uses so many masks?)
What did you all say about what was getting in Huck's way from finding what he wanted? Did any of you say Jim? B/c Jim does get in his way--he's a huge roadblock...and yet not the antagonist.
Also, did any of you sympathize with Widow, Miss W and Aunt Polly--wanting to adopt Huck and civilize him? I did! Even though I knew if I could succeed in this, I would ruin Huck's charm!
I really like your point that "one man's pragmatism is another man's enslavement"...I'm going to have to think about this one!
I'm starting to see the flow of thought for this period. Twain calls this the Gilded Age and Stephan Crane goes even further...
Aaaahh! Just lost an hour's worth of reflection and response to your comments above! I will have to take a stab at it another time. So sorry!
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