Friday, March 14, 2014
Huck Finn: ch 1-5
Betrayal is defined as breaking one's trust or exposing one to an enemy by treachery or disloyalty. This theme is usually tied with friendship, in this case, being Tom Sawyer's and Huckleberry Finn's. Evidence is already present in chapter 2 when Tom, Huck, and a few of their other friends make a "gang." Tom, being the little know it all he is, is the leader, and forms an oath, which if broken, costs the lives of their family members. I didn't really grasp the whole, "yeah, we're in a gang but if you don't follow my rules, I'm allowed to kill your loved ones" concept. It's quite hypocritical of Tom to get back at betrayal using betrayal, don't you think? Another significant example of betrayal is done by Huck's father, Pap. Like any cliche' drunk parent, he beats him. Not only does he betray Huck by not being a father figure to him, but he betrays the new and, might I add, gullible judge in town. He basically made the judge and his wife feel sorry for him, give him a jacket, and a place to stay to simply leave the next morning and sell the jacket for more liquor. Although he must have possessed some amazing acting skills to pull that off, (I mean, come on. No one offers anyone a room and a free jacket to just anybody) he definitely was the main source of betrayal in chapter 1-5 in my opinion.
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Nice start April! How much of Tom's actions do you think are "bad"? Do you think he plans and plots to manipulate people or do you think that he is just a clever boy who doesn't quite understand his own powers of manipulation?
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you analyzed characters like Tom and Pap, going deep into their actions and discussing their relevance to our topic. Pap's father was definitely the main representation of betrayal in chapters 1 - 5. I also agree that by beating Huck, Pap is technically betraying him by not being a reliable father figure as his duty ought to be.
ReplyDeleteThis was enjoyable to read. Like Same, I did enjoy that you went into depth about Pap and Huck's relationship. You read my mind when pointing out the fact that Tom wanted to fight betrayal with betrayal. It's like fighting fire with fire, all you get is a bigger flame. However, I am glad they didn't kill anyone in the first 5 chapters. Tom is crazy, but hopefully not that crazy. Do you think Tom really sees Huck as a "friend"? They've been through so much, but I feel a though just uses Huck. I don't know for what purpose though.
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