Huck Finn ch 31-43

The theme of betrayal is instantly portrayed in chapter 31 when the king sells Jim for drinking money. Seriously? And to make things better, the duke gave Huck false information regarding where Jim was. They went through all that trouble to protect Jim and they just give him away? More importantly, Huck and Tom's friendship pops up again. While I first got the impression that Tom thought he was hot stuff and Huck was his little sidekick, I have come to find that maybe that isn't the case after all. When Huck asks Tom to help him out with the whole Jim situation, instead of judging him because he's helping out a slave, Tom agrees without saying a word about it. Through this, I realized that not only did Huck and Tom mature as characters over the course of the novel, but their friendship did as well. Overall, the betrayal took place in the beginning/middle of the book. The most evident had to have been Pap's mistreatment towards Huck. It's okay though because he's dead now. Boy, do I love happy endings. The theme of friendship was more prominent. Readers really got to see the relationship between Huck and several other characters. Huck and Jim went from being practically acquaintances to best friends I would say. Not only did we see a friendship form, we also got to see the relationship between Huck and Tom mature. If you compare the two boys at the beginning of the novel and the boys at the end, it is clear that both are now thoughtful and considerate of others; a quality that was never there to begin with.

Huck Finn ch 23-30

The friendship between Huck and Jim develops further in these chapters. Evidence of this would be when Jim tells Huck more personal details about his life, such as hitting his daughter for disobeying him when in reality, she couldn't hear him because she was deaf. Little things like that really make me appreciate Jim as a character. I'm beginning to think Huck's relationship toward Jim is genuine now because readers start to see him looking out for the runaway slave. I also find it interesting how the conmen look out for Jim as well; disguising him so he doesn't get caught and making a "wanted" poster just in case anyone asks about him. I have mixed feelings about them, seeing as though they betray every living thin they come across yet protect Jim. Why waste their time helping him out? I'll never know.
I will never be one to encourage betrayal, but I was completely supporting Huck's decisions throughout this part in the story. I especially was amazed by how mature he seemed. This Huck and the Huck we've come to know from the beginning of the novel are two completely different people. Not only was he being thoughtful, he was also being selfless. Maybe Huck isn't so bad after all. All these chapters, I saw him as a bratty little kid and was more of a fan of Jim, but something about him in these past few chapters is making him grow on me. Is betrayal acceptable when trying to protect a friendship? In this case, Mary Jane and his? I say yes but that's my biased opinion on the whole situation. I really hope this isn't the end of their friendship though. Did anyone else sense a couple in the making or was it just me? Nothing like a good old romance to shake things up hahaha.

Huck Finn ch 16-22

In chapter 16, I was kind of torn between wanting Huck and Jim to continue their "adventure" further and wanting Huck to do the right thing and turn Jim in. This is where I saw the themes of both friendship and betrayal come together. It made me realize how a friendship can easily be broken because of it. But seriously Huck, Jim is all you have at this point and you want to turn him in? It's okay though because Huck found himself some new friends, the Grangerfords. Huck grows especially closer to Buck Grangerford, who's about his age. It's all rainbows and sunshine until the feud between the two families gets out of hand and Buck and most of his family members die... A cliche form of betrayal was performed by Sophia Grangerford, who ran off to marry a member of her family's rivals. How Romeo and Juliet-esque. These chapters basically consist of small forms of betrayal along with temporary friendships. I'm still unsure at this point that Huck is truly friends with Jim. I know Jim's feelings are genuine, I mean he makes it pretty obvious when he tell him, "Jim won't ever forgit you, Huck; you's de bes' fren' Jim's ever had; en you's de only fren' ole Jim's got now." The grammar may put you off, but honestly how cute is that? Ugh come on Huck, how can you betray that?

Huck Finn ch 6-15

The story really gets interesting during these chapters. The biggest examples of betrayal are developed even further. I think we can all agree that we hate Pap. What more is there to betrayal than beating your son and using him for his money? Well, we happened to find out in chapter 6. Pap has certainly outdone himself when he locks Pap up in a shack by the river. On the bright side, a friendship begins to blossom when Huck runs away to Jackson island. Jim, Miss Watson's slave ran off too, so I guess friends that run away together stay together. It's actually very fascinating to see how Twain described the moments between Huck and Jim because this pair was not a common thing back in the day. There were no other significant signs of friendship other than theirs. They really kicked Tom Sawyer to the curb, don't you think? There is also betrayal in a sense that both Huck and Jim ran away from Widow Douglas and Miss Watson but I don't really see it as betrayal.

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.

Vokis

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=9059176&height=267&width=200 -Hester

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=9059200&height=267&width=200 -Pearl

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=9059236&height=267&width=200 -Dimmesdale

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=9059277&height=267&width=200 -Chillingworth 

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=9059572&height=267&width=200 -Mistress Hibbins

The Scarlet Letter ch 8-12

Chapter eight of the novel seemed almost pointless to me. This chapter introduced Governor Bellingham along with Mr. Wilson, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth- whom we already know is her long lost husband. Readers also get to see a bit of trouble stirred up by none other than Pearl herself. The matter wasn't serious and could have easily been avoided if Pearl wasn't so rebellious. Obviously Pearl knew the answer to the question yet she chose to be difficult and told Mr. Wilson she came from a rose bush. This got her mom in even more trouble than she already was, which was annoying. I love Pearl, but she causes unnecessary stress sometimes. There was a part I didn't get, which was when Bellingham's sister asked Hester to come to the forest. Who was this "Black Man" that she was talking about? My first thoughts were the devil, but I'm not really sure.

Chapter nine basically talked about Chillingworth the whole time, which I liked because his character literally popped out of the woodworks. He mysteriously came out of no where, stating that he was Hester's long lost, and not dead, husband after all. It would be nice to have SOME background information on him. I found it extremely weird how Chillingworth wanted to stay with Reverend Dimmesdale. The title of this chapter,"The Leech," seemed very fitting after hearing this. 

I found chapter ten to be more interesting than the other chapters. It made me hate Chillingworth a little less... eh. I kind of felt bad for him. The reason why he's so bitter is because all he wants is to find out the truth. The only question I had during this chapter was, "WHAT IS DIMMESDALE'S SECRET?!" Seriously it's been bugging me for the past couple chapters and I thought it would be revealed by now. Also, why is Chillingworth so concerned with it? I guess I'm not the only one who dislikes him too, because even the narrator compared him to Satan. Haha.

Chapter 11 was the most unexpected yet expected plot twist. If that even makes sense. Everyone explains the Scarlet Letter as the story where some lady sleeps with a minister and gets punished for it but I completely forgot that until now. Seriously.... REVEREND DIMMESDALE?! Really?!? No wonder he was acting shady these last few chapters. We also know why he puts his hand over his chest when he's in uncomfortable situations. I seriously had no words for this chapter. The fact that Chillingworth discovered his secret was the cherry on top of everything. Poor, old Dimmesdale. Is it bad that I still like Dimmesdale more than Chillingworth at this point?...

Chapter 12 gave me a sense of defeat. Dimmesdale is just chilling on a scaffold for the whole chapter, recollecting his sins, and figuring out how he's going to confess them to everybody. We can see him at his lowest point. The whole glowing A thing was a bit weird to me though. It reminded me of Julius Caesar when Brutus see's Caesar's head in the middle of the night. Weird. It warmed my heart when Hester and Pearl came together on the scaffold. It made me happy to see that Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl weren't alone in their situation and that they could conquer the problem together. Although this was touching, I wonder if Pearl knows that he's her father. I feel like she should know, but it's better to tell her when she's older. She's too young to know wrong from right at this age, clearly.