Eugene Wu
Mrs. Starke Period 3
Satire and Social Responsibility Notes
March 30, 2010
Widow Douglas and Moses
“Here she was a-bothering about Moses, which
was no kin to her, and no use to anybody, being
gone […]” (2).
Widow Douglas on Smoking
“Pretty soon I wanted to smoke, and asked the
widow to let me. But she wouldn’t. She said it was
a mean practice and wasn’t clean, and I must try to
not do it any more. […] And she took snuff, too; of
course that was all right, because she done it
herself” (2).
Jim’s Experience with Witches
“[…] he said they rode him all over the world, and
tired him most to death, and his back was all over
saddle-boils. […] Niggers would come miles to hear
Jim tell about it, […] Niggers is always talking about
witches in the dark by the kitchen fire…” (6).
Pap’s Anger
“You’ve put on considerable many frills since I
been away. I’ll take you down a peg before I get
done with you. You’re educated, too, they say—
can read and write. You think you’re better’n your
father, now, don’t you, because he can’t? I’ll take
it out of you” (19).
The New Judge’s Proclamation
“[…]but it was a new judge that had just come, and
he didn’t know the old man; so he said courts
mustn’t interfere and separate families if they
could help it; said he’d druther not take a child
away from its father” (21).
Pap and Slavery
“It was ‘lection day, and I was just about to go and
vote myself if I warn’t too drunk to get there; but
Twain shows his objection to blind faith in religious
doctrine through Huck. She puts her trust in a
person who has been gone for a long time, and it
doesn’t seem to relate back to her.
Widow Douglas prevents Huck from smoking and
denounces the practice, yet she does drugs as
well. This hypocrisy shows Twain’s objections to
practitioners of religion. She appears to be a very
religious woman, yet she shows contradicts what
she says through her own actions.
Jim and the other slave’s dramatic superstition is
part of Twain’s satire on the superstitious beliefs
of the time. The popularity of Jim’s story across
the region despite its growing exaggeration shows
the dominance of superstition.
Pap is not considered respectable in his actions, as
he acts contrary to what a normal father would do
in opposing Huck’s education. Pap represents
irresponsible, drunk parents and their effect on
others. Parents normally want their children to be
better than them, but Pap contradicts this by being
angered by Huck’s success in life.
The new judge prefers to keep families together
rather than consider any harm that would cause.
The judge does not take Huck out of his father’s
custody and causes Huck further abuse. Twain is
satirizing the legal system and its flaws. He sends
the message that what the legal system decides is
not always the best idea.
Twain satirizes another disrespectable part of
society through Pap in Pap’s disgust with African
Americans. Pap represents the popular view of
white men in the south against free African
when they told me there was a state in this
country where they’d let that nigger vote, I
drawed out. I says I’ll never vote ag’in” (27).
Huck and Jim Argue
“I see it warn’t no use wasting words—you can’t
learn a nigger to argue. So I quit” (80).
Huck Fools Jim
“It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself
up to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done
it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterward, neither.
I didn’t do him no more mean tricks, and I
wouldn’t done that one if I’d ‘a’ knowed it would
make him feel that way” (86).
Huck’s Desire to Turn Jim In
“Conscience says to me, ‘What had poor Miss
Watson done to you that you could see her nigger
go off right under your eyes and never say one
single word? What did that poor woman do to you
that you could treat her so mean? […]’” (87).
The Grangerford and Shepherdson Feud
“Oh, yes, pa knows [who fired the first shot], I
reckon, and some of the other old people; but they
don’t know now what the row was about in the
first place” (108).
The Grangerfords and Shepherdsons Go To Church
“Next Sunday we all went to church, about three
mile, everybody a-horseback. The men took their
knees or stood them handy against the wall. The
Shepherdsons done the same. It was pretty ornery
preaching—all about brother love and such-like
tiresomeness; but everybody said it was a good
sermon […]” (109).
Huck and Jim Continue On the Raft
“I was powerful glad to get away from the feuds,
and so was Jim to get away from the swamp. We
said there warn’t no home like a raft, after all.
Other places do seem so cramped up and
smothery, but a raft don’t. You feel mighty free
and easy and comfortable on a raft” (116).
Colonel Sherburn’s Speech
Americans, and Twain shows their close-
mindedness.
Twain uses Huck to show the racist views of the
South in believing black people to be intellectually
inferior to whites. He believes Jim is incapable of
making logical arguments.
Huck makes progress from the beginning when
Tom played a trick on Jim. After Huck plays a trick
on Jim and learns that he has hurt Jim, he feels
genuinely sorry and views Jim as a fellow human
being and a friend. He views Jim as an equal to
himself and apologizes, humbling himself from the
position of a white man in southern society.
Huck faces his own conscience as he thinks over
what he has done in helping Jim escape slavery.
Huck believes that what he is doing is wrong, but
he does not want to betray Jim. Twain shows
society’s wrong in teaching that slaves are merely
property. In Huck’s case, to help Jim gain freedom
would be to steal from Miss Watson.
Twain satirizes mindless killing that takes place as
a result of feuds. None of the Shepherdsons or
Grangerfords even knows the reason for the feud,
but they simply carry it on as their duty and cause
countless deaths among both families.
Twain develops more of the image of hypocrisy he
sees in Christians. The men participate in their
feud, yet they come to church and hear about
brotherly love. There is blatant irony in their
bringing of guns to church. They agree with the
teachings, but they don’t live out the teachings or
even think about how the teachings relate to
themselves.
Huck is shocked by the violence in the feud that
took place between the Grangerfords and
Shepherdsons. He experiences the trouble of
society and learns to be wary of it. His easygoing
life on the river is contrasted against the chaos of
society and how good it is away from society. It is
free of violence and turmoil.
Colonel Sherburn says that there is no man in a
mob; there are only a bunch of cowards who are
“Your mistake is that you didn’t bring a man with
you: that’s one mistake and the other is that you
didn’t come in the dark and fetch your masks”
(141).
The Townspeople Go To See The Royal Nonesuch
“’We are sold—mighty badly sold. But we don’t
want to be the laughing-stock of this whole town, I
reckon, and never hear the last of this thing as
long as we live. No. What we want is to go out of
here quiet, and talk this show up, and sell the rest
of the town! Then we’ll all be in the same boat”
(151).
Jim Beat His Daughter
“’[…] I bust out a-cryin’ en grab her up in my arms,
en say, ‘Oh, de po’ little thing! De Lord God
Amighty fogive po’ ole Jim, kaze he never gwyne
to fogive hisself as long’s he live!’ Oh, she was
plumb deef en dumb, Huck, plumb deef en dumb
—en I’d ben a-treat’n her so!’” (156).
Huck Is Ashamed of the Duke and the Dauphin’s
Scams
“Well, if ever I struck anything like it, I’m a nigger.
It was enough to make a body ashamed of the
human race” (162).
Huck’s Decision to Rescue Jim From Slavery
“[…] never thought no more about reforming. I
shoved the whole thing out of my head, and said I
would take up wickedness again, which was in my
line, being brung up to it, and the other warn’t.
And for a started I would go to work and steal Jim
out of slavery again […]” (214).
Huck and Aunt Sally Discuss Blown Cylinder-Heads
“’It warn’t the grounding—that didn’t keep us back
but a little. We blowed out a cylinder-head.’
‘Good gracious! anybody hurt?’
‘No’m. Killed a nigger.’
‘Well, it’s lucky; because sometimes people do get
hurt’” (220-221).
Huck and Tom Save Jim
“He was so glad to see us he most cried; and called
only brave when they are in a mob. His reference
to masks and the dark are all referring to the
cowardice of the mob. Twain shows that mobs are
merely a bunch of cowards in masks.
The Duke and the Dauphin turn out not to be the
only ones who are morally twisted in this novel.
After the townspeople are tricked at the show,
instead of telling other people about the scam,
they choose to help the duke and the dauphin in
scamming the others. Instead of acting selfless,
they are selfish and neither the scammers nor the
victims appear to have any morality. Twain shows
the moral depravity of the south through the lack
of any selflessness.
Twain shows more morality in Jim as he mourns
over his family and thinks back to the time he
mistreated his daughter. He shows a tenderness
and compassion in him that you do not find in
other white men in the novel. Twain uses this to
help portray the humanity of blacks.
Huck sees the duke and the dauphin scam the
Wilks sisters and he feels shame towards the
human race. His growing sense of morality allows
him to see the sin in the duke and the king’s
actions.
Jim is sold into slavery and Huck struggles with the
decision of whether to rescue Jim or not. Society
teaches Huck that he is stealing a slave from a
helpless owner, but Huck feels differently inside
about Jim’s humanity and he makes the ultimate
moral decision to rescue Jim. Huck begins to
develop his sense of morality and make decisions
to defend that morality.
Twain makes a clear attack on racism in the south
through the exchange between Huck and Aunt
Sally. Huck does not seem to be worried that a
black has been hurt, and Aunt Sally is relieved that
only a black person was injured. They both neglect
the humanity of African Americans and reflect the
racist way of thinking in the South.
Tom and Huck seem to begin viewing Jim as an
object rather than a human being. Huck forgets all
the lessons he has learned throughout the novel
us honey, and all the pet names he could think of;
and was for having us hunt up a cold-chisel to cut
the chain off of his leg with right away, and
clearing out without losing any time. But Tom he
showed him how unregular it would be, and set
down and told him all about our plans […]” (247).
Tom Reveals Jim Is Free
“Old Miss Watson died two months ago, and she
was ashamed she ever was going to sell him down
the river, and said so; and she set him free In her
will” (289).
about Jim’s humanity, and he follows Tom in
making their rescue of Jim some sort of adventure.
They do outrageously unnecessary things to make
their rescue of Jim as hard as possible, risking
everything to play their game with the rescue.
Twain shows how deeply seated racism is in the
South and how easy it is to forget that blacks are
human.
Tom reveals his cruelty inside upon confessing that
Jim was had been freed by Miss Watson two
months ago. He made Jim go through all the pain
of his own adventures for the sake of having fun,
and does not seem to see Jim’s humanity at all.
Twain uses this to continue to criticize racism in
the South.