Richmond Croom Beatty (1905–1961)

The purity of the first 20 or so chapters of Huck Finn cannot be understated. They capture the restlessness of the outcast, the desire to break the bonds of society's expectations, to find freedom in nature. Huck is an abused child of an alcoholic; Jim is an enslaved man who has no bonds, familial or otherwise, that cannot be destroyed by being sold down the river. In some ways they are like Adam and Eve on Jackson Island, trying to create a civilization, or utopia, or Eden, that allows them their own version of freedom.

The flight from slave-hunters down the Mississippi is the destruction of this Eden, finalized by taking the Duke and the King onboard the raft.

I found Ralph Ellison and Judith Fetterley's essays most insightful in this Norton Critical Edition. Ellison connects the characterization of Jim to the minstrel show, and his friendship with Huck as an undermining of Black manhood. This is the primary scar, or flaw, in this text. Jim is a martyr; he is noble; but is he fully human in Twain's portrayal?

Fetterley's analysis of the Tom Sawyer episode at the end reveals Tom's malevolent egotism as a continuation of the King and the Duke, Miss Watson, and the general milieu of violent and primitive folks who live in small towns along the Mississippi. This river is not so dissimilar from Conrad's Congo - we are in a state of nature, where the concept of civilization resides in the power structure and those who are willing to use deceit or violence to attain power.… (més)

I read the Adventures of Huck Finn in high school and very quickly thereafter read Tom Sawyer. Both are such great adventure stories but also a lesson in writing in dialect. While there are aspects that are unfortunate/unpleasant in the way of terrible events and actions in history regarding 'The South' and the stain of the nation, it's an entertaining look into the past through the point of view of a young boy just making his way. Of course it definitely offers up opportunity for further and deeper discussion, but on the surface, it's an adventure story.… (més)