Journal #8 Mark Twain

Shirly Ong
English 48B
25 January, 2008
Journal #8 Mark Twain

Quote:
“Don’t put your feet up there, Huckleberry”; and “don’t scrunch up like that, Huckleberry—set up straight”; and pretty soon she would say, “Don’t gap and stretch like that, Huckleberry—why don’t you try to behave?”

Summary:
This is what Miss Watson said when she was living with Huck.

Response:
The Widow Douglas and her sister Miss Watson are from upper class of the society. Instead, Huck grew up without parents. He hangs out with Tom and has adventures with Tom. He did not have a proper home. He did not receive proper education neither. From this conversation, we can see that Miss Watson is trying to “sivilize” Huck. She thinks Huck should behave better. She wanted him to behave like a boy from the upper class. However, Huck did not like to act like that. When he got into his old rags, he was “free and satisfied”. In other words, he enjoys his life without a proper home. He feels he was restricted when he was living with Widow Douglas. Even though he can get new clothes and a good place to live, he dislikes this kind of life.
These quotes also reflect the significant gap between upper and lower class in the Missouri society at that time. Miss watson wanted Huck to behave because she thinks the upper class was more distinctive. They could not act like people in the lower class. Indeed, I think this phenomenon still exists in the current society. For example, rich people tends to buy clothes from famous brands. They also tend to send their children to private school so that they can be more distinguished. To me,a society will be more peaceful if the gap between the rich and the poor is smaller. Therefore, instead of starting wars or fighting on political issues, helping the poor should be the governments' first goal.

Journal #7 Mark Twain

Shirly Ong
English 48B
25 January, 2008
Journal #7 Mark Twain

Quotes:
“Tom laid five cents on the table for pay.”
“Tom give him five cents to keep quiet.”
“There’s two hundred dollars reward on him.”

Summary:
In the first two quotes, Tom paid five cents to slave Jim and Little Tommy Barnes for three candles and stop crying respectively. The third quote appears later in the story. It indicates that people can get two hundred rewards for catching an escaped slave.

Response:
These three quotes demonstrate the value money in the Missouri society at the time of Huckleberry Finn. As Tom got treasures from his adventure, he has considerable amount of money. Thus, he gave slave Jim and Little Tommy Barnes five cents very generously. To slave Jim and Little Tommy Barnes, five cents is not a small sum of money. At that time, they could get some food with five cents. I found this out later in the story when Huck gave another character ten cents for buying food and sharing the food with him. In contrast, catching an escaped slave could be rewarding. I could not believe that one can get two hundred dollars reward for doing so! Two hundred dollars must be a great sum of money to most people at that time. This reflects that slaves escaping from their owners were sinners. They were committing a serious crime. Freeing a slave is also a severe crime. The remarkable reward for catching an escaped slave indicates the poor status of slaves in the society. It was really pathetic to know that the king captured Jim and sell him to others for reward. Mark Twain has effectively described the evil side of humanity through “the king”.

Journal #6 Mark Twain

Shirly Ong
English 48B
25 January, 2008
Journal #6 Mark Twain

Quote:
“Twain’s many travels, including lecture tours around the globe, did not erase the rich material of his Missouri boyhood, which ran deep in his memory and imagination.”

Summary:
This is a quote from the introduction of Mark Twain. (Page 102 of The Norton Anthology – American Literature)

Response:
This quote of description of Mark Twain is clearly proved by his masterpiece, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The story takes place in the Mississippi Valley, Missouri. The protagonist, Huckleberry Finn and his companion Jim traveled down the Mississippi River. In their adventure, Huck and Jim have encountered different kinds of people and incidents. The stories have demonstrated society classes in Missouri at that time. It reflects Mark Twain’s childhood in Missouri. In the first place, the public order in Missouri was not very good. Robberies and murders are common. For instance, Huck and Jim met murderers and thieves in their journey. This shows that living conditions were poor and dangerous. Moreover, people generally do not have enough money to improve their livings. Robbing and murdering are one of the solutions to them. Yet, these people are not in the lowest social class. The status of slaves is the worst. They have no rights at all. They were not considered as human. Obviously, there were also higher classes in the society, which appeared in the story. For example, the Widow Douglas and her sister have a better status in the society. They can afford to adopt Huck and own a slave. She can even offer Huck new clothes. In short, Huck’s stories have painted a picture of Missouri society at the time of Mark Twain’s childhood. Also, as stated in the explanatory before the story starts, a number of dialects are used in this piece of work. Therefore, it is apparent that Mark Twain never forgets the memory of his boyhood in Missouri.

Journal #5 Mark Twain

Shirly Ong
English 48B
24 January, 2008
Journal #5 Mark Twain

Quote”
"'All right, then, I’ll go to hell'"

Summary:
This is a famous quote from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Huck struggled whether he should free Miss Watson’s slave Jim. He was anxious because he believed that he would go to hell if he free a slave. This quote is what Huck said to himself when he decided.

Response:
In this story, Mark Twain demonstrates what are taught and perceived in the American society at that time. Conceptions and practices in slavery are exclusively included. Huck strongly believes that he will go to hell if he frees a slave. This shows the social perception on slavery at that time. Slaves were not considered human. They were one’s properties. They could be traded. Therefore, freeing one’s slave means stealing. In the twenty-first century, we agree that freeing slaves is a right thing. But in Mark Twain’s time, it is even the biggest sin of all and people believe they will go to hell if they free a slave! This surprises me. It is a ridiculous and horrible perception.

On the other hand, I think Huck is superstitious. Earlier in the story, for example, he believes that killing a spider brings him bad luck. He also believes tying his hair up with a thread can keep witches away. Nevertheless, this quote highlights that Huck believes he will definitely go to hell even though he decided to free Jim. I think these are actually general believes in the south at that time. Huck was taught about these. To me, Mark Twain intentionally makes Huck a superstitious boy so that he can demonstrate the old believes of the nineteenth-century society in the States.

An Astounding Picture of a Slave Auction

Journal #4 Mark Twain

Shirly Ong
English 48B
23 January, 2008
Journal #4 Mark Twain

Quote
“ And I about made up my mind to pray; and see if I couldn’t try to quit being the kind of a boy I was, and be better…I was letting on to give up sin, buy away inside of me I was holding on to the biggest one of all.”

Summary:
In Chapter XXXI of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck could not decide whether he should free Miss Watson’s slave Jim, who was sold by the king for reward. This quote is about his feeling at the time he prayed for a right decision.

Response:
This quote reveals Huck’s perception in religion. Huck does not believe in God very much. When the widow tells him a Bible story, he does not like it. He finds praying useless. Yet, Huck is taught about God. He is also taught to pray. Even though Huck does not have a strong believe in God, he prays when he encounters fear and difficulties in making decisions. In this scene, Huck wanted to free Jim. Huck struggled a lot because he perceives that he is stealing Miss Watson’s property if he frees Jim. Therefore, he tried to pray, hoping he can do the right thing. On the other hand, I think Huck believe there’s God somehow, no matter who the God is. He believes he will go to hell if he frees a slave. In other words, he believes God will not let him go to heaven if he frees Jim. To me, Huck does not have a clear stance. He is profoundly affected by general conceptions in the society.

Moreover, we can see from the quote that Huck wanted to quit being “the kind of a boy” he was. He robbed. He stayed quiet when he saw injustice. Now, he wants to give up sin by praying. At the same time, Huck realizes he wants to free Jim and freeing Jim is a right thing to do indeed. However, he was taught that this is not right and this is even the biggest sin of all. Thus, he finds it hard to “give up sin” and free Jim.

Journal #3 Mark Twain

Shirly Ong
English 48B
18 January, 2008
Journal #3 Mark Twain

Quote:
“But still he was lucky, uncommon lucky; he most always come out winner.”

Summary:
This is a quote taken from “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”. Simon Wheeler was telling Mark Twain about Jim Smiley. Jim Smiley was addicted to gambling. He bet on everything and he was the winner most of the time. Simon Wheeler thinks Jim Smiley has uncommon luck.

Response:
Jim Smiley’s story triggers my thought on the problem of addiction in gambling and a Chinese proverb “an army puffed up with pride is bound to lose”. Obviously, Jim Smiley is addicted to gambling. He bets on everything. He even bet on the life of Parson Walker’s wife. This is so rude! I believe that he is addicted to gambling because he has been the winner in bets most of the time. He thinks he can always win. Thus, he enjoys in betting on everything, regardless of the natures of his bets. The joy of winning is the greatest reinforcement in gambling. In casinos, many people want to keep on gambling no matter they are winning or losing because they want to have another chance of winning. That’s why gambling is addictive. With his “uncommon luck”, Jim Smiley fell in to a “trap” of gambling.
Later in the story, Jim Smiley lost when he was placing a bet on his jumping frog with a stranger. The stranger cheated by filling Jim’s frog with quail shot. Jim’s frog could not jump as it usually did. To me, this proves the proverb “an army puffed up with pride is bound to lose”. Jim Smiley is proud of his frog and his uncommon luck. It turns out that he lost. Indeed, it is pretty easy to make him lose! This is very sarcastic.

Journal #2 Mark Twain

Shirly Ong
English 48B
17 January, 2008
Journal #2 Mark Twain

Quote:
“It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.”

Summary:
This is the conclusion Mark Twain made at the end of The War Prayer. He’s referring to the man who interrupted the ceremony and leaded the prayer. In his prayer, he asked God to help destroying the enemy of his own country.

Response:
In this piece of work, the war is supported by the citizens. They are proud to have a son fighting in the war. They believe that soldiers “die the noblest of noble deaths” in war. It seems Mark Twain was in favor of wars. However, this is only an illusion. To me, The War Prayer is an anti-war article.
In the stranger’s prayer, he prayed in the hope that God can help demolishing the enemies. He even described how the God could help demolishing them in details. Those are actually what happen in wars. Indeed, Mark Twain is trying to demonstrate the damage of wars through the stranger’s prayer. Written during the Philippine-American War, this piece of writing was not published at the time it was finished. Even though this article was not published until later, I think Mark Twain has made a conclusion to The War Prayer cleverly. In this quote, Twain claims that people think there was no sense in what the stranger said. By saying that the stranger who interrupted the ceremony was a lunatic, Twain indirectly points out his opinion - those who start wars are lunatics. In this way, he could not be easily accused of anti-war or anti-government even if the work was published.
On the other hand, I think Twain was also commenting on the religious belief of other people at that time through this piece of work. Some words of the strangers, which include “bearing a message from the Almighty God” and “you have heard your servant’s prayer,” represent the general religious believes. In other words, Twain thinks these make no sense. To my understanding of The War Prayer, Twain was neither in favor of war nor religion.

Journal #1 Ambrose Bierce

Shirly Ong
English 48B
17 January, 2008
Journal #1 Ambrose Bierce

Quote:
Optimism -- The doctrine, or belief, that everything is beautiful, including what is ugly, everything good, especially the bad, and everything right that is wrong…Being a blind faith, it is …an intellectual disorder, yielding to no treatment but death. It is hereditary, but fortunately not contagious.

Summary:
This is Ambrose Bierce’s definition of optimism in this Devil’s Dictionary. It demonstrates Bierce’s philosophy.

Response:
From this quote, we can learn that Ambrose Bierce is an obvious pessimist. He disapproves optimism. He thinks optimism is “a blind faith” and “an intellectual disorder”. To me, his view on optimism is not very reasonable. His extreme pessimism distorts the true definition of optimism. According to the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, optimism is “the tendency to be hopeful and to emphasize the good part of a situation rather than the bad part; the belief that good things will happen in the future”. Emphasizing the good part of a situation is different from believing a bad situation is good. I do not agree with Bierce that optimists believe everything is good. An optimist clearly knows the bad part of a situation when he emphasizes the good part. He does not ignore the bad part by believing it is good. Therefore, I believe optimism is not a blind faith. Instead, being optimistic is a better way of facing bad situations than being pessimistic. Being optimistic can reinforce one to work for better future while being pessimistic discourages one to do so as pessimism brings hopelessness. It is not surprise that people commit suicide when they are hopeless and helpless. In other words, pessimism can lead to death. This contradicts Bierce’s definition.

Even though Bierce’s definition of optimism is sarcastic and in fact fallacious, it is understandable because Bierce is well known of his pessimism and cynicism. The last sentence of this quote demonstrates Bierce’s sense of humor and sarcasms well. To him, optimism is evil. Thus, he believes it is fortunate that optimism is not contagious. This quote is remarkable to me.