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.
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.
1 comment:
20/20 Good analysis so far.
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