SAY IT AIN’T SO, HUCK: A SECOND LOOK AT MARK TWAIN’S “MASTERPIECE”
Jane Smiley’s analysis gives a very controversial view on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn due to its subdued thoughts upon what is known to many as classical American literature. Her essay concerns other author’s inspections about the issues upon slavery, and how differently they are represented in other works of literature. Smiley makes her point known that although Huck Finn is what most view as a great novel; she disagrees and states that Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin is more useful as a tool to learn about the problems dealing with slavery. From the beginning to the end of the essay, Smiley’s initial intention to bringing Mark Twain’s novel into to spot light changes. Her essay that was supposed to support Mark Twain moves more interest upon Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and seems to have replaced the luster of Huck Finn completely. She also is under the impression that the character Jim, the runaway slave also Huck’s companion in all of their misadventures was treated so poorly that the the novel as a whole doesn’t stand as an attack on racism at all. Perhaps, she must of read a different book than I, or she maybe had a few too many glasses of wine whilst reading and became over sensitive to the situation. I wish she would have given examples on how Huck’s actions should have played out towards Jim that would make her feel like the novel did suffice. The fact that Huck had several opportunities to turn Jim in and didn’t, is a wonderful action in itself. Although Huck did at one point feel guilt for harboring “stolen property,” he also was a mere thirteen years old at the time and had grown up in the Southern America pre-Civil War. I can understand how living in this area during the development of who he is may influence his thoughts because that’s all he has ever known: Whites oppressing the Black’s. I’m not saying this is an excuse for thinking it’s okay to look at Jim as property, I’m saying it’s his thoughts based off the only thing he’s ever witnessed. In the end, Huck describes Jim as being “white on the inside,” which to me it translated that he sees Jim is a human just like himself, nothing less, maybe even more than him. I could imagine Huck as an adolescent looking up to Jim in a Fatherly way, due to the fact his Father was an abusive drunk, and he’s a kid, he must feel love for Jim as if he were family after all this time adventuring together. I could go on about this forever, but I’m just going to put it in a more simpler fashion: Huck is able to grasp the idea that race has nothing to do with the importance of a man, which is remarkable for his young age, and the fact that Jane Smiley knit-picked at the lack of action on Huck’s part as if he was an adult in the modern world and condemns him in her analysis makes her look like a total dunce. That is all.