Maura: Entry #2 Huckleberry Finn Close Reading

Text: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Critical Lens: Feminist/ Gender Lens

“And don’t go about women in that old calico. You do a girl tolerable poor, but you might fool men, maybe. Bless you, child, when you set out to thread a needle, don’t hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it-that’s the way a woman most always does; but a man always does ‘tother way. And when you throw a at a rat or anything, hitch your-self up a tip-toe, and fetch your hand up over your head as awkward as you can, and miss your rat about six or seven foot. Throw stiff-armed from the shoulder, like there was a pivot there for it to turn on-like a girl;not from the wrist and elbow, with your arm to one side, like a boy. And mind you, when a girl tries to catch anything in her lap, she throws her knees apart: she don’t clap them together, the way you did when you catched the lump of lead. Why, I spotted you for a boy when you was threading the needle; and I contrived the other things just to make certain." (pg 52-3)

In this quote, Huckleberry Finn, dressed as a girl, had approached a town and asked around for information. A woman, Mrs. Lofts, welcomed the disguised Huck into her home. She quickly realized that Huck was a boy and in this quote, explained how she figured it out and what behaviors gave away the fact that Huck is a boy. In her description of Huck's very masculine behaviors, the Mrs. Lofts clearly defines the expected behavioral differences between males and females in antebellum society, telling Huck that he can "do" a girl, implying that appearing a female is all about actions and behavior. Females are expected to be weak, and their throws ineffective, "awkward as you can, and miss your rat about six or seven foot". They are also expected to be good at housework, such as sewing, thus girls are supposed to know the proper way to thread a needle, which Huck failed to do. These expected behaviors demonstrate the roles that females are allowed to fill in antebellum society: as mothers, and as homemakers. However, the roles that females are expected to fill in antebellum society reveal even more about the treatment of and lack of power of women at that time. Women were considered to be weaker. They were assumed to be incapable of anything other than producing and raising children and doing housework, as seen in Mrs. Lofts' instructions to Huck to throw things "stiff-armed", as if incapable of throwing. Men were firmly in control of society, and of women. This is shown in the roles that women filled, as subservient to men and without any true social or political power. In this quote, Mrs. Lofts also reveals the importance of appearance to women in antebellum society. Appearing as a women, gives Huck the ability to slip around unseen, as females are not regarded as important by men, as evidenced by Mrs. Lofts claiming that Huck would not be able to fool women dressed as a girl, but "you might fool men, maybe", because men disregard females and do not look further than identification of gender.