"That's so, my boy—good-bye, good-bye. If you see any runaway n-----s you get help and nab them, and you can make some money by it."
"Good-bye, sir," says I; "I won't let no runaway n-----s get by me if I can help it."
They went off and I got aboard the raft, feeling bad and low, because I knowed very well I had done wrong, and I see it warn't no use for me to try to learn to do right; a body that don't get started right when he's little ain't got no show—when the pinch comes there ain't nothing to back him up and keep him to his work, and so he gets beat. Then I thought a minute, and says to myself, hold on; s'pose you'd a done right and give Jim up, would you felt better than what you do now? No, says I, I'd feel bad—I'd feel just the same way I do now. Well, then, says I, what's the use you learning to do right when it's troublesome to do right and ain't no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same? I was stuck. I couldn't answer that. So I reckoned I wouldn't bother no more about it, but after this always do whichever come handiest at the time.
(Twain 77-78).
In this quote Huck is talking to some man that he found on his way from the river. He talks to him about his runaway slaves and he asks him if he founds the mens runaway slaves to kidnap them and make some money for it. It is like they are hunting animals. Huck feels like he has done something wrong to society for helping a slave run away, in this case Jim, but in the other side he knows he’s is doing a good thing by helping this slave because the make him work had and they also beat him.
This quote and Huck’s actions show his beliefs and feelings towards race and slavery: Huck is not a racist and deep down, he thinks that slavery should not be happening. However, he is confused because on his society helping a runaway slave escape is a crime but he knows if he doesn’t get caught helping him is like he never did anything that his society might judge him for. Huck describes his feelings in this moment as “bad and low” for being with an runaway while he tells everyone he won’t let any slave go away. He is lying to them, which makes him feel “bad.” Then he says, “I had done wrong, and see it warn’t no use for me to try to learn to do right.” These words from Huck shows his beliefs of how he knows he has done something wrong in society by helping slaves get away or just not agreeing to slavery, but he knows it’s a good thing what he did by helping Jim get away. When he says it “warn’t no use” shows that deep down, he does not think he has another option.
In this quote, Huck also seems to realize that doing the “right” thing by society’s standards wouldn’t make him feel any better. He says, “I, I'd feel bad—I'd feel just the same way I do now.” He would be feeling bad because he knows by giving up Jim it would be a bad thing. He would feel guilty because he did do something bad but he kept it a secret because heis trying to learn to do the right thing, even though it is trouble to do the right thing in his society. So there is no trouble to do something wrong or any consequences if you don’t get caught.
No comments:
Post a Comment