Chapter the Last

In the last chapter Huck talks about how Jim is finally free. In his masters will he is declared free so then he is now officially a free man. Once out of the chains Tom gives Jim 40 dollars for being so patient with them and Jim is very happy with the two boys. JIm tells Huck that he will be rich again just like he was but Huck worried about his dad having already spent it all, doubts Jim. JIm tells him that his dad won't be bothering him anymore because he is dead. The three head off for another adventure and then Huck stops writing. 

I think the end of the book was a happy ending for Huck even though his dad had died, he didn't seem phased about it but more happy that he was with his friends and Jim was free. I didn't like the ending of the book too much because of how Huck just ended it. He spent all the time writing about the process of trying to free Jim and then all of a sudden he is free. It was a little boring but the fact that everything worked out in the end is good. 

Mrs. Watson's Letter

Huck decides to write a letter to Mrs. Watson in guilt. He feels guilty about helping Jim stay hidden and being with a runaway. He feels as if he has stolen from Mrs. Watson and it sort of hurts him becasue Mrs. Watson has always been nice to Huck and showed him hospitality. While writing the letter he starts to think about what will happen to Jim. The adventures that Jim and Huck have gone through have created a special bond and friendship between the two. He is friends with JIm and starts to feel even guiltier because he is about to rat out Jim, his one and truly only friend. In saying this, Huck decides to rip up the letter because he doesn't want to turn his back on Jim. Huck also becomes worried about what Mrs.. Watson might think of him if she knew he helped a run away slave and stole her property. This shows the Huck isn't doing what is easiest but using a sense of morals. He is doing what he thinks is the best for the both of them rather then looking out for number one, himself. 

The Ruined Plan

In these chapters the Duke and the King come up with a plan to rob the Wilk's family. They want to steal all the money from them during Peter Wilk's funeral. With Huck not agreeing or liking the plan, he comes up with his own idea to stop the Duke and King's scheme. The first step that Huck comes up with is to steal their money and hide it from them. Since HUck has been with the Wilk's he knows that the money is hidden under the bed so he decides to take it then hide it from the Duke and the King. Once he is in possession of the money. people start walking in the house so he freaks out and hides it in Peter's coffin. Before Huck could get the money out, Peter is buried and the money is buried with him as well. Huck thinks he has a problem but instead he just walks up to Mary Jane and tells her everything. He tells her about the money and how the King and Duke are just con-artists and how they have just been scheming a plan to steal the money this whole time. 

Huck decides to ruin their plan because his conscious was getting to him. He knew that their plan was going to hurt a lot of people and he didn't agree with what they were doing, so he decided to do the right thing. 

 

Jim's Daughter

At the end of chapter 23 Huck and Jim start talking and get on the subject of Jim's family. Jim hears a long clack in the background and it reminds him of his daughter Lizabeth. He talks how she had scarlet fever and got better soon after. After she got healthy, JIm said that she was just standing around and doing no work so he yelled at her in order to get her to start working and once she didn't move and just kept standing there, he yelled some more. JIm said that he could remember getting so angry that he hit his four year old daughter across the head so hard that he felt bad after doing that. Lizabeth started to cry and with Jim still being mad he stood there and yelled, but once he realized what he had done was wrong he grabbed his daughter and just hugged her. He found out she couldn't hear his commands because the scarlet fever had left her deaf so then hitting her became extra wrong. It shows that even though Jim is a slave and by society is labeled as having no feelings, that he loves his family as much as any other white man does. It is showing that Jim is a very caring person and that even though he is a slave he is the same as any other white male. 

Duke and the King

The young man, the Duke, made a paste that was suppose to move tartar from your teeth but took some enamel with it. So he fled to avoid the anger of the townspeople. The old man, the long last son of Louis XVI, held temperance revival meetings but once people found out that he drank, he had to leave town as well. With both of them no knowing each other and being con-artists they try to con Huck and Jim into waiting on them hand and foot. They start being as polite as possible to them and do everything asked, once it becomes apparent to Huck that they are lying he decides not to tell them he knows in order to avoid conflict. In my opinion it is wise for them to play along because neither Jim nor Huck know what the two men are capable of or if they know the stories of Huck and Jim. If the two men do know about Jim or Huck then they could turn them in to get money so it is better for the both of them to keep a low profile and not upset the Duke and King. 

Huck and Buck's Similarities

The first similarity between Huck and Buck are their names. Their names are are only a letter different. Both of the boys are similar in age and live in the same sort of environment. They are both surrounded by the so called "civilized" people and slave owners. With their surroundings being in common they also would much rather be in the wild living the sort of "uncivilized" life rather then being raised in a nice household, like they are now. In their first encounter, Buck takes Huck into a clothing store and rapidly starts to fire question after question to Huck. He asks him if Huck likes to dress up for sunday school because he doesn't and if he would rather live "uncivilized" then "civilized". Just like Huck, Buck is always up for a real adventure and none of the Tom Sawyer nonsense of pretending. They go into the forest for one of these adventures they enjoy and come across one of their so called rivals. Buck tells Huck to hide while he shoots at him. Once the shot is fired they both take off.

Raftsmen

In this chapter you get a feel of the way raftsmen are looked at. Raftsmen are usually characterized as lower to middle class citizens where the upper class use steamboats rather then rafts. When the steamboat ran into Huck's raft and didn't stop to see if anyone was alright shows the reader how low raftsmen are seen as by the upper class. The raftsmen are also very generous and helpful people. When Huck told them that his pap was sick and needed to get him help they lended him a hand without thinking twice or asking any questions. Once they couldn't get to shore they still provided Huck with money for his upcoming journey.  The one negative quality is since they were so low on the food chain, they were willing to find slaves and turn them in. In one part of the chapter they go around asking if people have seen slaves so they can return them for money. Overall the raftsmen are nice and helpful, seen as scum by the upper class and are to be avoided by slaves. 

The Robbers

While Jim and Huck continue to go on their adventures of looting and stealing, one night they come across a wrecked steamboat. Huck eagerly wants to go explore the boat and take anything of any value off the boat. With Jim strongly disagreeing, Huck climbs aboard anyway. While on the boat he hears two men talking to each other about killing the other man on the boat. During Huck's time on the steamboat, Jim and Huck's raft gets loose. Huck wants to cut the line of the robbers' boat so they couldn't escape. While the robbers are in the steamboat, Jim and Huck steal the robbers' boat and leave them in the wrecked steamboat. They take the robbers' oat up stream until they find their own. Huck feels bad for leaving them there stranded and finds a ferry watchman and makes up some lie about his family being stranded. He helps them because in a way he sees it as a possible outcome for his future. If he doesn't help people in need then how can he ever expect anyone to help him. It shows us Huck, although out casted by society still likes other people and cares for them. It shows the reader that even though Huck is in a pretend of gang of robbers and pretends to do the wrong thing, he still wants to do the good thing and helping the robbers was the right thing to do; even though they died before they could be helped. 

Huck's Trick

 When Huck arrives to jackson Island there isn't a person in sight. He inhabits the island for three peaceful days in which he does not much of anything. On his fourth day he runs into Jim. Jim believing Huck to have been murdered, thinks that he is a ghost. Huck never denies that he is in fact a ghost but instead goes along with the idea. He goes along with the story of him being a ghost because he wants to see what Jim is all about. I think that Huck just wants to know if he can trust him and have a little fun while doing it. He has been by himself for the past 3 days and a young man of his age needs entertainment. He is meanly doing it to see if Jim is trustworthy or not, to see if Jim was sent to look for him and trying to enjoy him self all at the same time. He is insuring his own safety from Pap. Plus he can do it, Jim strongly believes that he is dead so why not have a little fun with it. He chooses to play a trick on Jim now because he isn't back home with the widow and he can't get in trouble. Huck is just acting his age knowing that the consequences of playing a trick on Jim this time are less harsh then they would have been when he was with Tom Sawyer. 

Being An Apprentice

Eustace's apprentices have this wonderful image of him and Turtle Island, but once they arrive to Turtle Island and meet Eustace they realize that the image they held doesn't exist. Eustace goes through apprentices faster then he road his horse cross country. He expects his apprentices to be exactly like him and have same character of being hard working and fast paced. He treats them as if they are inferior and weaker and works them until they can't move. This side of Eustace is one that his followers and fans would never expect or have ever heard about. There is no way in hell i could ever be Eustace's apprentice. He is a controlling and manipulative man who likes everything his way. I would quite after the first day and never ask for that job again because i would definitely need a brake and I'm not that motivated to live in forest in the first place. 

Horse Ride across the Country

Eustace created this challenge in order for him and his brother to become closer. Eustace wanted to make it across the country by Easter and experience it all with his brother. I thought this was a pretty interesting idea, and unlike chris McCandless, I think Eustace knew exactly what he was getting himself into. On his journey he buy s a horse his prize possession, Hobo. hobo seems to have a lot of characteristics of Eustace but I think the more interesting possession he has is his mule, Peter Rabbit. When the previous owner warns Eustace that he can not be tamed, he buys him anyways. Throughout the chapter it is a constant struggle with the stubborn animal and trying to tame him. There is one point in the book where he actually starts hitting the mule  because the mule kicked Eustace's brother in the face. When he broke out and Peter Rabbit and Eustace got into it I found it to be a bit funny and not the sort of thing Eustace would have done. That was the thing I believed to be the most interesting of this chapter. 

Last American Man ch.6

After the first year of Turtle Island being constructed and modified, the next year wasn't much different. He continued to build on the land instead of living off of it, and he continued to live on the road and go give speeches to young children. Although Eustace was just trying to make his land better and still teaching occasionally, he still continued to worry about his land. He was worried about his land being taken away by a developer or something just like what happened to the woods behind his house when he was young. With constantly working and having everything else on his mind but Valerie, his relationship went out the window. With Eustace never being there, Valerie cheated on him with a banjo player and started to get annoyed. With all the stress he has and Valerie nagging at him, it seemed to be more of a pain to build his dream then it would have been to not. The first two years of constructing his dream were suppose to happy and he wasn't suppose to be depressed because he was living his dream, but it was the complete opposite and all the people around him were becoming annoyed because of how much effort he put into his island rather then his family and friends. 

Turtle Island

Turtle Island, to Eustace, was his dream land and idea and with everything happening in his life he felt as if he needed to get his idea off the ground and start building. With Eustace being poor, he had to turn to his father who he hadn't spoken to in a while and ask him for money. With asking he told his dad he would pay him back as soon as he could and wouldn't slack. With the promise he made he knew he would have to keep it which forced him to work vigorous hours. We he would be finished, in his mind it wasn't the way it was suppose to be so he would keep on going and keep working, so he would then be forced to ask his dad for more money. Along with building his dream, he gave speeches to children and in his free time he was constructing an office for himself. With the building of his dream there were two people who he was trying to do his absolute best for, his Dad and Valerie. With him working continuously it made Valerie feel deserted and he borrowed money from his dad, but there was an upside to the negatives. the campers attending Turtle Island enjoyed themselves and he would receive letters in the mail about how more mature their children were and how much fun they had. 

Indianapolis Urban League

For my paper I chose to write about an organization called the Indianapolis Urban League. The Indianapolis Urban League was established in order to help African Americans, other minorities and disadvantaged individuals to learn how to achieve economic and social self sufficiency. With should help this organization because they want to educate the young and the elder people that fall under these groups so that they can learn how to support their families and themselves better then they are currently doing. Educating the people then causes them to build a stronger community and getting rid of the negative environment in which they live. Educating the young shows them how to be able to support themselves in the future and be able to brace themselves for the real world once they are older. In a way these ideas of the IUL doesn't really relate to my life because i don't live in a poor community but the fact of them educating the young of how to be able to support themselves in the future should be for any child no matter how wealthy or poor. 

Today's Confinements

Although we are suppose to be a free nation and everyone is suppose to be equal different racial groups and women are still pout down today. There is still a lot of racism and confinement on these people because they aren't all white and like "Us". Because of what you look like and stereotypes on all people cause people to think differently of each other. Although these are large problems in today's society there are larger problems happening around the world. In Darfur, Uganda the people are suppressed by their own government and killed. The civilians of these land are forced to live in fear and not know what is going to happen to them next. They are hunted by other people of Darfur and forced to leave their homes an loose their family members through murder, rape and being displaced into IDP camps. In this modern day they are still treated like dirt even by their own people. They are stuck and have no where to turn to and are in need of serious help. Even though slavery has ended or supposed to have ended doesn't mean that people of certain races or religions aren't still looked at differently or treated equal. 

Linda's Freedom

Near the end of the novel, Linda finally receives what she has been longing for, her freedom. She gains her freedom mainly because Mrs. Hobb's brother tells Linda that he will not tell Dr. Flint about where she is because of how nice she was to him. But he tells Dr. Flint about where she is and it makes Dr. Flint come and look for her. Once Linda knows she is coming she confesses to Mr. and Mrs. Bruce about her whole life story and how she left the south and snuck into the north. Her two new employers decide to help her escape from Dr. Flint. Mrs. Bruce proposes to buy Linda but the idea to LInda was much like just being passed around from person to person. Once she hears the news of Dr. Flint dieing she stops moving around so much. The new Mrs. Bruce sends a letter to the Mrs. Flint about letting her buy Linda and her children. Mrs. Flint agrees to the letter and Linda and her family are finally set free. Although Linda is free she doesn't feel as if she is. She feels as if she was sold as a piece of property in order to be free. Linda also doesn't feel free because of the new laws set in place. Even though she in the North she could just be as easily sent back to her mistress and the free states aren't as free as she thought them out to be. In the North there is still segregation and she doesn't like it because she thought everyone was suppose to be equal and on the same level. 

Linda in the north

The North wasn't exactly what Linda pictured it to be, although her situation was better up in the northern states she didn't fell like she thought she would. Linda thought that while she was crossing the borders of the south into the north she would some sort of great feeling of what freedom felt like. She pictured it to be some great thing that was impossible to know what it felt like until you experienced it, but when she got there, she felt the same as she always had. It reminded me of The Great Gatsby, because she built the idea of feeling freedom but it wasn't like she thought it would be, just how Gatsby built up the idea of Daisy, but the idea of her was so much better then actually having her. When she go there she still had the feeling that she still had to look over her shoulder and was worried about her freedom being taken away from her. Linda also caught herself lying a lot while in the north because she didn't want people to figure out her complete life story. While Linda is there with Fanny she feels incomplete without her family and doesn't know many people. 

Her experience on the train was also not what she wanted it to be nor what she pictured. usually when she rides the train she can sit on a car behind all the white people for free and the conditions aren't as bad as they are on this train's car. She has to pay to be in the car and can't buy a decent ticket. The car is dirty filled with smoke and cramped. 

William and getting away

William left because he saw the opportunity to become free. Mr. Sands wanted him to go up north with him and help him. Mr. Sands kept promising that the day would come and that he would let William go with him. Once the he saw his open window to go and get away he decided to take it.  I think that his choice is justified because no one wants to be under someone's complete control for their entire life and they want their own life. To slave no matter how nice their master is or how much they care for them they still aren't free and the master still sees his slave as a piece of property. William wants to be free so he  takes his chance but his time and way is a little rude. Mr. Sands is nothing but nice to William but he is still Mr. Sands piece of property, but i still see it as an action that is justified. 

Mr. sands and the Children

For Dr. Flint, he believed that the children would be better off if he sold them then if kept them. Dr. Flint would rather use revenge as blackmail then sell Linda's children. One day a man comes to Dr. Flint wanting to buy the children from him. The man finds a way to dry and convinced him to sell him the children. After a period of thinking he decides to sell Linda's children to him. Little did Dr. Flint know that Mr. Sands had made an agreement with this man, that once he had bought the children that he would then sell them to Mr. Sands. This is how Mr. Sands got ownership of them. 

The reason that Linda does trust Mr. Sands because there is nothing apparent to her that says not to. He has always been nice to her and never tried to forcefully sleep with her or ever black mailed her. He has told her that he would buy the children but Dr. Flint wouldn't allow him. She trusts him because he is the only man in her life that isn't family that is kind to her. I think Mr. Sands is a trustworthy guy. He hasn't given any reason for the reader to no think that nor has he ever tried to hurt Linda or her children. He helped the children get out of jail and told Linda he would provide for them and in the end that is what he does. 

Interesting quote

On page 54 Linda says, "The little vine was taking deep root in my existence, though its clinging fondness excited a mixture of love an pain." I found this quote interesting because earlier when the child wasn't doing well, she wished death upon him. She didn't want her son to be a slave or anyone for that matter. She felt that since it was her who brought the child in the world it was her fault that he would become a slave. She wished death on her son because Linda did not want him to face the same kind of fear, pain and mourning that she has faced. LInda does not wish anything bad on anyone, even those who envy her, such as Mrs. Flint. Linda is a very empathetic person and when her son was sick she wanted him to die so he wouldn't have to suffer the rest of his life fighting for his freedom. Once the child started to become well and healthier she starts to feel for him, even though she felt for him before, she sees him as a new joy and present in her life. he will become a new motivation for her to work harder so she can buy her and his freedom. 

The Gold Necklace

At the end of chapter 14 Linda’s daughter, Ellen, receives a gold necklace from her father’s old mistress. Ellen loves the necklace and wants to wear it; while Linda on the hand sees it as a very kind gesture she doesn’t like it. Linda sees it as her daughter being bind to the man through slavery and sees the necklace as a chain. A chain that links her to slavery and holds her down. She doesn’t want anything on her daughter that would hold her down in any way or show that she is somebody’s property. Linda wants her daughter to be free and not have her feel like she is being held down by society or a chain that was given to her by a free white man. Since Linda sees it as a symbol of slavery and not just a gold necklace but a chain that links her to slavery, Ellen isn’t aloud to wear it. I understand where Linda is coming from, even though it was a nice gesture she doesn’t want to feel or have her daughter feel like she is being held down by society or by anyone else. 

Love Of A Slave

Love for a slave is just like any others person's image and emotion towards love, but the only difference for them is they can't even obtain the love they have for another. A slaves emotion of love is something their master or owner would never think twice of letting them having unless they are really sympathetic and nice towards them. Sometimes the false image f love, marriage, is forced upon the slaves and it is a choice that the master would make that you could never get out of. The master forbids their slave to obtain happiness or even be close to it, but when a slave gets close to having happiness and being happy the dream is ripped away from them. As soon as the family settles down and has a few kids, their lives will be ripped away from them while they watch their kids be sold off at auctions and their lives wont be the same. So happiness and love in their life is forbidden for a slave to obtain. They could never obtain the life of white people, even the poor whites, they were forced to be put down by society and couldn't revolt because they were out numbered and would accomplish nothing without people by their sides and willing to fight for them to have rights. For a slave no matter what they tried to do to fight for their dreams, their dream would be ripped away from them in a matter of time whether it be a day or a year. 

The Image Of Slavery

In the first chapter of the novel, Jacob's description of slavery seemed as though not everyone thought they were slaves. If you were lucky and your master was nice and your family members were hard workers then it almost felt like a normal life. Your parents worked so you could eat and they worked for somebody, at least that's what Linda Brent thought. She didn't know she was a slave until she was 6 years old. This image had such a great impact on her because as soon as her master died and she had to work for another man it all changed. In her new master's house it was apparent that she was a slave. She didn't have a relationship nor did she have the benefits in which she used to have. She was treated like a cat or dog whether then a human being. She had very little freedom in the way of a dog or cat being how she could only eat when the master gave her food and she didn't have a choice. She had limited breaks and could only do what she was told to. So far Jacobs has done a great job in telling the story and made it easier to become connected to the novel. He has made Linda Bret tell the story and we can understand more of where she is coming from and what she is going through. The two different views and perspectives of slavery that people had are very well demonstrated and shown in these first four chapters. 

Reflection of Class Discussion

Class discussion on Tuesday was very interesting. I enjoyed the fact how Lamags and Keaton kept going back and forth on why the book was written and if F. Scott Fitzgerald really meant to put on the symbols in the novel. I also enjoyed how in stead of going into depth about the novel, Keaton just blatantly said that the author wrote it for money and didn’t mean to put all the symbols in the book, that they were just a coincidence. If you were to read the book without paying attention to it you wouldn’t catch most of the symbols. All you would get out of the reading is that this guy Gatsby gets rich just so he could impress an old girlfriend. With in all fairness that’s what the book is sort of about, but once you go into depth about the book it is nearly impossible to not notice the symbols in the novel and how they connect with the story and the American dream. The discussion in class was different and I liked how it brought out a different perspective of why authors write books. I never really thought they wrote books to make people think about what they are doing or how they do it. I always thought they wrote because they enjoyed it, I never thought they would try and hit topics and troubles of the world. 

The Great Gatsby Ch. 9

The attendance of Gatsby’s funeral is less then impressive. There is only Nick, his dad and the limousine driver, and then Owl Eyes shows up a few minutes later. Nick and his father are there because they deeply feel for his loss and were close in Gatsby’s life, the driver is there because he has to be and Owl Eyes is there because he feels the need to give his respects to him. Although Gatsby seemed to be a very popular man, the friends he thought he had never came to his funeral. Meyer Wolfsheim tells Nick that he has too much business and can’t attend for he doesn’t want to get wrapped up in that sort of thing and he never hears a word from Daisy. This drastic scene is showing us that even though Gatsby threw the wildest parties and people surrounded him doesn’t mean that he has a lot of friends or any one can for that matter. Although Gatsby was to involved in his work and never really took the time to enjoy his wealth, he flashed it and lived how he thought a young rich bachelor should. It shows us that even though Gatsby was sort of living “the American Dream” and living with all that money, that you aren’t automatically happy and there aren’t going to have all the friends in the world. The luxury that James Gatz saw when he was a young man was the thing that blinded ho for the rest of his life because he did everything just to become rich and impress Daisy. 

Ch. 7 & 8

            In the event of Gatsby dieing there were a few events that sort of foreshadowed that something shocking or horrific was going to happen. When Nick decided to tell us the skeptical and detailed information about Gatsby’s past it sort of raised a question. I wondered why he was telling this at all and why it just didn’t come out through Gatsby. One event that led to some rising in tension between characters was when Tom confronted Gatsby about everything he does and how he has received his money. Once Tom brings out the truth that Gatsby is in the bootleg business, Daisy is shocked and looks at Gatsby in a different way. Once the truth came out Gatsby knew he could no longer hide under the skin of Jay Gatsby meaning he would therefore have to reveal James Gatz. The other event that indicated that Gatsby might die was when Myrtle was killed. The whole Myrtle thing was a bit sketchy because even though Gatsby tells Nick that it was Daisy who was driving, we don’t ever really know who killed Myrtle. Even though Gatsby doesn’t have a reason to kill her it is still a kind of strange murder. Then once Myrtle was murdered I thought that maybe he would remember the car from earlier that afternoon when they stopped for gas. And once Wilson remembered I figured that he was going to seek vengeance on Gatsby because it was his car. With Gatsby so wrapped up about living his dream and being wealthy he didn’t realize what was happening to him. He trying so hard to be the perfect man for Daisy that he forgot that he needed to go and get her instead of waiting five years to build himself up into a false image of what he has accomplished out of life. His dream blinded him and in the end is what caused him to die in the end. Although if you do look at it, it was Tom’s and Daisy’s fault and Gatsby was just the man in the wrong car at the wrong time.  

Truth About Gatsby Ch. 6

Gatsby makes up these lies in order for him to be perceived as a different person then he really is. He doesn’t want people to know that he was once poor and had nothing because then people will judge him for how he lived when he was younger. Gatsby is afraid of people having trouble with him so therefore he makes up lies and then has some sort of support that he isn’t lying. He is trying to keep his real identity away from the surface. The reason Nick doesn’t tell us the truth about James Gatz until now because he didn’t want us to think that Gatsby was a liar. If Nick would have came out and told us that Gatsby was a big fat liar and bent the truth in order to make himself look smarter and better then people wouldn’t like him when we read the book. The reader first to learn about Gatsby before he can be judged and once we know a little bit about Gatsby Nick decides to tell us. In order for us to have our own opinion and why we think Gatsby is lying we need to know about him a little more instead of receiving all the information earlier in the novel. Nick knows the truth about Gatsby while Gatsby is trying to keep his true self from reaching the surface. They way we are suppose to perceive Gatsby has now been changed because of what Nick has told us. 

The Great Gatsby Ch. 5

When Gatsby starts to talk about the “green light” that burns at the end of Daisy’s dock it is because that is all he has to know that Daisy is somewhere near and close to him. Once he realizes that Daisy is in fact in the same room with him he realizes that the green light is no longer the only thing that can remind him of her because she now knows where he lives and that he is somewhere close to him too. So then once Gatsby realizes that he has Daisy and that Daisy is happy to see him, the green light is no longer needed because of the list of things that are important in life, the green light is now no longer on it. Now that Jay Gatsby has the love of his life in the same room with him he no longer only has to use the light as an excuse to look in the direction of her. 

Wassssssssssssssssssssssssssssap

Hello Lamags

I enjoy long walks on the beach.