Huck Finn-Theme

One of the major themes of Huck Finn would be that society is not always right in their way of thinking. Huck has grown up to learn that black people aren't the same as white people and shouldn't be treated the same either. Huck goes with his true feelings and doesn't tell on Jim when he thinks he should because he believed he was doing something very wrong by helping Jim out of slavery, when in actuality he is doing the morally right thing. Society fills kids with their beliefs and because kids know no different, they think it is right then. One thing Huck learned "Give a nigger an inch and he'll take an all," (pg.115) which was the part in the book when he thought he was doing the wrong thing. He also said he was going to go to hell and didn't care because he wanted so desperately to help Jim. In reality, we know that helping the blacks wasn't a sin, but an act of kindness and you wouldn't go to hell for it. So the major life lesson we get from this is that you can't always listen to people in society and the people you associate with, do what you want to do, and what you think is right. You don't always have to follow the crowd, which is like the writings in Henry David Thoreau in saying you can rebel and do your own thing.

Huck Finn-Chapter 39-40/Summary

At the beginning of this chapter Tom and Huck go and catch their mice and store them under Aunt Sally's bed and they got out so they had to catch more mice. They also caught spiders and snakes. He also talks about how much Aunt Sally is jumpy whenever she sees a spider, snake, or mouse. Then they put a note on the front and back door that scared the family and then they had another note that said that it was an Indian that was putting the notes out and they were coming to get Jim. They put the letter in the collar of the watchman by the back door because he was asleep. Everyone was getting uneasy and kind of scared for when the Indians came. Then in the night when they were going to leave they were getting a lunch ready to take with them, but realized they forgot the butter. So Tom sent Huck down to get it from the cellar and on his way back up, Aunt Sally caught him up and wanted answers to why he was down there but he couldn't come up with anything so she sent him to a room which was full of townspeople ready to attack the Indians when they came. Huck is now nervous and sweating so when Aunt Sally came back to question him he still didn't know what to say and the butter started to melt and she saw it and freaked out that his brains were coming out and then took off his hat and saw the butter. She wasn't mad that he took the butter just relieved that his brains weren't coming out of his head. She sent him back up to bed and he snuck out the window. He told Tom everything and so they had to leave really quick but they heard the men outside the door trying to get in. Then they said they were going to hide in the shed and when the Indians came they would get them right there, so they came into the shed and Jim, Huck and Tom snuck out through the hole, in that order, because Tom said that was the way it had to be. Then they were in the lean to and listening until it was clear to run to the raft. They took off and there was shooting at them and they let the dogs go after them but when the dogs realized it was just them, they kept running on in search of the Indians. Then they got to the raft and started floating down the river and Tom told them he got shot in the leg. Jim and Huck decided they needed to get a doctor to Tom and Tom didn't like the idea, but finally had a plan that he would agree to. Huck was to tie up the doctor and blindfold him and walk him around town for awhile until he was lost and then take him to where they were and search him and take away his chalk. Huck agreed to his commands.