Blog # 5 - Huckleberry Finn

Reading the classic Huckleberry Finn was different than reading the previous teen books. I know that I had to read Huck Finn in High School but forgot what the book was really about until I had to read it again for Adolescents in American Literature. I was slightly disappointed after reading it, as I thought it was a better book in high school. When reading the book this time I did pay closer attention to the roles of teens in the book and also to the race issues that were evident. I felt that Huck was much more immature (after reading it this time). I believe that Tom’s immaturity had a negative influence on Huck. Although he went on many adventures by himself and was very adventurous, he was a fairly ignorant person. In the beginning of the book Huck would play tricks on Jim. He also did not want to be civilized. When Huck was trying to rescue Jim (at the end of the book) peer pressure was evident. Tom pressured Huck into doing many rituals (like having Jim write on the wall, writing a false letter for those people hunting Jim to believe, digging a hole for Jim to escape from etc.). This delayed their rescue of Jim considerably. Many of these activities were unnecessary and cost the boys a lot of time. In the end I believe that Huck began to grow up. He thought less about himself and began thinking more about others. Huck finally realized that black people were human too.