Huck Finn 4: 89-129

“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?” (104).

• Huck addresses an essential question that has been asked for millions of years. Why would one do right if it is much easier to do wrong? Despite such an intellectual question, Huck’s mind seems to be working in an inverted manner. In his opinion, the ‘right’ would be turning Jim over to authority and the ‘wrong’ is covering everything up so Jim is not sold into slavery. Huck even thinks about Miss Watson and what her opinion of this would have been. However, Huck does not think of the morality of the situation. He is not aware that the ownership of another human being is wrong; therefore, his feelings of guilt and shame should actually be feelings of pride and accomplishment. This relates back to Huck's ignorance on religious matters.

“It was pretty ornery preaching—all about brotherly love, and suchlike tiresomeness; but everybody said it was a good sermon, and they all talked it over going home, and had such a powerful lot to say about faith, and good works” (121).

• After attending church with guns strapped to their bodies, the Shepherdsons and the Grangerfords discuss the sermon that they had recently heard. When hearing "brotherly love", it is thought to be the compassion that we are to have for our neighbors: "Do not murder...love your neighbor as you love yourself" (Matthew 19:19). However, that was not the case between both families. One would assume that they would be moved by the sermon and stop their feud; however, both families disregarded the essential message of the homily and continued to fight, which eventually resulted in deaths. Why speak about “good works, and free grace” (122) when all they wanted to do was kill and cause chaos? What is the point of attending church and listening to the Word if it has no affect on ones life?

Vocabulary:

“'Everybody goes away when I want them to help me tow the raft ashore, and I can’t do it by myself.’ ‘Well, that’s infernal mean'" (102).

Infernal: (adj) hellish; fiendish; diabolical: an infernal plot

“There was four or five men cavorting around on their horses in the open place before the log store, cussing and yelling, and trying to get at a couple of young chaps” (126).

Cavort: (verb) to bound or prance about in a sprightly manner; caper