Huck Finn #3

As the book continues we see more aspects of the freedom and enslavement theme. In chapter 16, as Jim and Huck are continuing their road to freedom, Huck starts to question his decision of helping Jim be free. I find this unfortunate because i thought Huck and Jim had a connection and alot in common as far as being held against your own will. Jim is so hopeful and optimistic about his freedom. He talks about saving all his money once hes finally free and then going back south to buy his wife and children back. Jim is growing on me more and more. When he tells Huck how grateful and appreciative he is, Huck reevaluates his thinking because Huck is longing for free and peace of mind just as much as Jim is. He decides not to turn him into the people looking for slaves on the run. I also found it funny how in chapter 19, Huck went from being unsure about helping one slave, to going completely out of his way to help Jim and two criminals who are also seeking freedom.

Huck Finn (6-15)

In chapters 6 to 15 we see other representations and forms of freedom and enslavement. I feel bad for Huck, i think hes always going to be a slave to his father, even if the man dies or vanishes. He has such a control of Huck. Up until now, Huck hated going to school and following any sort of rules and regulations, but because his father is telling him not to go, Huck becomes eager to go to school everyday to spite his dad. Huck ONLY does this because of this father, proving that Pap still has a control over his decisions, its just in a different way. "Every little while he locked me in and went down to the shore, three miles, to the ferry, and traded fish and gamefor whiskey and fetched it home and got drunk and had a good time, and licked me" (Twain, 25). Now Huck is even more so a slave to Pap because Pap kidnapped him and locked him in a cabin three miles across the river and would beat him. Huck is physically and mentally a slave to Pap. I thought it was weird though how right after Huck says his dad was beating him in the cabin, he states that he liked living there and that it was "lazy and jolly". Huck is finally free from school, social constraints, the Widow's rules and religion. I kind of just want to hug Huck because hes so confused by his freedom and enslavement. Also, Pap is a slave to his alcohol abuse. Alcoholism is a disease and it completely controls you, maybe Pap will try to free himself of this disease before he drinks himself into an early grave.

Freedom and Enslavement (1-5)

Right from the start of the book, we can see a theme of “Freedom and Enslavement”. We meet an actual slave, Jim, and we meet Huck Finn. Huck is not a slave, but I get the feeling that he feels trapped. “The Widow Douglas, she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn’t stand it no longer, I lit out. I got into my old rags, and my sugar-hogshead again, and was free and satisfied.” (pg 1). Huck isn’t used to having rules and someone telling him what to do, so he feels enslaved by the Widow and her righteous ways. Huck is longing for “freedom” because he never had anyone trying to restrain him. Jim, on the other hand, is an actual slave dealing with the reality of freedom and enslavement. He is the Widow Douglas’ slave, which is ironic because the Widow is very religious and considers herself a good Christian woman.

Voki's

Hester- http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=9061144&height=267&width=200


Pearl- http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=9061168&height=267&width=200

Reverend Dimmesdale- http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=9061172&height=267&width=200
Chillingworth- http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=9061185&height=267&width=200

Bellingham- http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=9061214&height=267&width=200

Chapter 6

The Scarlet Letter

 

Chapter six is the most confusing chapter I have read so far. I understand to a certain degree what is being said, but then I’m not entirely sure if I am translating it right. Hester named her baby “Pearl” because she is her only treasure, but apparently the name doesn’t fit her. It seems like Hester is more worried about figuring out how Pearl is going to punish her rather than actually mothering and disciplining (and I think having a disobedient child is plenty of punishment in itself). I feel like Hester feels afraid or threatened by Pearl because she figures that Pearl is supposed to be her punishment, but since there is no physical deformities, which were not well accepted in that time period, she figures that Pearl is going to be like crazy or something or having something psychologically wrong with her. Or she could think that Pearl is going to be some monster to her since Hester raised her without a father. I find it pretty funny how Pearl is described as this beautiful, graceful child that is dressed like royalty, but really she is peasant child and a little brat. I feel like Pearl being so resistant to rules and consequences stems from having a sheltering, yet push-over mother. Pearl uses the fact that she is her mother’s only treasure to her advantage. When I read the lines, “Her mother, while Pearl was yet an infant, grew acquainted with a certain peculiar look that warned her when it would be labor thrown away to insist, persuade, or plead. It was a look so intelligent, yet inexplicable, so perverse, sometimes so malicious, but generally accompanied by a wild flow of spirits, that Hester could not help questioning, at such moments, whether Pearl was a human child.” (Hawthorne 88), I instantly thought of Pearl being the devil in disguise, she has an evil element to her that makes me question her appearance.  I knew from reading other blogs that some of you also acquainted Pearl with the devil, but I wasn’t sure why until I read that line. Apparently Pearl has this evil little laugh too, so now I’m completely freaked out by her. But at the same time I feel sympathy for Pearl because she is lonely, she really can’t talk to other children because she is a child of sin and isn’t “Christian” like the other children her age, so she acts out due to her frustration and loneliness because she knows that she is an outcast. I am actually extremely shocked to find out that Pearl is such a little witch because I had this idea of her being the most perfect little thing, quiet, sweet, respectable and loving, because I was hoping she would be better than any other child in the village and that would give her a good reputation and prove the Puritans wrong. My favorite part of the whole chapter was when Pearl pointed to Hester’s scarlet letter and said that she is not a child of Christ, Pearl is a lot smarter than other children her age and it makes me interested in the rest of the book.



The Scarlet Letter Chapters 3-5

The more I read, the more concerned I become with what the unknown narrator thinks of Hester. It has yet to be said how they feel about the situation. For some reason I keep picturing the narrator to be a woman in town who is just observing everything. I am curious as to whom the Native American was and why he was even there in the first place. I am also wondering about his savage like companion. I think the Native American is going to have a pretty important role in the upcoming chapters because Hester looks at him with familiarity. I really don't get what the book is talking about when the gesture the Native American made with his hand is mentioned. I think he was trying to tell Hester something.

When chapter four starts, Hester seems to be in a hysterical panic like she is suffering from bad anxiety. Master Brackett calls a physician to look at her because it is thought that Hester might harm herself or the baby. When Master comes in with the doctor, "Hester Prynne had immediately become as still as death". (Hawthorne 68) At first I was curious as to why Hester reacted the way she did, but as the chapter continued I found out that Rodger Chillingworth, the doctor, was Hester’s husband. She kept asking him if he was going to poison the baby out of revenge and I was shocked when he said he wouldn’t do such a thing just out of revenge just because it wasn’t his baby.

I’m really starting to sympathize with Hester as the novel goes on. I felt bad for her when she told her husband that she thinks of death and wishes to be dead. I am also proud of her for continuing with dignity, but I wonder what else is going through her head. It’s driving me crazy that we don’t know who the father is yet. I’m also wondering where her husband has been and why he all of a sudden appears in the book as her doctor.

In chapter 5, Hester seems a lot more depressed. It seems like now that her jail time is done and she is settling down on her own, she can finally think about herself and her feelings. She is reflecting back on her sins in this chapter. There are a lot of parts in this chapter that point out the pain Hester is feeling. She is changed person now and she is not sure how she feels about it.

I’m interested in the line in the chapter that says, “What she compelled herself to believe—what, finally, she reasoned upon as her motive for continuing a resident of New England—was half a truth, and half a self-delusion. Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so perchance, the torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul and work out another purity than that which she had lost; more saintlike, because the result of martyrdom.” (Hawthorne 77) This quote intrigued me because it says a lot about Hester’s character. She chose not to run from her punishment; she’s going to deal with it, maybe because she believes she deserves to be punished. Either way she wanted to stay in New England because it was the place where her sins were committed, her sins changed her and I don’t think she is necessarily ashamed of them. Hester is going on with life and isn’t going to let her sins drive her away from her home. She is accepting her punishment and she is accepting that fact that she did wrong. She deals with a lot of internal conflict in this chapter, too. I applaud Hester on her decision to stay in New England and face the world. I think another reason she chose to stay in the place where she sinned was because this is probably where her fellow sinner is, maybe Hester doesn’t want to leave him.

 

The Scarlet Letter: Chapters 1 and 2

The Scarlet Letter

 

 

 



When the book starts, the narrator is standing outside of the town prison. The setting is described as a pretty dismal place. We’re lead right into chapter two where we meet Hester Prynne, the woman wearing the scarlet letter. Waiting outside of the prison doors are some women with a lot of opinions. The five women talk about their opinions on Hester Prynne’s sentencing. The first woman states that if Hester’s sentencing was determined by them, it would not be as lenient. She also refers to Hester as a hussy. The next woman says that they should have branded Hester’s forehead, “At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forehead.”  (Hawthorne 49) Another woman who speaks seems much more rational says that it doesn’t matter where the mark is because she will always feel the anguish of her sins in her heart. The fifth woman says that Hester has brought shame to all the women of the town and she should be sentenced to death. The people of this time period, like the people of our time period, are extremely judgmental and cruel.

                The prison doors open and Mistress Prynne walks out with her child in her arms. She’s wearing the letter “A” embroidered into her clothing. The narrator makes note of the quality and artistic details of the letter making it sound fancy and beautiful, like a work of art. The narrator then describes Hester Prynne. This description reminds me of a character out of a movie from the present day who plays someone’s mistress, someone like Angelina Jolie, who is tall, beautiful and would make average woman jealous. Of course you’re not surprised to find out that she is woman this man is having an affair with because of the way she looks. The narrator says, “The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale.” (Hawthorne 51) She also has dark, glossy hair, a face with richness of complexion, and dark eyes. She walks out of the prison with dignity and grace.

                Hester’s punishment was to walk from the prison to the market place to stand on a platform. At the platform people gather around to judge and mock her and to see the scarlet letter. While Hester was standing on the platform she began to daydream of her childhood in Old England. She could see her parents’ faces in her head. Then she saw her own face from when she was a child. By Hester looking back on her childhood life, it shows a willingness to go back in time, like she wants to start over. It shows remorse for her sins because she is thinking of a time of innocence in her life. She flashes back to reality and has to clutch her baby and touch the scarlet letter to remind herself that this is really happening now.

·         Almost every time the scarlet “A” is brought up, the narrator makes sure to mention the detail, quality and beauty of the embroidery.