Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Huck Finn: 30

Chapter 30 is a transition chapter. It moves transitions the text from Episode 8 (Peter Wilkes and Relations) to Episode 9 (The Phelps).

In this chapter, the King and the Duke reach the raft, having escaped when gold was discovered upon dead Peter's chest, and are reunited with Huck and Jim. The King and Duke then take to blaming each other for the disappearance of the gold. Each claiming that the other stole the gold with hopes of coming back to dig it up. They are so taken to blaming each other and their own greed that they completely overlook Huck. Their own naivety, ignorance and gullibility sucks them into Huck's con. Remember the question, chapter 20, about who was the shrewdest: Duke, the King, or Huck? Has your answer changed?

Chapter themes: Gullibility, Naivety, and Ignorance; Role of the Outsider; Coming of Age and the Hero's Journey; Death and Rebirth.

Symbols: The river, the raft, whiskey.