Huck Finn 4: pg. 89-129

1.) "holding a white handkerchief and a reticule" (113).
reticule- a drawstring handbag or purse

2.) "Then Tom and Bob went to the sideboard where the decanters was, and mixed a glass of bitters and handed it to him"(118).
decanter- a vessel, usually an ornamental glass or bottle used for holding and serving wine, brandy, etc.


"It takes fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger-- but I done it, and I warn't ever sorry for it afterwards, neither. I didn't do him no more mean tricks, and I wouldn't done that one if I'd a knowed it would make him feel that way"(98).

Huck played a very mean trick on Jim. Huck and Jim got separated and they were both scared. Jim's "heart wuz mos' broke bekase you wuz los'"(98). Huck tried to convince him that "of course you've [Jim] been dreaming"(97). Jim knew that Huck was lying, and was very hurt by it. Huck didn't really mean to hurt Jim, but he needs to think before he acts. Since Jim and Huck are such good friends, Jim was able to forgive Huck. Jim is black, and during the time it was probably a big step for Huck to apologize to him. This is a sign of the strength of their friendship. Huck was truly sorry for hurting Jim, and learned his lesson.



"Well, then, says I, what's the use you learning to do right, when it's troublesome to do right and it ain't no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same? I was struck. I couldn't answer that. So I reckoned I wouldn't bother no more about it, but after this always do whichever came handiest at the time"(104).

Huck was stuck in a very hard place. At the time, Huck was committing a very serious crime by helping Jim reach freedom. He felt bad about this because "What had poor Miss Watson done to you [Huck], that you could see her nigger go off right under your eyes and never say one single word?"(100). To compensate for his guilt, Huck decided to turn Jim in. However, he is Jim's friend and when he sees Jim's gratefulness, "you's de bes' fren' Jim's ever had; en you's de only fren' ole Jim's got now"(101), he is unsure of what to do. Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between right and wrong and here Huck finds himself stuck in one of these troubling situations. His thinking was that doing the right thing is usually harder, and doing wrong is easy but it's still wrong, so both choices are hard. Huck finally decides to simply go with his instinct when another situation like this arises. His decision is the one that most people choose in tough situations. It is hard to decide between right and wrong; sometimes we need to choose what is right in our own hearts, that is always the best decision.