Morality and Adventures of 'Huckleberry Finn'

Morality and Adventures of "Huckleberry Finn" Author(s): JULIUS LESTER Source: Mark Twain Journal, Vol. 22, No. 2, Black Writers on "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" One Hundred Years Later (FALL, 1984), pp. 43-46 Published by: Alan Gribben Stable URL: . Accessed: 24/02/2014 13:25 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@. .

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Morality and Adventures

of Huckleberry

Finn

JULIUS LESTER

don't think I'd ever read Adventures of thirdmotelI.twas thekindofsituationblackpeople

HuckleberryFinn. Could that be? Every knowall aboutand whitepeople sayis merelyour

I American child reads it, and a child who imaginations,our hypers-ensitivityo,ur seeing

readas muchas I did musthave.

discriminatiownherenoneexists.AllI knowisthat

As carefullyas I search the ocean floorof no motelintowncouldfinda roomforme,andas I

memoryh, owever,I findno barnacle-encrusted got in the car and drove away fromHannibal,

remnanotfHuckleberryFinn.I mayhavereadTom anotherchildhoodmemoryreturned.It was my

Sawyer, butmaybeI didn'tH. uckleberryFinnand father'vsoiceremindinmg ethat"Hannibalisrough

Tom Sawyer are embedded in the American on Negroes."

collectivememorylikeGeorgeWashington(a,bout Butthat'sthekindofthingthatcan happentoa

whomI knowI haveneverread.)TomandHuckare black personwhentheAmericancollectivemem-

partof our Americanselves, a mythologemwe orysubsumesblack realityw, henyou remember

imbibewithourmother'ms ilk.

Huckshiningbrightlaynd forgetokeepan eyeon

I do have an emotionalmemoryof going to what(orwho)mightbe lurkingin theshadows.

Hannibal,Missouri,withmyparentswhenI was

I am gratefutlhatamong the manyindignities

eightornine,and visitingthetwo-storwyhiteframe inflicteodnmeinchildhoodI,escaped Huckleberry

house whereMarkTwainlived as a boy,where Finn. As a black parent,however,I sympathize

Huck and Tom lived as boys. In the American withthosewho wantthebook banned,or at least

collectivememoryT, wain,Huck and Tommerge removedfromreguiredreadinglistsin schools.

into a paradigm of boyhood,which shines as WhileI amopposedtobookbanningI,knowthatmy

poignantlyas a beacon, beckoning, always children'seducation will be enhanced by not

beckoningtous fromsome paradiselost,albeitno readingHuckleberryFinn.Itisa"well-meantn,oble

paradisewe (northey)everhad.

soundingerro-r that"devalue[s]theworld."

I remembetrhathouse,andI remembetrhewhite Thatmaysoundharshandmoralistibc,utI cannot

picketfencearoundit.Maybeitwas myfathewr ho separateliteraturne,omattehr owwell-writtefnr,om

toldme thestoryaboutTomSawyerpaintingthe moralityB. y moralityI do not mean bourgeois

fence(ifitwasTomSawyerwhodid),and maybehe mores,whichseektogovernthebehaviorofothers

toldmeaboutHuckleberrFyinnt,oo.Butitoccursto inordertocreate(orcoerce)thatconformithyought

me only now to wonderif myfatherever read necessaryforsocial cohension.The trulymoralis

Twain'sbooks,myfatherborninMississippwi hen farbroader,farmoredifficulatn, d less certainof

slaverystillcast a cold shadow at brightesatnd itselfthan bourgeoismoralityb,ecause it is not

hottesntoon.Andifhe had notreadTwain,isthere concernedwiththewhatofbehaviorbutthespirit

any Lesterwho did? Probablynot,and itdoesn't we bringto our living,and, by implicationt,o

matterI.nthecharacterofHuckleberryFinn,Twain literature.

evoked somethingpoignant and real in the JohnGardnerputitthisway:

Americanpsyche,and now,havingreadthenovel,I see that it is somethingdangerously,fatally

Werecognizterueartbyitscarefutl,horoughhlyonest researchforand analysisofvalues.It is notdidactic

seductive.

because,insteadofteachingbyauthoritayndforcei,t

Thesummerof1973 I droveacrosscountryfrom exploreso,pen-mindedtlyol,earnwhatitshouldteach.

New York City,where I was livingthen,and returnedto Hannibalto visitthattwo-storwyhite house forthe firstimesince childhood. It was

Itclarifieasnd confirm.s... moraalrttestsvaluesand rousestrustworfteheylingasboutthebettearndtheworse inhumanaction.1

mid-afternoownhen I drove intoHannibal,plan- It is in thissense, then,thatmoralitycan and

ningtostayina motelthatnightand spendthenext shouldbe one ofthecriterifaorassessingliterature.

morningleisurelygoing throughtheTwainboy- It mustbe, ifa bookis to"serveas theaxe forthe

hood home. As I walkedtowardthe moteldesk, frozensea withinus,"as KafkawroteA. dventureosf

therewas a noticeablehushamongthepeople in HuckleberryFinnis nottheaxe; itis thefrozensea,

the lobbyand I perceiveda tighteningof many immoralin its major premises,one of which

razor-thiwn,hitelips.I was notsurprisedt,herefore, demeansblacksand insultshistory.

whenthemotelclerksaidtherewerenovacancies.

Twainmakesan odiousparallelbetweenHucks'

The same scenariowas repeatedat a second and being "enslaved"by a drunkenfatherwhokeeps

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Moralityand Adventures ofHuckleberryFinn

himlockedina cabinandJim'lsegalenslavement. Ohio and MississippRi iversw, ouldcontinuedown

Regardlessofhowawfuland wrongitisfora boyto theriverandgo deeperand deeperintotheheartof

be heldphysicallycaptivebyhisfathert,hereis a slave countryA. centuryof whitereadershave

profounddifferencbeetweenthisand slavery.By accepted thisas credible,a grimreminderofthe

makingthemparallelismsT,wainappliesa veneer abysmalfeelingsofsuperioritwy ithwhichwhites

toslaverywhichobscuresthefactthatb, ydefinition, are burdened.

slaverywas a horrorS.uch parallelismalso allowed Theleastweexpectofa novelisthatitbe credible,

Twain'scontemporarietso comfortableyvade re- ifnotwhollyinfacttheninemotionf,oritisemotions

sponsibilityand remorseforthe horrortheyhad thatare thetruesubjectmatteroffiction.As Jim

made.

floatsdowntheriverfurthearnd furtheirntoslave

A boyheldcaptivebya drunkenfatheris notin countrywithoutanxietyabout his fate,without thesame categoryofhumanexperienceas a man makingtheleastefforttoreversemattersw, e leave

enslaved. Twain willfullyrefusedto understand therealmoffactualand emotionalcredibilitaynd what it meant to be legally owned by another enterthe all too familiarone ofwhitefantasyin human being and to have thatlegal ownership whichblacks have all the humanityofCabbage supportedby the fullpower of local, stateand Patchdolls. federalgovernmenetnforcementT. waindoes not The novel'sclimaxcomes whenJimis sold and

takeslaverya,nd,thereforbe,lackpeople seriously. Tomand Huckconcocta ridiculouschemetofree

Evenallowingforthefactthatthenoveliswritten him.Duringthecourseoftherescue,TomSawyeris

fromthe limitedfirstperson pointof view of a shot.Hucksendsthedoctorw, hocannotadminister

fourteen-year-obldoy (and at fourteenit is not to Tom alone. Jimcomes out of hiding,aids the

possible to take anythingseriouslyexcept one's doctork, nowinghe willbe recaptured.Thedoctor

self),the author must be held responsiblefor recountsthestorythisway:

choosingtowritefroma particularpointofview.If the novel had been writtenbeforeEmancipation, Huck'sdilemmaand conflictinfgeelingsoverJim's escape would have been moving.But,in 1884,

. . .soI saysI, gottohavehelpsomehowan; dtheminutIe saysitoutcrawlsthisniggerfromsomewhereans dsays he'llhelp,and he doneit,too,and doneitverywell. OfcourseI judgedhe mustbe a runawayniggera,nd

slaverywas legallyover.Huck'salmostHamlet-like therIewas! andtherIehadtostickrighsttraighaltongall

interiormonologueson the rightsand wrongsof therestofthedayandallnigh.t..I neverseea niggetrhat

helpingJimescape are notproofofliberalismor compassion, but evidence of an inabilityto relinquishwhitenessas a badge ofsuperiority".I knowed he was white inside," is Huck's final

assessmentofJim.2 Jimdoes notexistwithan integritoyfhisown. He

isa child-likpeersonwho,inattitudaendcharacter, is morelikeone oftheboysinTomSawyer'sgang

wasa bettenrussorfaitfhuler[E, mphasiasdded]andyet he wasreskinhgisfreedomtodo it,andwasalltiredout, too,andI seeplainenoughhe'dbeenworkemd ainhard lnaitgeglyeIr.lliikkeetdhtahtiesnwigogretrfhaortthhoautI;staenlldyoolula,gre-snatnledmkienand, treatmentoto,. . . therIewas...andtherIehadtosticktill aboutdawnthismornintgh; ensomemenina skifcfome by,asasgoodluckwouldhaveittheniggewr assettinbgy thepalletwithhisheadproppedon hiskneessound

thana grownman witha wifeand children,an asleep;soI motionetdheminquieta,ndtheyslippedup

importanftactwe do notlearnuntilmuchlater.But onhimandgrabbedhimandtiedhimbeforheeknowed

toTwain,slaverywas notan emotionalrealitytobe exploredextensivelyor withlove.

The novel plays withblack realityfromthe momentJimrunsaway and does notimmediately

whathewasabouta,ndweneverhadnotroubl.e. . the niggernevermadetheleastrownorsaida wordfromthe startH.eain'tnobadniggerg,entlemetnh;at'ws hatIthink abouthim(Ch.42).

seek his freedomI.t defieslogic thatJimdid not Thisdepictionofa black"hero"isfamiliabrynow

knowIllinoiswas a freestate.Yet,Twainwantsus sinceithas been repeatedincountlessnovelsand

not only to believe he didn't,but to accept as filmsI.tis a pictureoftheonlykindofblack that

crediblethata runawayslavewouldsailsouthdown whiteshave evertrulyliked- faithfutle,ndingsick

theMississippiRiver,theonlyroutetofreedomhe whites,not speaking,not causing trouble,and

knewbeingatCairo,Illinoisw, heretheOhio River totallypassive.He is thearchetypa"lgoodnigger,"

meetstheMississipplI.fJimknewthattheOhio met who lacks self-respecdt,ignitya,nd a sense ofself

the Mississippiat Cairo, how could he nothave separatefromtheone whiteswanthimtohave. A

knownofthecloserproximitoyffreedomtotheeast centuryof white readers have accepted this

in Illinoisor northin Iowa? If the reader must characterizationbecause it permitstheir own

suspendintelligencteoacceptthisi,ntelligenche as "humanityt"oshinewithmoreluster.

tobe dispensedwithaltogethertobelievethatJim, The depthofTwain'scontemptforblacksis not

havingunknowinglpyassed theconfluenceofthe revealed fully until Tom Sawyer clears up

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JuliusLester

somethingthathad confusedHuck. WhenHuck because ofTwain'sportrayaolfblacksisalmosttoo

firsptroposedfreeingJimh,ewassurprisedthatTom easy, and, some would add sottovoce, to be

agreedreadilyT. he reasonTomdid so is because expected froma black writerB. uta black writer

heknewallthewhilethatMissWatsonhadfreedJim accepts such arrogantdismissalsbeforehe orshe

whenshe died twomonthsbefore.

sitsdowntowriteW. e could notwriteotherwise.

Once again credibilitiysslain.Earlyinthenovel But,letme notbe cynical.Letme allowforthe

Jim'sdisappearancefromthetowncoincideswith possibilittyhatwhatI havewrittemn aybe accepted

Huck's.Huck,havingmanufacture"devidence"of as havingmorethana measureoftruthY.et,doesn't

his "murder"to cover his escape, learnsthatthe HuckleberryFinnstilldeservetobe acknowledged

townspeoplbeelievethatJimkilledhim.Yet,weare as an Americanclassic, eminentlydeservingof

nowtobelievethatan old whiteladywouldfreea beingread?

blackslave suspectedofmurderinga whitechild. The Council on InterraciaBl ooks forChildren,

Whitepeoplemightwanttobelievesuchfairytales whilehighlycriticalofthebook,maintains

aboutthemselvesb, utblacks knowbetter.

thatmuchcanbe learnedfromthisbook-notonlyabout

But thisis not the nadir of Twain'scontempt, thecrafotfwritinangdotheirssuescommonrlyaisedwhen

because whenAuntSallyasksTomwhyhe wanted theworkistaughbt,utalsoaboutracism UnlessHuck

to freeJim,knowinghe was already free,Tom Finn'sracisatndanti-racimstessageasreconsideretdh, e

replies:"Well,thatisa questionI, mustsay;andjust bookcanhaveracistresults.3

likewomen!Why,I wantedtheadventureofit...." (Ch.42). NowHuckunderstandswhyTomwas so eager tohelpJim"escape."

Tomgoes ontoexplainthathisplanwas"forusto run him down the riveron the raft,and have adventuresplumbtothemouthoftheriver."Then he and HuckwouldtellJimhe was freeandtakehim

"back up homeon a steamboati,n style,and pay himforhislosttime."Theywouldtelleveryonethey werecomingand "getoutall theniggersaround, andhavethemwaltzhimintotownwitha torchlight

While it is flatterintghatthe Council goes on to recommendone of mybooks,To Be A Slave, as supplementarryeadingtocorrectTwain'sportrayal of slavery,racismis notthe mostinsidiousand damagingofthebook'sflaws.In itsveryessence, thebookoffendtshatmoralitywhichwouldgive"a nobleimage... tobe inspiredand guidedby."Ifitis thehero'stask"torevealwhatthegodsrequireand love,"whatdo we learn fromtheAdventuresof HuckleberryFinn?

processionanda brass-banda,ndthenhewouldbe a hero,and so wouldwe" ("ChaptertheLast").

Thereis no honorhere;thereis no feelingforor

The novel'smajorpremiseis establishedin the firscthapter.

sense of whatJohnGardnercalls thatwhich"is

necessaryto humanness."Jimis a playthinga,n excusefor"theadventureofit,"tobe used as itsuits thefanciesofthewhitefolkw, hetherthatfancybe a journeyon a raftdownthe riveror a torch-light parade.WhatJimclearlyis notis a humanbeing,

TheWidowDouglasshetookmeforherson,andallowed shewouldsivilizme e;butitwasroughlivinginthehouse allthetimec,onsiderinhgowdismarl egulaarnddecent thewidowwasinallherwayss;owhenI couldn'sttandit nolongerI litout.I gotintomyoldragsandmysugarhoasheadagain,andwasfreeandsatisfie(Cdh.1).

and this is emphasized by the fact that Miss

Watson'swillfreesJimbutmakesno mentionofhis Civilizationis equated witheducation,regularity,

wifeand children. Twain doesn't care about the lives the slaves

actually lived. Because he doesn't care, he devalues the world.

decency,and being"crampedup"(Ch.6),and the representativeosfcivilizationare women.Freedom is oldclothesand doingwhatone wantstodo. AllI wantedwas a change,I warn'tparticular("Ch. 1).

2.

Thefactthatthenovelisregardedas a classictells us muchaboutthepsycheofthewhiteAmerican

Everyhero'sproperfunctioinstoprovidae nobleimage male,because thenovelis a powerfuelvocationof

formentobe inspiredbyandguidedbyintheirown actionst;hatis,thehero'sbusinessis torevealwhatthe godsrequiraendlove. . . thehero'sfunction-tiossetthe standardin action...thbeusinessof the poet (or "memory..").istocelebratteheworkoftheherop, assthe imageon, keep theheroicmodelofbehaviorfresh, generatioonngeneration.

-JohGnardne(r29)

thepuer,theeternalboyforwhomgrowthm, aturity, and responsibilitayre enemies. Thereis no more powerfuel vocationin Americanliteraturoefthe eternaladolescentthanAdventureosfHuckleberry Finn.Itisa fantasyadolescence,however.Notonly isitfreeoftheusualadolescentproblemscaused by awakeningsexualityb, utalso Huck has a verbal

adroitnesasnd clevernessbeyondthecapabilityof

CriticizingAdventures of HuckleberryFinn an actualfourteen-year-olIdn.thepersonofHuck,

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Moralityand Adventures o? HuckleberryFinn

the novel exalts verbal cleverness,lying,and himin contemptA. nd herewe come totheother miseducationT.henovelpresentsw, ithadmiration, paradox,thecrucialonethatwhiteAmericanshave

a modelwhowe(men)wouldand couldbe ifnotfor so assiduouslyresisted:Itis notpossibletoregard

theperniciousinfluenceofcivilizatioanndwomen. blacks with contemptwithouthaving firstso

In itslyricaldescriptionosftheRiverand lifeon regardedyourselves. the raftt, he novel creates an almostprimordial To be moral.Ittakesan enormousefforotfwillto yearningfora lifeoffreedomfromresponsibility: be moral,and that'sanotherparadox. Onlytothe

extentthatwe maketheeffortto be moraldo we

Itwaskindofsolemnd,riftindgownthebig,stillriver, growawayfromadolescentnotionsoffreedomand layingonourbackslookinugpatthestarsa,ndwedidn't begin to see thatthetruenatureand contourof

elavuegnhfee-delolinkleytaallikttinlkeglionudodf,laonwdcihtuwcakrlneW.'otfehteadntmhaitgwhety

freedomdoes notlie in"strikinogutfortheterritory ahead" butresideswhereitalwayshas- theterri-

good weatheras a generalthinga,nd nothingever happenedtousatall.. . . (Ch.12)

torywithin. Onlytheredoes one begintolivewithone'sself

withthatseriousnessfromwhichgenuinehumor

Sometimewse'dhavethatwholerivearlltoourselvefsor thelongestimeY. onderwasthebanksandtheislands, acrossthewatera;ndmaybea spark-whicwhasa candle ina cabinwindowan; dsometimoensthewateyr oucould see a sparkortw-o ona rafotra scow,youknowa;nd maybye oucouldheara fiddloera songcominogverfrom oneofthemcraftIst.'slovelytoliveona raftWehadthe skyuptherea,llspeckledwithstarsa,ndweusedtolayon

and satireare born.Twaincould notexplorethe shadowy realms of slavery and freedomwith integritybecause he did not risk becoming a person.Onlybydoingso couldhe have achieved realcompassionT. hen,Jimwouldhavebeena man and Huck would have been a boy and we, the readers,wouldhave learneda littlme oreaboutthe

ourbacksand lookup and thema,nd discussabout territorayhead whichis alwayswithin.

whethetrheywasmadeoronlyjusthappene-d (Ch.19) Adventuresof HuckleberryFinn is a dismal

portraiotfthewhitemalepsyche,canI reallyexpect

Itis inpassages such as thesethatthebookis most seductivein itsquiet singingofthe"natural"life

whitemalestorecognizethat?Yet,theymustA. llof us suffetrheconsequencesas longas theydo not

overtheone of"sivilizationw,"hichis anotherform

ofslaveryforHuck.Itisherealso thatthenovelfails mostprofoundlays moralliterature.

UniversitoyfMassachusettsat Amherst ? 1984 JuliusLester

Twain'snotionoffreedomis thesimplistiocne of

freedomfromrestrainatnd responsibilityI.tis an Notes

adolescentvisionoflifea,n exerciseinnostalgiafor the paradise that never was. Nowhere is this adolescentvisionmoreclearlyexpressedthanin the often-quotedand much admired closing sentencesofthebook:"ButI reckonI gottolightout fortheterritorahyead oftherestbecause AuntSally she'sgoingtoadoptmeand sivilizeme,andI can't standit.I been therebefore/'

^ohn GardnerO, n MoralFiction(NewYork:Basic Books1, 978),19. 2MarTkwainA, dventuroefsHuckleberFriynn(1885;rpt. NewYorkW: ashingtSoqnuarePress1,973),Ch.40,end. Allcitationins thetextaretothisedition. 3Anon".OnHuckC, riticisman,dCensorshi(pe"ditorial). InterraciBaol oksforChildreBnulletin15, :1/2(1984),3.

That'sjusttheproblemH, uck.You haven't"been

therebefore."Thenagain,neitherhave toomany

otherwhiteAmericanmales,andthat'stheproblem,

too. They persist in clinging to the teat of

adolescence longafteronlyblood oozes fromthe

nipples.Theypersistinbelievingthatfreedomfrom

restrainatnd responsibilitryepresentsparadise.

The eternalparadox is thatthisis a mockeryof

freedoma, void.We expressthedeepestcaringfor

this world and oijrselves only by taking

responsibilitfyorourselvesand whateverportionof

thisworldwe makeours.

Twain'sfailureis thathe does notcare until*t

hurts,and because he doesn't his contempttor

humanitiysdisguisedas satirea,s humorN. omatter

howcharmingand appealingHuckis,Twainholds

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