Huck Finn 2: 28-46

You think you’re better’n your father, now, don’t you, because he can’t? I’ll take it out of you. Who told you you might meddle with such hifalut’n foolishness, hey?- who told you you could?” (29).

Huck Finn can be described as ignorant, but that is only because he is too young to know any better. The ignorance shown by Huck’s father in the quote above is not only surprising but also nauseating. The job of a parent figure is to be happy at your child’s success. It’s like when you finally beat your father in one-on-one basketball. You know that your father is somewhat upset at the fact that he’s finally getting old, but is happy that his son is growing up to be a man. Usually that is the reaction that is expected from a father, but since Huck’s father is both an alcoholic and abusive, he gets offended and decides to stop Huck from achieving.

“I say to myself, they’ll follow the track of that sackful of rocks to the shore and then drag the river for me” (44).

In the quote above, I realize how much not having a parent figure in Huck’s life has affected him. This quote seems like a cry for attention and it demonstrates to me how much Huck wants to be wanted. It appears as if Huck has experienced many disappointments in his life so he usually has a sort of shield up to hide his emotions. We see Huck’s disappointments when he at first was convinced that everyone’s only worry will be to find him: “They won’t ever hunt the river for anything but my dead carcass” (44). And in a matter of seconds he prepares himself for disappointment: “They’ll soon get tired of that, and won’t bother no more about me” (44). Gregory Raye’s word of advice to everyone was to “set your goals low, so that way you’ll never be disappointed”. I feel as if Huck has taken this advice.

Nabob

–noun
any of various types of boats small enough for sailing or rowing by one person.

“The awfulest nabob in the State” (37).

Slough

–noun
1.
an area of soft, muddy ground; swamp or swamplike region.

“There was a slough or a creek leading out of it on the other side” (43).