Well, I have gone through this whole past week with a little nagging gremlin in my system that is convinced I’ve never used Blogger before in my life let alone ever being invited to contribute to one.
Clearly, technology these days is astounding.
I’m going to count my blessings though – if I’d written this a few days ago I wouldn’t have had anything nearly as interesting to share. Yes, Dr. F – that’s mostly for you and the (hoped) stability of my grade.
Reading through Julius Lester’s article (Morality and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) over the weekend has been a rather interesting experience. First, there is the ever-present issue of agendas in literature – I am no friend to criticisms that use a piece in order to argue a predetermined point. Lester, sadly, seems to only-just step to that side of the line. He remains concise and even-tempered up until the end of the article when his language shifts and becomes disappointingly combative. That said, I think he’s on to something.
Lester makes a point of something in Huckleberry Finn that I’ve been noticing for a while now too – the characters are increasingly unbelievable. Jim is a proud, free man on the raft but is an ignorant submissive otherwise. Huck is wise beyond his years and doesn’t understand “sivilization” but is also unwilling to combat social norms. Tom has a gallant spirit of Romance heroism but is also self-centered and naïve.
On top of that, every character is not only a walking contradiction but is also disconnected with reality. Nobody seems to realize that the Civil War is over, or have a very good grasp of geography for that matter. It seems as though, once Huck and Jim are on the river and separated from everyone else, they are effectively lifted out of reality – and when they come back into contact with the “real world,” it takes a fair amount of acclimatizing.
“They persist in believing that freedom from restraint and responsibility represents paradise. The eternal paradox is this is a mockery of freedom, a void. We express the deepest caring for this world and ourselves only by taking responsibility for ourselves and whatever portion of this world we make ours.” (Lester, 370)
Lester derails a bit when he asserts that this is a description of “too many other white American males.” The fact is, it’s a description of every American male, period, and an increasing number of young people in general. The characters in Huck Finn do, in fact, represent an ideal in which lack of responsibility is the definition of freedom. Huck embodies it, even Jim exists in it (he doesn’t really need legal freedom so long as he’s on the river), and Tom desperately creates it around himself. But these are characters are, by their nature, fantasies.
Fast-forward to the twenty-first century and we find exactly the same thing. Young people these days attempt to emulate examples they see on TV and in movies, where the notion of “freedom” is still that very same as they one Lester decries and that we see throughout the pages of Huckleberry Finn. But the very clear problem is that the characters living out these care-free lives are farces. Some are tragic; others (such as Twain’s) are comedic in their ability to get away with such blatant inconsistency. But when reality tries to emulate fantasy, and is unwilling to see why this is impossible, “All of us suffer the consequences as long as they do not” (Lester, 370).
Again, Lester’s frustration is aimed at white males – but the reality is far broader and more prevalent. And maybe Twain's world, be it comedic or nihilistic, which he presents in Huckleberry Finn does have something to do with it.
The continuity you find between the freedom of Huck Finn and the irresponsibility of contemporary youth culture may be a clue to the question of just why this book has lasted so long as an icon of American culture. Some argued that 9/11 was the end of "American innocence," meaning something like it jolted us out of our tween blithe optimism and into the more adult world of problems that don't admit of cowboy solutions. It's not clear where we are now, if that was ever true, but we certainly aren't ready to give up our image of childhood, which in many ways is closely akin to the significance of this novel.
ReplyDeleteI think you make some interesting applications of Lester's essay Lyle. Like you I found myself a bit cautious in reading him, since he makes it so obvious of his distaste of the book and also Twain himself.
ReplyDeleteI wonder to what extent this criticism is more about the culture in which Huck, Tom, and Jim (Twain too?) lived in rather than attacks on individual characters. Off-hand I cannot remember what Lester says about the other people in the novel (such as Huck's Father, Aunt Sally, etc..) but I feel that they have more of a twisted sense of morality than Huck does.
I don't feel that Huck is necessarily attempting to avoid work -there is a lot of work required to maintain a life he intends to- but I do think that he feels that any work he could do while living under the influence of society would be pointless. After all, look how his father turns out. Look at Tom's flippant view of Jim. Are there any role models from those who attempt to work within civilization?
Kudos for conquering technology, Lyle. On a more serious note, I really feel that the post-modern "I'll do what I want to because I have freedoms and it feel right" mentality is rather rampant in the book. It shows up in Huck, Tom, and both the Duke and King. Jim, however, is fighting a completely different battle (I want freedom because it feels right though society denies me it) and that's where the American White Male division lies for Lester, I think.
ReplyDeleteI think you've got a point in your question, Jake, and that's the question of role models within a farcical book. The best role models are Jim and the widow, both of which still have their faults and completely opposing views on religion and culture. This idea of religion/superstition and male/female roles is what I'm likely going to write my paper about, so I'll have a more thought-out answer to your question there.
You are definitely onto something concerning Lester's concentration on the "freedom = complete and utter separation from the 'constraints' of reality" complex that is found throughout Huck Finn. It has such a relevant connection to the attitude of today's youth, that one wonders if Twain could see into the future. Or perhaps he just had insights into human nature. Who knows. I found the disconnect that Twain wrote in concerning the River and the rest of the world a bit farcical, but typical of a boy's imagination. But, as we have talked about in class, can Huck really be called a "boy"?
ReplyDeleteAll in all, I am of the opinion as well that (as you and I had talked about a few nights ago) Huck Finn cannot be compared much to reality because of how many farcical elements it contains. Also, as Tanner pointed out in his blog post, a considerable element of comedy should be inserted when reading Huck Finn.