In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer seems to make everything more complicated than it needs to be, particularly when he and Huckleberry are trying to free Jim. Even though I have previously criticized Tom for this, I have to admit that I can most definitely relate it to my own life. Tom feels the need to do many extra things in order to set Jim free properly. He was not concerned with what was necessarily logical, but what would make him feel as though he was going about this adventure in the best way possible. Although I definitely think Jim could have been freed much more simply, I can understand some of the reasons as to why Tom wanted to make it so complicated to free Jim.
In almost everything I do, I tend to pick the most complicated way. I have no idea why, it is just what I have always done. For example, when there are two ways to do a problem in math, I almost always pick the more complicated method. I do not want to make anything more difficult for myself than I need to; however, it always seems as if the more complicated methods make more sense to me. I suppose it is just how my brain works. In the end, though, I figure if it works for me, then it is not really a problem. Even if I have to do everything the most complicated way possible, the end justifies the means, right?
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Oh, the Grammar
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a classic, there is no arguing against it. This book captures the adventures of Huckleberry Finn in stunning detail and, to say the least, is impressive. Huck Finn travels from Missouri to Arkansas throughout the book, being accompanied by Jim, a runaway slave, the entire time. Together they have many adventures on their travels including pairing up with two other men for a large portion of their journey and then ending at, amazingly enough, the house of Tom Sawyer's aunt and uncle. The book's story line is fantastic; all of the drama and humor perfectly balancing each other.
However, there is one thing about this book that I had a hard time getting over as I was reading: the grammar. The book is written by Huck Finn, using his pronunciations and grammar. From the weird spellings of many things, including spelling ridiculous with a k, to the disgustingly improper English, it was extremely difficult to not get caught up. Although, Huck's bad grammar looks perfect in comparison to that of the slaves. I respect that that was truly how slaves spoke in that time, but it probably could have been calmed down a little. It was hard to figure out what the slaves were trying to say, let alone understand it. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was a good book, with a good story line, it was just extremely difficult to get over the lack of correct grammar for me.
However, there is one thing about this book that I had a hard time getting over as I was reading: the grammar. The book is written by Huck Finn, using his pronunciations and grammar. From the weird spellings of many things, including spelling ridiculous with a k, to the disgustingly improper English, it was extremely difficult to not get caught up. Although, Huck's bad grammar looks perfect in comparison to that of the slaves. I respect that that was truly how slaves spoke in that time, but it probably could have been calmed down a little. It was hard to figure out what the slaves were trying to say, let alone understand it. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was a good book, with a good story line, it was just extremely difficult to get over the lack of correct grammar for me.
Could it be more Complicated?
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, as the book is coming to an end, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn are trying to free Huck's friend and escaped slave, Jim. There are fairly easy, danger-free ways of doing this, all of which Huck points out to Tom; however, Tom refuses to do it the easy ways. He is determined that they must set Jim free the "right" way, in other words, the way that prisoners escape in the books he reads. By the end of this ordeal, Jim had snakes, rats, and spiders piled into the cabin he was locked in, a rope ladder made out of a sheet, a "journal" written on a stolen shirt, and he had made multiple engravings into a grindstone they smuggled into the cabin through a hole they dug.
It fascinates me just how many unnecessary things the two boys did to free Jim. All they had to do was dig a hole from the outside into the space where Jim was being held to free him. Instead, Huck just took Tom's word that they "had" to do all of these extra things. The boys made freeing Jim much, much more complicated than it needed to be. It struck me just how easily Huck and Jim were convinced to do all of these things, too. Jim I suppose I can understand since he was a slave and had never been allowed to have his own opinions before; however, Huckleberry Finn had done many things without Tom before and did have his own opinions yet he allowed Tom Sawyer to walk all over him. Tom made freeing Jim extremely complicated but the most important thing is that, in the end, Jim was freed.
It fascinates me just how many unnecessary things the two boys did to free Jim. All they had to do was dig a hole from the outside into the space where Jim was being held to free him. Instead, Huck just took Tom's word that they "had" to do all of these extra things. The boys made freeing Jim much, much more complicated than it needed to be. It struck me just how easily Huck and Jim were convinced to do all of these things, too. Jim I suppose I can understand since he was a slave and had never been allowed to have his own opinions before; however, Huckleberry Finn had done many things without Tom before and did have his own opinions yet he allowed Tom Sawyer to walk all over him. Tom made freeing Jim extremely complicated but the most important thing is that, in the end, Jim was freed.
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