The Last Chapter

The last chapter of the book was a pretty happy chapter. Tom made a full recovery after he was shot in the leg. Jim is finally freed, and Tom gives Jim forty dollars for all of his troubles. Jim also once again relates his good fortune to a superstition of having a hairy chest.
Overall, I think that Huck and Jim would have saved a lot of their troubles if they had just stuck to their original plan. By going along with what Tom wanted to do, they got into more trouble than what they should have had. Tom wanted to rescue Jim in an extravagant way, just like they do in books. The goal of Huck and Jim’s trip is completed. Huck got away from Miss Watson, who was trying to “sivilize” him, and Jim finally became a freed man.

Note to Miss Watson

Huck wants to write a note to Miss Watson. Huck realized that the dauphin sold Jim based off of the fake flyer that the dauphin created stating how Jim was a runaway slave. In the note that Huck was going to write, Huck planned on telling Miss Watson that he knew where Jim was. When writing the note, Huck realizes that Miss Watson would most likely sell Jim anyways, and if Miss Watson found out that Huck had helped a slave escape, he would be ashamed of himself. Also, Huck remembers how much fun he had with Jim on their journey so far, so Huck decides to tear up the note. This marks a significant change in Huck. Huck takes a huge risk by aiding Jim in his escape to the free states. Along their journey, Huck and Jim become very close. Huck realizes that they are not very different from one another apart from the color of their skin. Huck comes to truly respect Jim, even if he is a runaway slave.

Ruining the King and the Duke's Plan

The King and the Duke plan to steal six thousand dollars in gold. They want to steal all of the family’s property then leave town in the middle of the night. Huck feels horribly when he finds out the King and the Duke’s plan, so Huck decides to devise a way to steal the money from the two con men. Huck discovers the six thousand dollars in the room of the King and the Duke. He decides to hide the money in the coffin of Peter Wilks, however, he runs into a bit of a problem here. The coffin is sealed and buried along with the money inside. Huck told one of the sisters the truth about the King and the Duke. They then come up with a plan to expose the two men. The actions of Huck in this scene show maturity. Huck decides to do the right thing because he feels poorly for knowing the Duke and the King’s plan all along.

Elizabeth

At the end of chapter 23, Jim tells us a story about his daughter Elizabeth. He told us that one day, he told Elizabeth to close the door, but she just stood there smiling up at him. Jim repeatedly told Elizabeth to close the door, but she did not budge. Jim stormed out of the room, and he came back ten minutes later, feeling horribly about how he behaved. He then realized that Elizabeth was deaf from the scarlet fever she had. Jim felt horribly when he realized this.
From this story, the reader learns how homesick that Jim is. Jim tells us that he always thinks about his wife and children. Plus, Jim “has never been away from home in his life,” so this is a new adventure for Jim that he has never done before. It also shows the reader how much Jim loves his family and how much he misses them as well.

King and Majesty

Huck and Jim continue traveling down the river in their raft. While they are floating down, they come across two men who want to be let onto their raft. The two men do not even know each other but after sharing stories with each other about their life and past events, they decide to team up against Huck and Jim. They are also both professional con artists. One of the men tells Huck and Jim that he is royalty and that that he is an English duke. The other man said that he is a dauphin. Huck figures out quickly that the men are liars. I do not think that the Duke and the King are very trustworthy considering that they stole Huck and Jim’s beds. However, I think that it is okay for Huck and Jim to go along with the two men, however they should just keep an eye on them. I do not think that it is necessarily going to be a problem to go along with their ploy. Huck and Jim want to keep the peace on the raft and do not want to cause turmoil, so Huck might as well go along with the two men's joke and not tell Jim his reasoning.

Buck and Huck

While Huck and Jim are floating down the river, a steamboat hits their raft. Huck and Jim got separated when this occurred. When Huck arrived back on land, he came across the Grangerford family. They took him in and offered him a place to stay for as long as he would like. The Grangerford’s have a son named Buck. Huck and Buck have several similarities. The biggest similarity is that they are both approximately the same age and are also about the same size. They also share the same personalities. Both Huck and Buck are adventurous. Buck’s family, the Grangerford’s, is in a feud with the Shepherdson family. Buck always says how he wants to capture and kill a person that is a part of the Sheperdson family. This also relates to Huck and his attachment to Tom Sawyer’s gang. One of the main purposes of this group was to go and rob people.

Raftsmen

While Jim and Huck are traveling down the Mississippi River in their raft, they continue to worry about accidentally missing their destination, Cairo. Cairo is a town that is at the intersection of the Ohio River and the Mississippi River. Once they reach Cairo, they plan to take a steamboat which will lead them up the Ohio River to the free states.
When reading this chapter, I got the sense that raftsmen were sort of careless people. They are loud and obnoxious. One of the men was singing on the raft, and the other raftsmen began to make fun of the man’s singing saying “it was the tune the old cow died on.” While the men were making fun of the singer, one of the biggest guys there got up and told them to leave the singer alone. What I am trying to get at is that raftsmen are usually men that are just trying to have a good time and do not really care about much. They drink and dance, and they are pretty unconcerned about the world outside of their raft.

Steamboat Wreck

When Huck and Jim are sailing down the river on a raft, they come across a wrecked steamboat. Huck thinks that it would be a great idea to go aboard the boat and look around for any treasure or money on it. Also, Huck wants to go on the steamboat for an adventure because he knows that Tom would do the same thing in his position. Jim does not think that going on the boat would be a good idea, however, Huck finally persuades Jim into the idea. On the boat, they hear voices coming from a certain room. Huck sneaks over to that part of the boat and is astonished when he sees three men in the room. One is tied up on the ground with two men standing over him, threatening him. One of the men standing up has a pistol.
Huck decides that their only way of escape is by stealing the robbers’ boat because their own raft had broken loose. After Huck and Jim escape, Huck begins to feel poorly about leaving the robbers there stranded. He is sad because he could end up as a murderer just like those two men. Once Huck and Jim reached land, Huck decided to go get help and convinces a watchman that his own family was stranded out on the Walter Scott steamboat wreck. The watchman than takes a ferry out to investigate the crash.
This shows us a more caring side of Huck. The book stated how the Widow would have approved of Huck’s actions. This shows us that Huck does look up to people like the widow and wants to be morally good for her. Huck is not just a hooligan that is in a gang, which wants to rob others. Huck does strive to be a morally good person, and he has a good heart.

Trick on Jim

Since Huck and Jim had met up with each other on Jackson’s Island, they were becoming closer as friends than what they had been before. Before, Huck and Jim did not know each other very well, and they definitely were not good enough friends to play tricks on one another. However, they bonded while on Jackson’s Island and began to become closer friends.

While on Jackson’s Island, Jim had continually been pestering Huck about several different myths that were bad luck. One of those myths was that a person would have the worst kind of bad luck if he or she touched a snake-skin with their bare hands. Huck was saying how he touched a snake-skin with his bare hands a couple of days before and nothing bad had happened yet. Then, one day, Huck came across a rattlesnake and decided to play a joke on Jim. Huck killed the rattlesnake and curled him up on the foot of Jim’s bed. Later, Jim flung himself onto his bed, however, the snake’s mate was on the bed as well because apparently if you leave a dead snake, the mate comes and curls itself around it. The dead snake’s mate bit Jim, and Jim jumped out of the bed. The snake bit Jim again on his heel. Huck felt poorly about the “joke,” but it only proved that Jim was right about the myth of touching a dead snake-skin with bare hands.

The Last American Man

In a way, I do believe that Eustace is “the last American man.” When the settlers first arrived in America, they lived completely off of the land. They had no car, television, phone, or anything. The definition of American is the result of these men who lived off of the land. Eustace is “the last American man” because he is one of the only people in the United States who lives this way. Eustace believes in circles instead of squares and the circle of life. He stated how people drove to work in a box on wheels, they lived in a box, they work in a box, etc. Today, 99% of the population functions through squares, which is perfectly okay. The American society is constantly developing and with this development comes new technological advances that are brought forward. As long as the consumption of the Earth’s natural resources is not too rapid, I think it is alright to drive a car, live in a house, and have material items just as long as we use them wisely.

Apprentices

Eustace’s apprentices constantly came and went from Turtle Island. Approximately 90% of the apprentices that have worked for Eustace left before their two years were up. Apprentices usually thought that Eustace treated them as his slave. One apprentice, Shannon Nunn, claimed that he was only doing menial jobs. Shannon stated that all he was doing was digging ditches and building fences when he wanted to learn how to live off the land. After only a week at Turtle Island, Shannon left. Only a couple of apprentices actually survived at Turtle Island. One of the successful apprentices, Christian Kaltrider, said that the way he succeeded was by telling himself, “I am letting him (Eustace) have this control for the purpose of my education. And he is in control only of my education, not of my identity.” It took a unique person, like Kaltrider, to actually survive as Eustace Conway’s apprentice.
I do not think that I would want to work for Eustace. I would not like living off the land, dumpster diving, and eating only squash in the winter. It is not the ideal life for me. He is too strict for my liking, and I would want to have time to just relax as well. Also, I would want to work for someone who was more fun.

Traveling across America by Horse

Eustace “had spent the better part of his life devising ways to break down walls and enter the consciousness of every kind of American.” (pg. 155) Eustace traveled all over America by several different means of traveling including by foot, hitchhiking, boxcars, and long drives. Eustace wanted to accomplish the feat of traveling across America again, except, he wanted it to be a bit more of a challenge. He decided that the best way to do this would be if he traveled by horse. Also, another reason that Eustace wanted to go on this journey was because he hoped to mend the relationship that he had with his brother. He wanted to become closer to Judson and become better friends.

At a point in his trip across the United States, Eustace and his brother, Judson, came into a conflict that was not resolvable. They came to a fork in the road. Eustace wanted to continue traveling along the highway even though it was a longer route. He wanted to do this because it was much safer. Judson and Susan wanted to travel through a rugged canyon. It would be much more dangerous, however it would be a shorter route and much more scenic. Later, they decided that Judson and Susan would go through the canyon, and Eustace would travel along the highway by himself. When they met up again, Eustace noticed that Judson and Susan’s horses were limping. From then on, whenever Judson disagreed with something that Eustace said, Judson would shut his mouth and simply bear it because if he did so, it would be a more peaceful journey.

Pressures of Turtle Island

Eustace becomes stressed after only two years of running Turtle Island and starts to become burnt out. Eustace was teaching eighty kids when four government cars arrived and arrested him. Eustace had been accused of killing animals without a permit. A neighbor had tipped the government off. Eustace had to take the next month to collect letters of evidence that show that the deerskin had all been given to him, so he could tan them. Turtle Island had been a very stressful adventure for Eustace so far and was wearing him out. Besides the incident with the neighbor who reported him to the government, Eustace related to the people around him pretty well. He especially got along with Ma-Maw, his elderly Appalachian neighbor. She provided Eustace with moral support during his trial and really cared for him.

Starting Turtle Island

The purchase of Turtle Island was very important to Eustace. It finally provided Eustace with the chance to show people the way he lives and how it is important to know how the world functions. Eustace becomes more relaxed after creating Turtle Island because he knows that his dream is finally coming true. However, Eustace also is very distressed when he had to pay off his father for the loan he took out. Eustace wants the future generations to understand the earth. He wants people to know that you cannot be too greedy because more people are going to eventually walk where you are walking. He wants people to love the earth for the way it is and not use up all of the resources that are naturally available to humans.

Habitat for Humanity

After searching several advocacy groups online, I decided to research and write about Habitat for Humanity. I did not know much about this group at first, so I had to research it for a while. I realized that Habitat for Humanity is a group that builds houses for people who are homeless or live in a very poor constructed house. This is a very important group because they can improve the health, physical safety, and security of a family. By the year 2030, the website (www.habitat.org) stated that an approximated three billion more people will need to have some sort of housing. That is about forty percent of the world’s population. If you broke this number down even further, an estimated 96,150 new units need to be built by 2030. This means that about 4,000 units need to be established every hour. These are astonishing statistics, and the sooner we start to build new, affordable units, the smaller that number will be by the year 2030.

Groups that Suffer Today

Although we would like to say that everyone in the United States is equal, that is not necessarily true. Most minority groups in the United States undergo the same prejudice that slaves such as Linda and Frederick Douglass endured.
Ever since September 11, most Americans have created a new prejudice towards Muslim people. Whenever most people step on a plane, they always check to see if there is anyone who is Muslim. Although this is wrong, people still do this because they are prejudice against someone who is remotely similar to a Muslim person. People fear that all people that are Muslim are bad because of the few extremists that killed many.
Another group is people who are the lower class of society. Poor people generally do not receive the same perks as do the middle and upper classes. People in the United States say that everyone is equal, however, we create these societies to divide everyone. For example, the middle and upper classes have better education and better access to medical needs and other resources.

Linda's Freedom

Linda eventually gains her freedom through Mrs. Bruce. Mrs. Bruce offered Mr. Dodge, Emily’s husband, three hundred dollars for Linda. Mr. Dodge replied by saying, “half a loaf was better than no bread” and accepted Mrs. Bruce’s offer.
When Mrs. Bruce first mentioned the idea of purchasing Linda, Linda refused. Linda replied by saying that if Mrs. Bruce bought her from Mr. Dodge, it would be like “being sold from one owner to another” which “seemed too much like slavery.”
When Linda is finally free, she has mixed feelings. She is excited that she is finally free and can walk the streets without fear of being captured. On the other hand, Linda’s years of slavery have not just disappeared and still affect her thoughts on others and the world in general. Linda is happy that she is free, but she knows that her “dream of life is not yet realized. I do not sit with my children in a home of my own. I still long for a hearthstone of my own, however humble. I wish it for my children’s sake far more than my own.”

Linda's Life in the North

Linda’s experience in the North is nothing like she expected it to be. On the train ride to New York, Linda discovered that colored men and women were not allowed to sit in the first class cars. In response to this, Linda stated, “Colored people were allowed to ride in a filthy box, behind white people, at the south, but there they were not required to pay for the privilege. It made me sad to find out how the north aped the customs of slavery.” (pg. 248) Linda realized that there are several of the same divisions between colored people and white people in the North as there are in the South.
Also, Linda always feels a sense of insecurity and uneasiness all of the time. Linda hoped that by coming to the North, she would be able to live a good life with her family. She was mistaken. Linda realizes that she is going to have to work harder than she thought she would have to to bring her family together.

William and Mr. Sands

In this reading, Mr. Sands gets elected as Congressman and has to move to Washington. He decides to take William with him with the intention of freeing William in the long run. However, William recognizes that Mr. Sands is not a very trusting man and does not want to go to Washington with him. William runs away from Mr. Sands because he does not think that Mr. Sands will hold up his promise and let him free. William instead runs away with some abolitionists in the North. I think that William running away is justified because we find out that Mr. Sands is not someone that William can trust. William knows that he will just have to work for Mr. Sands in Washington and will never escape the life of slavery. If I were in William’s shoes, I would probably do the same thing.

Mr. Sands

Mr. Sands comes into possession of the children when Dr. Flint finally decided to sell the children to a slave trader. The slave trader, one of the few caring slave traders, than sold the children to Mr. Sands.
Linda trusts him because he is the father of her children. Considering Linda felt safe enough with Mr. Sands to have children, she is pretty trusting of him. I think that Mr. Sands is trustworthy because he took the time to buy the children from the slave trader. If he did not care about the children and Linda, he would not have even considered helping Linda and her family out by buying the children. Plus, Mr. Sands purchased the children for a great deal of money, which he would not have done if he were not trustworthy.

Gold Chain

In chapter fourteen, we learn that Linda has had yet another baby. Linda’s grandmother wants Linda’s children to be baptized, but Linda knows that Dr. Flint would not like that idea. One Sunday, when Linda learns that Dr. Flint has to go out of town to visit a patient, Linda’s grandmother realizes that it is the perfect time to have the children baptized. When Linda was leaving the church, her father’s old mistress came up to her and placed a gold chain around her baby’s neck. Although it seems like a nice gift, Linda did not like it. To Linda, the gold chain resembled slavery, and Linda did not ever want her child to “feel the weight of slavery’s chain, whose iron entereth into the soul!” This sounds like an unusual statement because the gold chain seems like a genuine gift. However, Linda has been in slavery her whole life, and she does not want her child to endure slavery as well.

Interesting Passage

The passage that I thought was interesting was on page 98. Linda stated, “It was a grand opportunity for the low whites, who had no negroes of their own to scourage. They exulted in such a chance to exercise a little brief authority, and show their subserviency to the slaveholders…” The whole idea of the insurrection was surprising to me. It was strange how low whites would use the insurrection as a time to show brief authority over the slaves because they had no slaves of their own. The insurrection shows ignorance in a way because the lower class of white men would use authority over the slaves. In reality, some of the slaves were more educated than the white men who were ransacking their homes. For example, on page 99, one of the white men questioned Linda by asking, “What d’ye foller us fur? D’ye s’pose white folks is come to steal?” Linda replied, “You have come to search; but you have searched that box, and I will take it, if you please.” There is a huge difference between the speech of the white male, who is supposed to be an authority figure, and Linda, a slave who is not supposed to be very well educated. Linda makes the white male sound ignorant.

Love

Slaves are not allowed to have their own personal love lives if their master does not approve. A young female slave once told Mrs. Flint, Linda’s mistress, that a colored man asked the young female slave to be his wife. Mrs. Flint replied to the girl by saying, ‘“I will have you peeled and pickled, my lady,’ she said, ‘if I ever hear you mention that subject again. Do you suppose that I will have you tending my children with the children of that nigger?’” Linda was in the same situation as this young female slave. Slaves could not just pick up and leave a family to marry a colored man, especially a free colored man. Even if the man had money to buy the female slave, she still could not leave the family without the permission of her master. In Linda’s situation, her master, Dr. Flint, did not want her to leave the family and suggested that she come work with him in Louisiana, a completely different state. Dr. Flint would not even let Linda talk to the man that wanted to marry her. Linda really wanted to love someone, but she was unable to. As a slave, she was considered property and was under the control of her master.

Reaction to Slavery

Jacobs presents the reader with a very vivid view of how slavery was. I liked one of the quotations in the book. It was a good representation of the relationship between the slaves and their masters. The novel stated, “These God-breathing machines are no more, in the sight of their masters, than the cotton they plant, or the horses they tend.” This quote really depicts a slave’s role in society. Slaves were looked at as “property,” not as human beings.
Jacobs explained the role of slavery in the South, but she also incorporated her individual story with it. She would talk about the role of other slaves in society, but she also included personal touches such as her grandmother and brothers.
In the story, Jacobs painted a picture that was really vivid in my mind when reading. It is so frustrating to know the struggle that people like Jacobs’ grandmother went through just to become free. If I lived during this time, I do not think that I would have been able to order someone around and to whip him or her when they did not follow my directions.

Reflection

Most humans have dreams that they are pursuing. Whether it be a dream that they are willing to die for or not, people still have goals that they want to accomplish in their lifetime. It is similar to Alexis de Toqueville’s essay, Why Americans are Restless. Humans are constantly chasing after a dream, but once they accomplish that dream, it is not as good as they thought it would be.
In The Great Gatsby, most of the characters die in pursuit of their dreams. This makes a person take a step back and wonder if these dreams are really worth dying for. Is it really worth pursuing these dreams when, in reality, accomplishing your dreams is not as gratifying as the chase? If Gatsby had not been murdered in the book, would he still say that it was worth it chasing after Daisy for all of those years?

Funeral

In a way, I was not shocked when only three people showed up to Gatsby’s funeral. Gatsby was not a social person; he never socialized with the guests at his party. I was mad that Daisy did not show up to the funeral. Out of everyone, I think she should have felt obligated to attend considering Gatsby took the blame for a crime she committed. It was surprising to me that Gatsby’s father came to the funeral, mostly because I did not know his father existed. In the long run, however, I was pleased to see him there to show that he at least cared for his son. The other surprising guest was Owl Eyes. He was one of the last people I thought would attend. Owl Eyes and the billboard with the pair of eyes seem connected somehow. I wonder if Owl Eyes was somehow considered God like the pair of eyes was considered God.

Climax

There were several instances that led up to the climax in The Great Gatsby. One of the major reasons that the climax occurred was because of Tom’s love affair with Myrtle. Tom was blatant about the affair with Myrtle. When Daisy finally reunited with Gatsby, she did not think twice about having an affair with him. Gatsby and Daisy eventually fell so much in love that Gatsby was willing to take the blame for Daisy murdering Myrtle. Myrtle’s death relates back to Daisy’s animosity towards her. Daisy hated how Myrtle would ignorantly call during dinner to talk with Tom. Gatsby’s death occurred because he took the blame for Daisy, so Wilson eventually killed Gatsby. Another instance that may have led to the climax is how Tom drove Gatsby’s car to the city and just so happened to stop by Wilson’s to get gas. If I were Gatsby, I would not have let Tom drive my car. Overall, Daisy’s frustration kept increasing until she finally let it all out by murdering Myrtle.

Gatsby's Past

In chapter six, we finally learned about Gatsby’s true past. Earlier in the book, Nick lied to the reader about how Gatsby accumulated his wealth. Nick lied to us because Gatsby was so embarrassed about his past. Gatsby was self-conscious about having to work as a janitor to pay for his tuition at St. Olaf, so he dropped out of college. After Gatsby met Cody, he became obsessed with wealth and luxury. Now, because Gatsby is a very rich man, he does not want people to know about his life in the past as a lower-class citizen. He worked very hard for his wealth and does not want people to have a different opinion of him if they knew that he used to be poor. Nick finally decides to tell us about Gatsby’s past because Nick will no longer have to lie about how Gatsby accumulated his money. The reader can also feel more sympathy for Gatsby now because they know how hard he has worked throughout his life.

Gatsby's Green Light

In chapter five, Nick states that Gatsby’s “count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.” Nick is referring to the green light that was located on Daisy’s dock in this quote. This green light used to be more than a “green light.” It was a symbol of the large distance that separated Daisy and Gatsby for all of those years. Before Gatsby and Daisy reunited, Gatsby would constantly peer out across the lake just to look at the green light. The significance of this light has now disappeared because Gatsby has been reunited with Daisy. It is no longer an “enchanted object” in Gatsby’s mind. It is now just a green light on the dock.