Reading Inside The Lines

Twain

"First they done a lecture on temperance; but they didn't make enough for them to both get drunk on." (Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, p.356)

Here, Huck is talking about a pair of con men, Duke and King, that are forcibly traveling with him and Jim. The con men are making their way along the river, scamming the people in the villages they pass by and are at it again because they have traveled far enough away from the last place they were caught to start up again. Huck is relaying one of their failed attempts.

This sentence comes only five lines into chapter 31 of Huckleberry Finn and it is one of those lines that wakes you up from the fairy tail of the boy's summer adventure. It's quintessential Twain in that his point isn't superficially apparent, but it's there for the taking. At least something is. There are a few levels of meaning and that quality is another that makes it very Twain as well.

Here Twain is calling attention to the hypocrisy that plagues humanity in his classic humorist style, using Duke and King. Another thing going on here is the temperance movement of the 1800's was picking up steam in the time the Huck Finn was written and within the time frame it was set as well; this line in particular could speak to Twain's ideas about it, but not what side of the movement he was actually for. Finally, as with many of the writers we've looked at thus far, such as Bierce and Harte, this is another signpost that tells the reader that they should examine who the "bad guys" are in the story, and in a larger sense to pay close attention to what's happening.



King and Duke giving a temperance lecture in order to get money to get drunk is not only hypocritical, it's ridiculous. I think that right after that line is where you're supposed to pause for dramatic effect and follow it up with an naive look. If you were telling a humorous story, that is. The problem with humor, especially with a message behind the message is deciphering what that message is. Is it a prod to take all into moderation, including something thought to be good such as temperance? Could it be a reinforcement of why moral issues are legitimate concerns or how ethics fail us? Or could it be really just be a joke? I think, all of the above.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in Uncle Tom's Cabin

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Mark Twain

BEECHER STOWE

"Tom had often caught glimpses of this little girl, - for she was one of those busy, tripping creatures, that can be no more contained in one place than a sunbeam..."
(Harriet Beecher Stowe - Uncle Tom's Cabin)

I think that the quote's meaning is self explanatory, just describing Eva and maybe a bit of her personality. It says that Eva is a good natured, curious and a little bumbling girl with lots of energy.

TWAIN

The reason I bring it up, may also be pretty obvious, especially given the illustrations I found. I realize that Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is generally about something entirely different than Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin these two sets of characters - Stowe's Eva and Tom and Twain's Huck and Jim are astoundingly similar. They are almost the exact same with two exceptions; Eva and Tom are essentially more "good" than Huck and Jim and Eva and Huck are the opposite sex to one another. I say that Eva and Tom are "good" because Tom is obediently with his owner and Eva is adventurous but doesn't misbehave the way Huck does.

The fundamentals are there though! Both are a benevolent relationship between an adult slave and a well meaning child. Both slave men play a guardianship role in the child's life but are also their friends and in a way they are set as their peers in the sense that as they are slaves are "beneath" the white adults and are paid attention to as much as one would a child. Both sets of characters are even traveling down the Mississippi River!

I think this speaks to the level of influence that Beecher Stowe had on Twain. I say Stowe influenced Twain because Uncle Tom's Cabin was published in 1851 and Twain didn't publish The Adventure's of Huckleberry Finn until 1884, a full 33 years later! Though I wonder if it wasn't more of a tribute or nod from Twain to Beecher Stowe, especially in light of the similarities between the two sets of characters.


Side note: it's annoying to find yet another example of how women get a raw deal with this sort of thing. Everyone and their dog knows Huck and Jim, but outside of academics, I bet you couldn't find 10 people on the street who know who the heck Eva and Tom are.