“Well, then, why ain't it natural and right for a Frenchman to talk different from us? You answer me that." - Jim (Twain, 90)
As a whole, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn serves as an abolitionist argument; in order to convince his audience of the evils of slavery and move them into action, Twain utilizes a great deal of logical rhetoric in the form of inductive reasoning. Thus, if Jim defies the racist conventions of the South through his compassion, intelligence, and loyalty, then by extension, all enslaved individuals must do the same. Therefore, slavery is a deeply-flawed institution, a truth Twain attempts to force his audience to discover via logos-heavy rhetoric. The logic the characters use themselves serves to strengthen Twain’s subtle assertions, as depicted in the quote above. When Huck explains the existence of non-English tongues, Jim dismisses this as ridiculous: if individual species speak the same “language”, men should do the same, and even utilizes simple deductive reasoning to prove his point. Huck scoffs at this, but Twain hopes his audience does not. The idea that there should be a universal language is a rational one, and illustrates Jim’s hidden wisdom.
Well said Kemi! I also think its interesting how Twain puts so much knowledge into a form that appears to be an uneducated dialect. However, Jim's dialect is only stemming from his identity as an African-American and former slave, not from his lack of intelligence.
Ellie, I agree with you that Jim's dialect stems from his identity and not from his lack of intelligence, however, frequent grammatical errors in the way he speaks do suggest a lack of education.
Logos Page 100-125 I thought I would be done with deductive and inductive reasoning after freshman year math. But, alas, from Sherlock to Huckleberry Finn, these logical processes persist in multiple different aspects of society. In the novel, Huck uses logic often to understand the world around him. When introducing the character Colonel Grangerford, Huck uses inductive reasoning to discern his personality. Huck starts with a general statement, “Col. Grangerford was a gentlemen” (117), then goes on to explain why. Grangerford has “linen so white it hurt yours eyes to look at it”. In addition, “everybody was always good mannered where he was”, as “everybody loved to have him around”. This inductive reasoning to explain why Grangerford is described as a gentleman reveals more about Huck’s mental process to the reader.
Caitlin I am loving these creative openings keep it up! But another reason why Grangerford is a gentleman is because as head of such a important household, he needs to be very proper. It gives more ethos to the reader as to why they are successful because you dress for success.
Isabella, Huck's discernment of Col. Grangerford as a gentleman shows the values of which Huck classifies as a gentlemanly. Huck's focus on the white linen shows that his values of a gentleman parallel the upper-middle class values that Miss Watson and Widow Douglas tried so hard to instill within Huck before he was kidnapped by Pap.
Twain certainly utilizes ethos within this passage. Proper ettiquite and the quality of one's attire were all but cornerstones of Southern culture, and were clear indicators of socioeconomic distinction, even more so than in modern society today. Twain depicts Finn's observations of Grangerford to further portray his protagonist as a product of his environment, and thereby increase the authenticity of his work.
Pages 125-200 “It had a picture of a runaway nigger, with a bundle on a stick, over his shoulder, and a ‘$200 reward’ under it. The reading was all about Jim, and just described him to a dot” (150).
Huck, Jim, the duke, and the dauphine make countless logical decisions that allow them to continue their journey together, the most important one being their plan to protect Jim. In order to avoid suspicion while traveling in the raft with Jim, the group creates a fake runaway slave poster to explain that they captured the runaway slave and are returning him to his owner to receive the reward. Logic such as this portrays Huck as a clever boy who can escape tricky situations, which is important to the storyline because it means he and Jim will be able to elude trouble together for a while.
I (respectfully) disagree with this. The duke and the king don't care about Jim at all, and the duke is the one who actually sells Jim as a runaway slave. From the beginning, they the duke and the dauphin had no interest in protecting Jim. They, like the rest of the southern antebellum society, saw him just for the color of his skin.
Yes, Julia, digging your disagreement! I love seeing different perspectives on the novel. I agree with you, the duke and dauphin never really saw Jim as a person, or even as the color of his skin, but simply as a monetary reward. This mindset of viewing people as money is really interesting, almost reminiscent of the idea of spoils of war.
Logos Ginny Li Page (200-235) “Oh, shucks, yes, we can spare it…….We want to lug this h-yer money upstairs and count it before everybody—then ther’ ain’t noth’n suspicious. But when the dead man says there’s six thousand dollars, you know, we don’t want to….” “Less make up the deficit”. (186) Duck uses logos in this sentence. By adding the money and donating their money fortunes to the fund, no one will suspect the authenticity of the will.
Logos (235-300) There is either a lot of logic happening or none depends on whose view point makes more sense. Tom to most can be viewed as having zero logical sense because he proceeds to try to make the plan to save Jim 10 times harder in order to fit into his routine. Huck who has more sense asks Tom if it’s really necessary and begs the idea whether or “it's foolish, Tom”(271) to his outlandish ideas. But Tom does these elaborate plans to appeal to his pride by making it justifiable because “there ain’t no other way, that ever I heard of”(271). By following through with this it does not only risk the safety of Jim but Huck too. These decisions aren't very logical but in the end are to benefit the safety of Jim who in the antebellum south has no voice.
Hmm, to an extent, I both agree and disagree that Tom is logical. His elaborate plans are in fact well thought out, but he does have a tendency to overcomplicate them. I don't necessarily think that overcomplicating proves he is illogical though, and it instead displays Tom as bold and curious, which are two important traits for one who helps slaves while deep in the South.
“Well, then, why ain't it natural and right for a Frenchman to talk different from us? You answer me that." - Jim (Twain, 90)
ReplyDeleteAs a whole, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn serves as an abolitionist argument; in order to convince his audience of the evils of slavery and move them into action, Twain utilizes a great deal of logical rhetoric in the form of inductive reasoning. Thus, if Jim defies the racist conventions of the South through his compassion, intelligence, and loyalty, then by extension, all enslaved individuals must do the same. Therefore, slavery is a deeply-flawed institution, a truth Twain attempts to force his audience to discover via logos-heavy rhetoric. The logic the characters use themselves serves to strengthen Twain’s subtle assertions, as depicted in the quote above. When Huck explains the existence of non-English tongues, Jim dismisses this as ridiculous: if individual species speak the same “language”, men should do the same, and even utilizes simple deductive reasoning to prove his point. Huck scoffs at this, but Twain hopes his audience does not. The idea that there should be a universal language is a rational one, and illustrates Jim’s hidden wisdom.
Well said Kemi! I also think its interesting how Twain puts so much knowledge into a form that appears to be an uneducated dialect. However, Jim's dialect is only stemming from his identity as an African-American and former slave, not from his lack of intelligence.
DeleteEllie, I agree with you that Jim's dialect stems from his identity and not from his lack of intelligence, however, frequent grammatical errors in the way he speaks do suggest a lack of education.
DeleteCaitlin Lee
ReplyDeleteLogos Page 100-125
I thought I would be done with deductive and inductive reasoning after freshman year math. But, alas, from Sherlock to Huckleberry Finn, these logical processes persist in multiple different aspects of society. In the novel, Huck uses logic often to understand the world around him. When introducing the character Colonel Grangerford, Huck uses inductive reasoning to discern his personality. Huck starts with a general statement, “Col. Grangerford was a gentlemen” (117), then goes on to explain why. Grangerford has “linen so white it hurt yours eyes to look at it”. In addition, “everybody was always good mannered where he was”, as “everybody loved to have him around”. This inductive reasoning to explain why Grangerford is described as a gentleman reveals more about Huck’s mental process to the reader.
Caitlin I am loving these creative openings keep it up! But another reason why Grangerford is a gentleman is because as head of such a important household, he needs to be very proper. It gives more ethos to the reader as to why they are successful because you dress for success.
DeleteIsabella,
DeleteHuck's discernment of Col. Grangerford as a gentleman shows the values of which Huck classifies as a gentlemanly. Huck's focus on the white linen shows that his values of a gentleman parallel the upper-middle class values that Miss Watson and Widow Douglas tried so hard to instill within Huck before he was kidnapped by Pap.
Twain certainly utilizes ethos within this passage. Proper ettiquite and the quality of one's attire were all but cornerstones of Southern culture, and were clear indicators of socioeconomic distinction, even more so than in modern society today. Twain depicts Finn's observations of Grangerford to further portray his protagonist as a product of his environment, and thereby increase the authenticity of his work.
DeletePages 125-200
ReplyDelete“It had a picture of a runaway nigger, with a bundle on a stick, over his shoulder, and a ‘$200 reward’ under it. The reading was all about Jim, and just described him to a dot” (150).
Huck, Jim, the duke, and the dauphine make countless logical decisions that allow them to continue their journey together, the most important one being their plan to protect Jim. In order to avoid suspicion while traveling in the raft with Jim, the group creates a fake runaway slave poster to explain that they captured the runaway slave and are returning him to his owner to receive the reward. Logic such as this portrays Huck as a clever boy who can escape tricky situations, which is important to the storyline because it means he and Jim will be able to elude trouble together for a while.
I (respectfully) disagree with this. The duke and the king don't care about Jim at all, and the duke is the one who actually sells Jim as a runaway slave. From the beginning, they the duke and the dauphin had no interest in protecting Jim. They, like the rest of the southern antebellum society, saw him just for the color of his skin.
DeleteYes, Julia, digging your disagreement! I love seeing different perspectives on the novel. I agree with you, the duke and dauphin never really saw Jim as a person, or even as the color of his skin, but simply as a monetary reward. This mindset of viewing people as money is really interesting, almost reminiscent of the idea of spoils of war.
DeleteLogos
ReplyDeleteGinny Li Page (200-235)
“Oh, shucks, yes, we can spare it…….We want to lug this h-yer money upstairs and count it before everybody—then ther’ ain’t noth’n suspicious. But when the dead man says there’s six thousand dollars, you know, we don’t want to….” “Less make up the deficit”. (186) Duck uses logos in this sentence. By adding the money and donating their money fortunes to the fund, no one will suspect the authenticity of the will.
Logos (235-300)
ReplyDeleteThere is either a lot of logic happening or none depends on whose view point makes more sense. Tom to most can be viewed as having zero logical sense because he proceeds to try to make the plan to save Jim 10 times harder in order to fit into his routine. Huck who has more sense asks Tom if it’s really necessary and begs the idea whether or “it's foolish, Tom”(271) to his outlandish ideas. But Tom does these elaborate plans to appeal to his pride by making it justifiable because “there ain’t no other way, that ever I heard of”(271). By following through with this it does not only risk the safety of Jim but Huck too. These decisions aren't very logical but in the end are to benefit the safety of Jim who in the antebellum south has no voice.
Hmm, to an extent, I both agree and disagree that Tom is logical. His elaborate plans are in fact well thought out, but he does have a tendency to overcomplicate them. I don't necessarily think that overcomplicating proves he is illogical though, and it instead displays Tom as bold and curious, which are two important traits for one who helps slaves while deep in the South.
Delete