Huck Finn Experience

1. Have you read the novel –Huck Finn- before?  If so where and why?

I read Huck Finn before in 11^th grade in my AP Lang class.

3. What was your response to reading Huck Finn, and what do you remember from your reading?  Also, did you actually read the whole novel, or just parts of it?  Did you read Cliff Notes or Monarch Notes instead?

The first time I read Huck Finn, it was one of my favorite novels. I thought that it was one of the best adventure stories I had ever read, and Mark Twain made the characters seem real. I did read the entire novel, but I also used Sparknotes to help in my understanding of some of the imagery used by Twain. However, at this point, I only remember the basic plot from my first reading.

4. If you were assigned to read Huck Finn in a previous class, either here or in high school, how did your class as a whole react to the novel?  Why do you think your instructor assigned the novel?  How did he or she try to “teach” the novel?

My class as a whole appreciated the novel, but some students were quick to criticize the grammar used by both Huck and Jim. I think that they missed the point of the novel though, which I remember pointing out at the time. As for why my teacher assigned the novel, it was required reading at my school. I think that this is because of the satirical nature of the novel in such a dark time in American history. I am from Florida, which was a state very apt to owning and trafficking slaves. So, it made sense for us to read a book that was poignant about our state’s history.

5. If you were required to read Huck Finn in a previous class, what sort of assignments were you required to complete, and what exactly did you do during the classes when

Huck Finn was being discussed.

After the novel, we were required to write a literary analysis paper discussing how Huck and Jim’s relationship developed over the course of the novel. In my paper, I remember writing about the father-son dynamic between the two, and how that was so outrageous in that time period. When the book was being discussed, we talked a lot about the nature of the book and the message it contains that is so controversial.

6. Huck Finn is still one of the most controversial and most banned books in America.  Why is it so controversial?  

I believe that Huck Finn is controversial not only because of its vulgar language, but also because it pokes fun at a time in American history that is so frowned upon today. In modern day culture, it seems that we would rather not associate our country with such cruel treatment of humans, and this novel paints such a poor picture of humanity as a whole.

7. Is Huck Finn still relevant to you as college student today?  Should it continue to be taught in college classrooms?

Huck Finn is one of the greatest novels in American history, and just for that it should continue to be taught in college classrooms. However, there is also a lot of merit to analyzing the story, because it is still relevant. We may not rely on slave labor, but we do still have stereotypes about each minority in modern culture. This is relevant in college, especially at a place like TCU where 95% of African Americans are athletes, and a large portion of the school is white.

8.  The general consensus among critics is that Huck Finn is a brilliant and powerful novel, but also a flawed and problematic novel.  What do you think might be flawed and/or problematic about the novel?

Huck seems to be overly relaxed about the situation with Jim. Sure, it is probably a product of his upbringing making him feel worthless; but, in this time period, there is no way that Huck does not turn around and bring Jim back. I think this also points to the thought that the storyline is not realistic. Not just floating down the river, but the situations the two run in to. The odds of Huck ending up at Aunt Polly’s house are very slim, as well as the odds of Tom showing up right after Huck gets there. The lack of realistic value to the novel might prove to be problematic for some people. However, I think that Twain does such an amazing job at painting the picture of Huck and Jim that whatever they get themselves in to seems realistic to me.

Huck Finn: My Ultimate Adventure Story

            Coming into this course, I was really excited to delve into The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. After reading the book in high school, it immediately became one of my favorite novels. This next statement is going to sound pretty weird, so I will elaborate on it: I love Huck Finn because I can relate to it. No, I didn’t get locked in a cabin with a drunken father, only to fake my own murder and escape, then float down the Mississippi river alongside a runaway slave with a shortened version of my name, only to have him become the father figure I never actually had. But, I did have some awesome childhood adventures that the story reminds me of.

            My dad is the second oldest of seven children and my mom the second youngest of five. Big family. Of that big family, about 75% of us live within an 8 mile radius of my house. So, it’s a big family within a close proximity. Two of my cousins, John, who is a year older than me, and Josh, a year younger than me, lived about a 5 minute bike ride from my house. They also lived adjacent to a golf course and an elaborate forest with a substantial creek running through it. For adolescents, this living situation only meant one thing: constant exploring and adventuring.

            Huck tells a short story about his adventures with Tom Sawyer’s Gang. While we never thought of killing people, my cousins and I had a gang of our own. We would ride our bikes around the forest, mapping things out, hiding objects, constructing up rope swings, among other things. When I was about twelve, my aunt forced my cousins to become vegans, so our main course of action was eating foods deemed illegal by my aunt. Pretty rebellious, huh? I mean, talking about killing people and eating forbidden food are basically the same, right?

            Anyways, the connection between Huck and myself is basically unrelated until Huck runs into the Grangerfords. But, I’ll get to that later. I want to talk about the moral development of Huck in comparison to that of his society. It almost makes me jealous of Huck. In his society, keeping slaves in their place was of top priority. But, as we see with Huck’s gang, Huckleberry is more focused on keeping friendships and bolstering his self worth than turning in Jim. So, when Jim asks Huck to promise never to turn him in, Huck is immediately obliged to hold to that promise no matter what. I sort of wish that I could have that commitment to God and to my friends. I have committed my life to following Christ and living for Him, but so often, I have trouble going against societal norms that are trending away from religion. Along the way, Huck and Jim could do nothing to avoid their growing together. They become more of family than just pals, and it is such a different dynamic from the world around them.

            Back to the Grangerfords, the fights that my cousins and I had were with paintball guns. My cousins’ neighbors weren’t our favorite people in the world. So, we did what any clashing groups of teenagers would do: have paintball wars back in the woods. The funny part was when an innocent party just passing through would get shot…oops.

            This whole Huck’s life to my life connection got me thinking about the genius of Mark Twain: Huck Finn actually seems like a real kid. Think of all the times when you went exploring when you were younger. As kids, we see the world as a fresh new place, and want to learn about everything. Huck is just another kid looking for another adventure. And it’s so entertaining to read about how I felt when I was younger.

            Overall, I loved reading Huck Finn again. I think that it is one of the greatest adventure stories ever written, and wherever this book is banned is missing out on a great story about our society.

Hanging with Mansour Round 2

            After our riveting discussion in our first meeting, I was excited to get the chance to hang out with Mansour again. We decided that meeting at our original spot, the bookstore, was not the greatest idea, considering Middle Eastern men and sketchy threats at the bookstore don’t necessarily mix well. So, we sat outside of 1776 (my friends and I always call 1873 by a different year) and had a conversation.

            I have been sick with bronchitis since about Monday or Tuesday, so my voice wasn’t in the greatest shape. Mansour actually had some interesting advice to offer about soothing my throat. His secret recipe was to just take water and squeeze fresh lemon into it (lemonade without the sugar), but then the kicker was to add fresh mint. He said it’s delicious. I have yet to try it, because most stores don’t carry fresh mint and I haven’t felt up to walking to Kroger yet. But, I look forward to the experiment.

            Anyways, it didn’t take long for our conversation to center around the drug busts on campus. Do you want to know what they do in Saudi Arabia if you bring drugs from outside the country? Kill you. Good thing Tanner Brock & Co. don’t live in Saudi Arabia. But, this led me to ask whether there was corruption in his country, because clearly there are drugs. He said no, you couldn’t pay off the authorities to smuggle your drugs into the country. But, you can treat the authorities to a very lavish dinner that will cost you a pretty penny. Tempting people with food? Sounds like college.

            That raised a different sort of thought to me; I can’t really imagine what it would be like to face capital punishment for most crimes. I mean, I guess it would greatly discourage people from committing crimes. It would also lead to a lot of dead people. Maybe they would even out. I feel like that is a weird question to ask though.

            We found another mutual interest: table games like ping pong and pool. We have tables for both in the Rec, so I’m thinking about seeing if he wants to go there and play for our next meeting. That would be fun.

            Well, Mansour and I seem to have a lot of common, and I feel like the more we meet, the better of friends that we are going to become.

Handling the Lateral

            On Thursday afternoon, I strolled into the library in search of the periodicals. The key words in that sentence are “in search of,” because I would be searching for a long time. I thought that I had a basic idea of where I was going; I followed the sign that said “Periodicals.” I guess the library was just teasing me. Eventually, I went to one of the computers and looked up 1920s magazines and found the section where they were located. Still, no luck. So, I figured that since I could find the articles online, I could just read the issues online. Honestly, I probably should have just asked the librarian where they were…next time.

            So, via the TCU Library online, I found an issue of The New Yorker from November 19, 1927. The cover story of the issue was about the lateral pass and how it is revolutionizing football. This was definitely something that caught my interest. This is also where I found my coming-of-age theme: sports. Around 1875, the game of football was invented. However, if current America were to look back at that version of football, nobody would believe it to be the same sport. Football, like all sports, develops and adapts as it deems necessary.

            In 1902, Penn became the first college football team to ever use the lateral. This opened up hundreds of new play types and opportunities that had never before been realized. However, this new play style dumbfounded defenses. And that is where this article takes its hold. The article is about how defenses were adapting to this new play type; how the development of the game was occurring.

            We normally think of coming-of-age as relating to a young boy doing something manly and being symbolically handed a man card. Well, in this case, The New Yorker was distributing man cards to the defenses of college football. As we can see with football today, defenses figured out how to stop the lateral, so the offense created a new scheme. Rinse, and repeat.

            One thing that I take for granted in magazines today is the quality of images to illustrate a story. Fingering through this old school publication, I realized that most of the pictures were hand drawn and not necessarily appealing to the eye. I think that speaks to the attention spans of today’s generation. We don’t have the concentration to read an entire two to three page articles if big pretty pictures…wait, what was I talking about?

            Overall, I would say that reading this magazine was a form of culture shock. I really couldn’t imagine if our society hadn’t come of age yet. If we still hand drew most magazine pictures with figures barely more elaborate than sticks, I don’t think I would read magazines.

Meeting Mr. Mansour

            As I sat outside the Bookstore on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon, a Middle Eastern looking man with a slight unibrow approached my table. “Jimmy?” he said. And this was my first encounter with Mansour, a 28 year old from the heart of Saudi Arabia.

            To be honest, I am not very good…actually I am terrible…at initiating and keeping conversation. So, our conversation was slow at first. There was one thing that he seemed interested in talking about though: freedom. Mansour has been in the US since November 2010 and in Fort Worth for a little less than a year. Even still, he is adjusting to being free to talk to women in public, having movie theaters, and just general freedom.

            This really intrigued me, because these are just liberties that I take for granted. Eventually, our conversation turned to marriage. Being 28, Mansour’s mother is pushing him to get married. So, my obvious question was regarding whether marriages are still arranged. Yes, they are. But I learned something interesting about arranged marriages. Essentially, when Mansour wants to get married, he tells his mother. Because he is not allowed to talk to women in public, his mother goes out and finds a potential wife for him. Once she finds a lucky lady, the families gather together, and Mansour meets his potential spouse. If he does not feel like things gel well, then he can say so. No harm done. The process just restarts. So, he still has a choice, which is something that was definitely novel to me.

            Then, we started to talk about what he was doing here. After finishing this ESL program at TCU, Mansour plans on heading to UNT to study Business. His English is actually quite advanced, so I asked why he was in the ESL class. His response was interesting to me. He said that he sees a stark difference in the skills of Middle Easterns versus Asians in the program. His fellows Saudis are very good speakers, while they lack written performance. On the other hand, the Japanese and Chinese are subpar speakers that excel in writing. Why? I don’t know. Neither does he. So, he’s working on his writing skills.

            Still, while having this conversation, the two of us did not seem to mesh all that well. It felt sort of awkward. So, I popped the question that I had been anticipating all along: are you a soccer fan? Yes. Yes? Yes. Me too. Instant connection. We spent the final 35 minutes of our conversation discussing the English Premier League, La Liga, and the past and impending World Cups.

            This was a huge win for me. I love soccer. I think it is the greatest sport in the world, and Americans lack the culture that comes with soccer obsession. He told me that even in Saudi Arabia, when El Classico is being played (Barcelona vs. Real Madrid) the entire city shuts down. Everybody is off the streets watching soccer being played 3,000 miles away. How cool is that? I wish Americans had something like that.

            I think he was just as pleased as I was. To run into an American with a vested interest in soccer is rare.

            Overall, Mansour and I are really benefitting from talking with each other. I get the opportunity to learn about a culture that I think is interesting, and talk soccer. He gets to talk in English…about soccer.