Thanks for the excellent insights, all.  

Regarding the "Huck as ghost" element, I've always just assumed that Sam couldn't resist the "doubting Thomas" (Sawyer) gag, similar to the way I can't pass up an opportunity to quote Groucho or Chico Marx.

_______________________
Stanton Nesbit
Media Specialist
Eau Claire North High School


-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Twain Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dan Walker
Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2012 9:28 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The ending of Huckleberry Finn

Andrew:
One way to account for Tom at the second "shack" is that he balances Pap: b= oth are in control of Huck and both are storytellers. And both deliver narr= atives corrupted by nature and civilization: Pap's, by alcohol, and Tom's b= y romanticism. Both use real people to populate their fantasies. Both Demon=  Rum and literature seem to me products of human ingenuity and (I guess Pla= to would say?) distortion of reality. Tom's role has always seemed more cul= pable to me because of his education and because he makes real people (Jim)=  play a role in his romantic fantasies of justice to the point that everyon= e is almost killed. Tom deserves serious punishment and thus he gets a bull= et in the leg--but survives it. He's only 14, after all, not 34. As Huck sa= ys in making excuses for him: "he had a dream, and it shot him." Indeed it = did! One thing often forgotten about the end is that Jim knows how to keep = secrets, too, and has hidden agendas: the foolish hairball business at the = beginning is nicely balanced by the secret he keeps about Pap's death at th= e end--thus keeping from Huck the news that might free Huck to leave Jim...= .
That's my two cents on the balance of beginning and end.


Still, I share your concerns about the ending--both thematic and artistic. = It seems to devalue Jim's quest, for one thing. But it also stretches credu= lity WAY too far: Tom just happens to be visiting at the farm where Jim jus= t happens to be held--on the day Huck happens to show up. And repeats the "= ghost" joke ...maybe there's balance there, too?


What I do like about the end is that--even though it took reintroducing Tom=  to do it--the end confirms the point that Huck is the eternal child (I agr= ee with Eliot) who cannot really grow up. He must finally reject Tom and al= l of civilization by going West, which he vows to do at the end. You could = argue that if he does grow up he becomes Jay Gatsby...


Sorry--there's 20 minutes you'll never get rebated!


Dan




-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Dickson <[log in to unmask]>
To: TWAIN-L <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wed, May 23, 2012 9:26 pm
Subject: Re: The ending of Huckleberry Finn


I'm a bit confused.  I'm following you on everything, except for how Tom has to make the escape more exciting.  Why would he have to do that?
Obviously we see his declaration for glory/adventure as his literal reason, but why would Jim's slave-mindset force a more exciting escape?

I do like the idea of the two prisons/shacks being linked.

A connection  I personally saw was who really got the 'final word' in the ending.  In the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, it's Huck.  Huck gives his monologue on why it's impossible for him to be civilized.  In Adventures of Huck Finn's ending, Tom has several lengthy explanations of why he seeks glory and adventure over logic -- he gets the last word.  Huck is literally free and Tom admires this.  Tom uses society to his own benefit and Huck admires this as well -- they have a mutual respect for one another that seals the friendship.  This is my take on the ending chapters in Huck Finn, but it requires Adventures of Tom Sawyer to make sense.

One final question.  I'm a bit confused about the length of Finn's journey.  I assume it was at least three months, because at the end it's revealed that Watson has died two months prior (thus Jim's freedom).

Thanks in advance for any insights.  I really loved this book.
-Andrew



On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 6:33 PM, Jan Reed <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I found the disconnect in the ending of the novel troublesome until a 
> stude=3D nt pointed out the symmetry of the two "shacks." The first 
> shack was occupi=3D ed by Huck, imprisoned by his father, his life 
> threatened.  He was locked i=3D n and had to escape in a way the 
> romantic Tom would approve.  The second wa=3D s occupied by Jim.  He 
> was given care; he was "safe"; he was more imprisone=3D d because of 
> having the mindset of a slave than by the shack itself.  Tom h=3D ad 
> to make his escape more exciting.  The two shacks seem almost like 
> Alice=3D 's rabbit holes, the adventures between the two take on 
> almost a fantasti=
c
> =3D
> characteristic when seen this way. =3D20
>
> jan reed
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Mark Twain Forum [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Andrew Dickson 
> [meta=3D [log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2012 2:10 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: The ending of Huckleberry Finn
>
> Hello all,
> New reader of Twain here.
>
> Immediately after Huck gets to the cabin, it does seem that Twain lets 
> comic relief take over.  Immediately before, the novel deals with a 
> colossal amount of dread, and it's sudden change of pace does throw 
> you off.  Additionally, most of the ending plot is driven by Sawyer's 
> mischie=
f,
> and really draws out what could have been an easy escape, as Huck put it.
> Most of the novel feels very profound and filled with freedom and 
> life, b=
ut
> the ending chapters seem to exist in an entirely separate realm.  They 
> ke=
ep
> the light-heartedness and humor of the book, but none of it's 
> transcenden=
t
> purpose.  There's no urgency.  Hemingway advises the reader to stop 
> after Huck gets to the cabin, and this is very hard to do on trust 
> alone, for t=
he
> book is so compelling, but after reading the ending chapters, you 
> understand what he was talking about.
>
> It does seem to make more sense that the book is named *Adventures of 
> Huc=
k
> Finn*, for it seems as if the adventures themselves were cut short.  
> If J=
im
> hadn't been sold by the King and the Duke, they likely would've 
> continued down the river.  Thoughts?
> -Andrew=3D
>

=20

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