Mr Fears I'll not waste the forum's space or time ... but add only "hear here!" This Huck & Jim interchange has been lit by friction & hence illuminating & entertaining. I don't know how Jim or Huck or any other creation of Mr Clemen's pen created in a summer or two in Elmira could have any motive other than those directed by Clemens, their creator. When my wife (the better part of my life) is moved to tears by a film or television drama I sometimes remind her ... "it's a movie, dear" ... or ... "It's just TV." & the only real thing is the creation of able writers & gifted actors which have moved her to tears. In like manner ... any motivations ascribed to Huck or Jim or Leonidas or a slew of other folks begin & end in the mind of Mr Clemens ... or his readers & no where else. It seems a moot point. & Yes ... I have been a teacher, writer & storyteller for most of my career ... approximately 40 years. Good teachers are a source of hope. Poor teachers ... if not able or willing to be retaught ... might contemplate plumbing. Thank you C R Dunning PS ... there having been some small comment on Clemens' ...History of Joan of Arc on this Forum, I returned to the book. Clemens is correct. It is one of his best ... if not his best book ... filled with the acid & anger of his dark writings & running over over with the joy & pathos of the best of his children & the supporting cast of adults that filled the Mississippi books.