...from a pragmatic p.o.v., Jim should have killed Huck on Jackson Island - considering that he was 'dead' already - availed himself of Huck's gun & provisions, and made off. He didn't. I am fully with Kevin on this one. best, w On Thu, 23 Mar 2023 19:25:34 +0000 <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >Heretical Fictions is an excellent book, but I think anyone trying to >make the case that Jim was motivated by self-interest not to tell Huck >about his father's death, must also make the case that Jim didn't >think he was smart enough to escape slavery without a white child's >help. I think that questioning Jim's motives is an insult to Jim's >character; he has more integrity than most of the white characters in >the story. Would Jim--the paternal figure who delivers that eloquent >sermonette on friendship--treat the now wholly orphaned Huck that way? > >I would suggest that anyone who has read Huck Finn or Life on the >Mississippi also read Thomas Buchanan's Black Life on the Mississippi >(2004) for some surprising insights (and even as a counterpoint) into, >well, black life on the Mississippi. > >Kevin >@ >Mac Donnell Rare Books >9307 Glenlake Drive >Austin TX 78730 >512-345-4139 > >You can browse our books at: >www.macdonnellrarebooks.com > > >------ Original Message ------ >From: "Scott Holmes" <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Sent: 3/23/2023 12:37:07 PM >Subject: Why Jim didn't tell Huck about Pap > >>Still reading notes from "Heretical Fictions", I note the idea that >Jim did not tell Huck about the dead body being Pap as because Jim did >not want Huck to abandon him in his quest to escape slavery. I had >always had the impression that his motivation was to avoid telling >Huck the "bad" news. Thinking about it, now, I suppose I have been a >bit naive. >> >>-- /Unaffiliated Geographer and Twain aficionado/ Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hochbruck Dept. of English / Centre for Security and Society Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg Rempart St. 15 D-79098 Freiburg Germany