Wow, a lot of events happened within these chapters. Huck's involvement with a feud between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons (which I thought was really entertaining). The lost and found Jim. Two new characters: the duke and the king. But in these chapters, I paid close attention to Huck's sadly useful skill: lying.
As I was reading, I was thinking, "Wow, this kid is a pathological liar!" He just lies; that's what he's really good at. He got away with it several times, including the time when he pretended to be a girl to Mrs. Judith Loftus. Yes, he did get caught for disguising himself as a girl, but even then, he created another lie as to not get caught. Genius! But so wrong! He also lied when he was staying with the Grangerfords. In these chapters though, his lie actually protected someone: Jim. When he explained to the "duke" and the "king" that Jim was not a "runaway," it seemed very convincing. In that situation, Huck did right to save his friend. During this time, if Jim would be caught, he would be sent back to slavery, and he didn't want that. Huck knew it; he know how Jim felt. Although still quite young, Huck is able to understand Jim's situation. Like I mentioned before, they look out for each other.
I loved your comment about how his lying was super clever but also wrong. While I was reading this passage I kept thinking to myself how much of a con artist he was and also how clever he was. I can remember being his age and telling a few lies to my parents, but I cannot remember ever not getting caught. Somehow they always knew if something wasn't right. I guess that just resinates more of how depressing it was the Huck had no "proper" father figure. He had Pap but not only does he abuse Huck and make him quit school but he also dies. It doesn't seem like Huck ever really "gets punished." He runs into difficult situations but he never really has to pay for his lies--he can usually escape them stealthily.
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