Under the “#willbeprosecuted” we have been finding a lot of themes that have a strong presence: superstition, nature, morality, and identity.
Identity
Things to watch out for, in terms of identity, is how Huckleberry’s identity changes, and what doesn’t changes, what aspects of the identity changes, how it changes in relation to his environment (rascal in the widow’s home, vigilante/hero on the river).
Morality
Strong examples of morality that arise in Huck Finn is in the beginning when Huck steals the candles from Miss Watson but decides leaves the money and when Huck decides to protect Jim from being captured. Huck in these instances is morally conflicted, and in his actions of questionable morality, he justifies it with an equally moral action. His moral stance is never made explicit, and the reader is left to infer for themselves.
Nature
There is noteworthy emphasis put on themes relating to nature. The river itself stands as the road to freedom. There are these vivid description of nature. This perhaps may suggest Huck’s free spirit and freedom itself as it is starkly contrasts to the negative descriptions of cities and towns and the bad nature of the people that inhabit them.
Superstition
There is a strong pattern of superstition that occurs in the theme. What is noteworthy is that Huck is strongly influenced by his belief in superstition (the snake bite as bad luck, throwing salt over shoulder, fortune tellingly etc) but that he “does not take stock” in religious figures.
-Neal, Won June, Andy.
I really like your guys insight on nature being a central theme. I never looked at the river the way you guys were able to analyze and then compare it to the dirty towns that sort of reflected the beings that lived in those areas. I also like the fact that you guys brought up the superstition one because, quite frankly, i’m surprised this one did not have it’s own hash tag since it comes up so often in the novel.