Huck finn chapters 21-32

In these chapters Jim’s smarts become stronger when we recall that he has been willing to forgive others throughout the novel, even though he is unable to forgive himself for one honest mistake. As we see in these chapters, Jim’s honesty and emotional openness have an effect on Huck. Having been brought up among racist white mindset, Huck is surprised to see that ties of familial love can be as strong among blacks as among whites. Although Huck’s development is still incomplete, he still qualifies his observations a bit, noting that it doesn’t seem natural for Jim to be so attached to his family, his mind is open and he clearly views Jim more as a human and less as a slave. These chapters mark several milestones in Huck’s development, as he acts on his conscience for the first time and takes concrete steps to the schemes of the duke and the dauphin. Although Huck has shown an increasing maturity as the novel has progressed, he has been tempted in taking sides or action that shows the ending result not being good. He has chosen not to challenge or expose the duke and the dauphin even though he has been aware from the start that they are frauds. Huck tells him that the sight makes him ashamed to be part of the human race. Though this strong statement is a step for Huck, he doesn't act on it until now. The first action Huck takes is his retrieval of the $6,000 in gold, which he places in Wilks’s coffin. Besides these signs of maturity Huck still has several lessons to learn and still struggles with the conflicting messages he receives from society and from his personal experiences. Even though Huck rightly takes the money from the con men, he does not give it to the Wilks sisters directly, and he still cannot bring himself to expose the con men to the Wilkses. Also, Huck seems not bothered when he hears that the dauphin’s plan to liquidate the Wilks’s property will require the separation of a slave woman from her children. Huck confesses to Mary Jane not because he is upset about the splitting of the slave family but because he feels bad that she is upset about it. Through Huck’s struggle with the issue, that the attitudes and assumptions that enable racism and slavery in the South are difficult to overcome. Although Huck has made great strides, he still struggles to make sense of the confusing world around him.