Wednesday, February 9, 2011

In Huck Finn, I think that the setting could be considered another character because he gives so much detail about everything. When they were going down the river, he gives a lot of detail about everything around. For example, he says "then here comes the ferryboat; so I shoved for the middle of the river on a long down-stream slant; and when I judged I was out of eye-reach I laid on my oars, and looked back and see her go smell around the wreck for Miss Hooker's remainders, because the captain would know her uncle Hornback would want them; and then pretty soon the ferryboat give it up and went for the shore, and I laid into my work and went a-booming down the river" (75). Mark Twain really got into detail in that talking about everything around him and saying he shoved in the middle of the river instead of just saying the river. Another example would be when he says "the lightning showed her very distinct. She was leaning over, with part of her upper deck above water, and you could see every little chimbly-guy clean and clear, and a chair by the big bell, with an old slouch hat hanging on the back of it, when the flashes come" (66). He doesn't just say that she's standing in the water, he actually goes into detail about how she looks. He also explains how you could see the guy clean and clear and when he says you could see a chair by a big bell, you can actually imagine what it looks like.

2 comments:

  1. I agree also, the way Twain describes how Huck Finn reacts to the ferryboat passing is remarkable. The setting is a very big deal in this book because of how developed it is. Throughout the whole book, you see a constant changing image in your head.

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  2. @ kathyvanzeeland2- You are so close! You've gotten off to a decent start, but you don't really explain how the setting could be considered a character in the book. You have great quotes that would have been perfect, and I think you saw why they were perfect. Unfortunately, you didn't explain why they were perfect. He is referring to the boat as a "she," which gives the sense of the boat being humanlike,etc. Take it all the way!
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