Chapters 7 and 8
Chapter 7:
In chapter 7,Huck's father wakes up and doesn't remember anything about the night before. He send Huck out to collect food from the fish traps they have set. When he goes out to the river, he finds an old canoe that he plans to use to escape. He hides it in the woods, and when his father is gone, finishes cutting his hole out of the cabin. He take all his necessities and fills the canoe up, ready to drift away. Huck then makes a scene at his cabin to make it seem like Huck got killed. He knocked down the cabin door, killed a pig, and dripped its blood on the floor. He then goes out into his canoe to wait until it gets dark to sail away. He drifts off, and lands on Jackson's Island.
Chapter 8:
In this chapter, Huck is living on the island when he sees a boat with all this family and friends on it-his father, Judge Thatcher, the Widow, Tom Sawyer, and his other friends talking about his murder. They search for his corpse with no luck. On Jackson's island, Huck is living off fish he catches and berries he picks, and when exploring for more food, finds Jim, the Widow's old servant. Jim thinks Huck is a ghost at first, since he is believed to be dead. He explains how the Widow was planning to sell him to a family that would serparate him from his own family, and he runs away before the sale is made. Huck and Jim also talk about all the future Jim had told people he could tell and the magic he could make happen, finally admitting it was all fake.
Discussion Questions
How does Huck escape the cabin? What does this tell us about Huck?
When Huck's father was away, he found an old saw with no handle and started to cut a hole in the cabin. Little by little, Huck made a hole big enough for him to fit through. He got out, killed a pig and spread its blood on the floor, making it look like Huck's blood. He also knocked to front door down to make it look like robbers busted in. He goes to the canoe he stowed away earlier and drifts away. This scenario tells us how smart Huck is to have thought up the whole plan, and how his creativity and imagination helped him set the scene for his own murder.
Why did Jim run away?
Jim ran away from the Widow because he didn't want to move to New Orleans. The Widow was negotiating with a slave trader to sell Jim for money. The slave trader would have taken Jim to his home in New Orleans. Jim didn't want to go since he didn't want to be that far away from his own family. Jim decided ran away before the Widow could get the chance to seal the deal with the slave trader.
Why does Huck stage his own murder rather than simply running away? What repercussions could this choice have on those who care about him?
Huck stages his own murder instead of running away so people won't go looking for him. If he simply ran away, his father would be upset and search for him, where if he were dead, he could escape safely with no one looking for him. His actions could hurt those who truly care about him by giving them the false grief of losing Huck. Thinking that he's dead confirms the fact that he's no longer here. If he ran away, he could potentially still be alive and okay.
Reflections:
It's surprising how smart Huck was to think of his escape plan. I don't think I would've ever thought it all through enough to successfully stage my death. I also don't think I would mentally be strong enough to live with knowing I told everyone I care about that I was dead. It would cause so much grief for them, and the fact that it wouldn't even be true is just something hard to deal with mentally.