Topic+MH


 * Topic: Education**

Chapter V: p.21-23

“…You're educated, too, they say -- can read and write. You think you're better'n your father, now, don't you, because he can't? I'LL take it out of you. Who told you you might meddle with such hifalut'n foolishness, hey? -- who told you you could?" "The widow. She told me." "The widow, hey? -- and who told the widow she could put in her shovel about a thing that ain't none of her business?" "Nobody never told her." "Well, I'll learn her how to meddle. And looky here -- you drop that school, you hear? I'll learn people to bring up a boy to put on airs over his own father and let on to be better'n what HE is. You lemme catch you fooling around that school again, you hear? Your mother couldn't read, and she couldn't write, nuther, before she died. None of the family couldn't before THEY died. I can't; and here you're a-swelling yourself up like this. I ain't the man to stand it -- you hear? Say, lemme hear you read." I took up a book and begun something about Gen- eral Washington and the wars. When I'd read about a half a minute, he fetched the book a whack with his hand and knocked it across the house. He says: "It's so. You can do it. I had my doubts when you told me. Now looky here; you stop that putting on frills. I won't have it. I'll lay for you, my smarty; and if I catch you about that school I'll tan you good. First you know you'll get religion, too. I never see such a son. He took up a little blue and yaller picture of some cows and a boy, and says: "What's this?" "It's something they give me for learning my lessons good." He tore it up, and says: "I'll give you something better -- I'll give you a cowhide.” “…when I reckoned he was gone he come back and put his head in again, and told me to mind about that school, because he was going to lay for me and lick me if I didn't drop that."



Throughout the novel you see many references to the education and hypocrisy of it all. Many times Tom refers to school as being boring, because he wants to go out on adventures as well as Huck. Huck is one of those boy’s who doesn’t want to become “civilized”. They keep trying to run away from it all but like here when he goes back with his father it almost seems like he would like to go back to that world of go to school and being a gentleman. To those who want to civilize Huck, like the Widow Douglas, education I viewed as a precious item that is required in society. On the other hand when Huck is back with his father it seems as if he wants to go back. His father starts out negatively speaking about education and doesn’t seem to care much of it. Education here to his father is viewed as almost next to nothing, if not nothing. Back then many who were on the outskirts of a united society felt that education was not needed to survive, all that was needed was a pair of working hands is what most said. Pap, Huck’s father, said that he could raise Huck fine without education. But looking into it he wasn’t a great person himself because immediately after he was asking for money. And the next day he was found drunk. So as it is seen, education didn’t play a predominant role in the outskirts of society.
 * __Analysis__**

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