Chapter+29

Liz, Meghan, Bobby

summary The dauphin refuses to give up and claims that the duke is playing a joke on everyone by disguising his handwriting. So because the real William is the writer for the real Harvey and cant write because of his broken arm no one can prove who the real Wilkses are. So the real Harvey says he knows that theres a tattoo on his brothers chest, pretty much asking the guy who dressed the body to back him up. But after the dauphin and Harvey each offer a different version of the tattoo’s appearance, the undertaker surprises everyone by telling the crowd he saw no tattoo. The mob wants them dead but the lawyer sends them out the examine the body and check for the tattoo themselves. The ob gets very angry when they find $6,000 in gold in the coffin. In all the excitement and uproar Huck escapes. Going by the Wilks house, he notices a light in the upstairs window and thinks of Mary Jane. He steals a canoe and goes to the raft. Him and Jim are off once again. He starts dancing with joy only to find that the king and the duke are after them.

Analysis

This chapter had many motifs and symbols that Mark Twain added to help the readers understand. There were many little events in this chapter like when Harvey’s mute brother broke his arm and couldn’t use sign language.

One important event in this chapter was when Doctor Robinson declared the duke and the dauphin to be frauds and had the crowd bring the real and the fraudulent Wilks brothers to a tavern for examination. The frauds drew suspicion when they failed to make the $6,000 from the Wilks inheritance.

Another event we found important to the plot was when a lawyer friend of the deceased asks the duke, the dauphin, and the real Harvey to sign a piece of paper. When the lawyer compares the writing samples to letters he has from the real Harvey, the frauds are exposed. The dauphin, however, refuses to give up and claims that the duke is playing a joke on everyone by disguising his handwriting. “...and here’s this old gentleman’s handwriting, and anybody can tell, easy enough, he didn’t write them. Fact is, the scratches he makes ain’t properly writing, at all. Now here’s some letter from you.” (page 151, Twain). This quote explains how the judge found out that the duke and dauphin were lying when they said that they wrote the letter. I think twain did this so that people in the novel could really know the real identities of the duke and dauphin.

Another event happened was right after all the excitement of the frauds and letters. Huck was able to run away from everyone with Jim. They stole a canoe but later ran into the duke and dauphin because they were running away as well. “So in two seconds, away we went, a sliding down the river, and it did seem so good to be free again and all by ourselves on the big river and nobody to bother us.” (Page 155, Twain). In this part of the chapter, Twain lets the readers know how much Huck really cares for Jim now and that he’s happy too see him. Huck starts looking past all the racism and slavery and takes Jim seriously.

These events were important because they change the readers thoughts about characters and events like Huck and the runaway with Jim and the fraud of the duke.

Extras:  There are quite a few small examples of metaphors, for example, Huck thinking that the duke was showing any sign of being suspicious, but was happy like a “jug that’s googling out butter milk”. However, I’d say none of these are important like the major theme, which seems to be, in this chapter, the corruptness of adults. Huck, though he and Jim don’t necessarily want the “duke and dauphin” around, can’t shake them, because they hold more power, being white, male adults. So, all the while that it’s rather evident to us that these two are con artists, Huck, who knows that something is amiss doesn’t really take much notice, or rather he doesn’t seem to give much care to their actions. The actions of the duke, and dauphin in this chapter are even more symbolic of adult corruptness, because they are trying to steal money from two brothers, one of which can’t hear, and has lost an arm, and their elder brother has died. It also seems to be symbolic for corrupting youth, because they try to get Huck to play into their lies. In the end, however, Huck steals the money back from them, and tells the eldest of the Wilks’ sisters about it. This seems to show a lot of trust from Huck, because, in this time, women weren’t often given a thought over, yet, Huck really seems to admire them. An example of satire would be the fact that, again, being white adult males, people in this time period would have trusted the duke and dauphin more than any of the other characters in this chapter, but they should be the least trusted. The women, slave, and child are the ones that actually work to have the truth exposed, as if Twain is trying to show us just how wrong the white, male mindset was.