Fallacy

Blog Post #1 - Allison (pg. 1-150)

“I learnt that the best way to get along with his kind of people is to let them have their own way” (141).

• This statement is proven false stating that people get along if they have their own way, but they need the guidance and support of others to advise them in the right direction. For example, Jim and Huck need to trust and guide each other through a bonding friendship to survive and venture out for freedom.

“The world may go on just as it’s always done, and take everything from me -- loved ones, property, everything.” (137)

• This statement is proven false because their is always hope and second chances. Even though Jim has lost his family, ran away from slavery and has no shelter, he has developed an unforgettable friendship with Huck who helped him. Huck became a huge supporter throughout their adventure and boosted his self esteem by hopefully reaching their goal to seek liberty.

Blog Post #2 - Allison (150-200)

“The average man’s a coward” (163).

• In modern day society, a student can be called a coward if they’re too timid to raise their hand to go to the bathroom. But in the Huck Finn situation, this statement it proven false. Lol seriously though, I don’t think there would be a bathroom close by if they were on a raft...Anyways, back to the fallacy: During the Huck adventure, Huck and a mob of people swarm Sherburn’s house, where the drunk aka Sherburn delivers a speech on human nature and people stating that an “average man” is a “coward” (164). Where’s the evidence behind this? This is totally bogus just check out Huck and Jim, they show bravery and independence by sailing on a raft on the Mississippi river to be free from all their problems with no guardians to protect them. Find the cowardness in that!

“The average man don’t like trouble or danger” (164).

• The point of life is to live it to the fullest which is by making mistakes and learning from them, right? Well, if you agree than you would think the statement above is false. Remember the Sherburn conflict and the whole mob situation, well this is a quote from the human nature speech. Anyways, life is all about taking risks and getting hyped about every situation, for example skydiving, it may seem scary and people would tend to second guess like: What if my parachute breaks or what if I plummet to my death? Scratch that idea out and look beyond the situation. Let's bring back Huck, this boy knew the trouble and danger of faking his death and going off on an adventure with a slave and for this instant, showing up with the crowd of people in front of Sherburn’s home where a shooting just took place. He put himself out there and he’s still alive. Take that risk and make life fun!

Blog Post #3 - Shei (pg. 200-250)

Fallacy:

“The thing made a big stir in the town...” (204).

• When the king sells the girls’ property, he makes no accommodations for the slave family and separates them without displaying any signs of hesitancy. Twain describes the aftermath of the decision to be a “big stir in the town” (204), in order to make the readers feel sympathy for the slaves. However, this is indeed a fallacy because in real life, the separation would not have been so shocking. This is not an okay concept, yet it was a common fear and reality amongst all slaves in early America. Twain makes the decision appear as heartbreaking and shocking. While it is most definitely heartbreaking, it was not a shock because masters would handle their slaves as if they were worth nothing more than property.

Blog Post #4 - Christine (pg. 250-300)

“..he allowed we was white folks and knowed better than him” (277)

• I have got SO much to say on this quote. Let’s just state this now: Jim is a poor, black man; Huck and Tom are young, white boys. Okay now that’s out of the way. The misconception and stereotyping that people of color are not as intelligent as whites is such bull (pardon my French). Sure, in this instance Huck and Tom might know what they’re doing more than Jim does, but that does not allow anyone to make the generalization that a whole race is smarter than another race based on one instance. This preconceived notion, this fallacy, limits others from understanding the wide variety of intelligence upon ALL races.

Blog Post #5 - Gaby (pg. 300-350)

“They hain't no right to shut him up! Shove!—and don't you lose a minute. Turn him loose! he ain't no slave; he's as free as any cretur that walks this earth!”

• Although Tom is correct in that Jim was a free man, slave codes were extremely strict. Despite the fact that Jim was declared a freeman, in reality a slave who was free would most likely be recaptured by another white man. Due to the fact that slaves had citizenship or the right to sue, there was no regulation on slaves’s rights. This is a fallacy because in the real world back in the 1800s, the chances of Jim living as emancipated with a job and shelter were extremely rare. In the eyes of society, all blacks deserved to be slaves; even in the Northern states an immense amount of racial discrimination took place in paying blacks the same amount of whites within factories and jobs. Without a doubt, Tom was right to say Jim deserves to be free, but the chances of that enduring peacefully for the rest of his existence was unlikely.