Down But Not Out: Hope and Morality in Huckleberry Finn's "Disappointing" Finale
Leo Marx in "Mr. Eliot, Mr. Trilling, and Huckleberry Finn," addresses T.S. Eliot and Lionel Trilling's "unqualified praise" (Marx 7) of Clemens' signature novel. Marx finds that the critics fail to recognize the novel's flaws, though Marx himself admits he likes most of the story - he admires Huck's maturation during his time on the raft. Marx argues that the final episode which "comprises almost one-fifth of the text" (8) makes Huck's journey irrelevant and causes readers to question the purpose of the journey. He calls the ending a farce, revealing it is propped up by improbable circumstances, such as the "flimsy contrivance with which Clemens frees Jim" (9), the "tedious" (10) burlesque used by Huck and Tom and Clemens' inability to "control the central theme" (13) of freedom. Such events divest Huck and Jim of their "dignity and individuality," (12) leaving them hollow comic characters, while Tom Sawyer steals the show. Marx continues his attack on Trilling and Eliot, saying that their emphasis on form is superficial and obsequious - they should really be concerned with social or political morality. Marx finishes by advocating critics do not "minimize the seriousness" of the novel's "major flaw" or else "repeat Clemens' failure of nerve" (19). The goal of the critic, according to Marx is to look past form and unity but instead focus on the deeper issues that are present - or lacking - within a novel.
After reading Marx's argument, some readers may be tempted to rip out the last few chapters of Huckleberry Finn. While they can do so, dismissing the final episodes of Huckleberry Finn does a disservice to the novel, because the ending - though unpopular - adds texture to the work. Although Marx argues that the ending "jeopardizes the significance of the entire novel," (8) it illustrates profound moral lessons through Huck's character superiority and Jim's triumph over white racism while continuing the quest for freedom.
Marx argues that the "disintegration of the major characters" (14), especially Huck Finn, contributes to the ending's failure. Unlike the boy who blends "his instinctive suspicion of human motives with his capacity for pity" (11) earlier in the novel, the Huck Finn at the Phelps' ranch is a mere "comic character" (11), one who "regresses to the subordinate role in which he had first appeared in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," (12) according to Marx. But contrary to Marx's essay, the novel's ending illustrates that Huck is no mere side character, but this former country-bumpkin, is morally superior to the "respectable and well brung up" (Twain 247) Tom Sawyer. Unlike Tom, who wants to free Jim for fun, Huck participates in Tom's "extravagant fantasies" (15), because he vows to do anything to free Jim, even endanger his soul -"I'll go to hell," (Twain 228) he tells himself earlier. Huck's lack of judgment is not failing to see through Tom's schemes, but by telling Tom his plan in the first place. But such a lapse is understandable - Huck thinks Tom will be a willing ally and does not realize Tom is keeping the secret of Jim's freedom. Readers see that Huck has doubts immediately about the plan and is certainly not in "awe-struck submission" (Marx 15) to Tom's machinations. "There ain't no necessity for it," (253) "Confound it, it's foolish, Tom," and "Jim don't know nobody in China" (257) are among Huck's objections to the escape plans which Marx calls "too fanciful, too extravagant and . . . tedious" (10). Such objections reveal that Huck does not fall "under [Tom's] sway once more" (12). Unlike Tom, Huck realizes that the whole plan has been a mistake when the farmers show up:
I did wish Aunt Sally would come, and get done with me . . . and let me get away and tell Tom how we'd overdone this thing, and what a thundering hornet's nest we'd got ourselves into, so we could stop fooling around, straight off, and clear out with Jim before these rips got out of patience and come for us (286).
These are not the feelings of a comic character. Huck fears for himself and the others, concerned that someone might get hurt. He knows that "human beings can be awfully cruel to one another" (245) and does not want to witness a repeat of the Shepherdsons and Grangerfords. Here is Huck's "instinctive humanity" (9) and the "mature emotions" (11) that Marx swears do not exist in the ending. Tom Sawyer does not share these emotions. He writes threatening letters to the Phelps - his adopted relatives - while reducing "Jim's capture for the occasion of a game" (12). When Huck sees the plan was a mistake, readers can see that his "knowledge of human nature and of himself" (11) is still intact, even in the face of Tom Sawyer's antics. By the time the novel ends, Huck is tired of the games. When he leaves for his next adventure, he does not invite Tom to come with him.
Like Huck, Marx believes that Jim's character is reduced at the end of the novel to a mere shadow of himself Locked away in the shed, Marx says Jim "ceases to be a man," instead becoming the "victim of a practical joke" and a "creature who bleeds ink and feels no pain" (12). But while Jim's role diminishes, the quality of his character does not. Twain's ending ultimately allows Jim to rise above "flat stereotype[s]" (12) and proves he, too, deserves respect from society. Marx claims that Jim "doesn't mind too much" (12) that Tom Sawyer imposes unusual cruelties upon him, but in reality Jim sets standards for his would-be jail breakers. Jim insists that he will only "tackle mos' anything 'at ain't onreasonable" (276) and asserts himself by objecting to Tom's rattlesnake suggestion. Finding fault with Tom's other plans, Jim drives him to frustration. While Jim capitulates to Tom, he is not a "submissive stage-Negro" (12) but the crafty man who uses a hairball to get money from Huck. Desperate for freedom, Jim knows it would be foolish to drive Tom - his potential rescuer - away. Ironically while talking about the reduction of Jim's character, Marx does so himself by failing to discuss Jim's signature moment - risking his freedom to save Tom. Jim's actions defy his white captors, who assume Jim is the submissive creature Marx writes about. Yet instead they explain that Jim is "worth a thousand dollars - and kind treatment" (300) and they actually "liked the nigger" (300) for his actions. Jim has not been divested of "much of his dignity and individuality" (12) as Marx argues, but instead rises to a point where few slaves reach - grudging respect from racist whites.
Marx views the novel's last lines as a "concession of defeat" (19), suggesting the quest for freedom has been abandoned. Yet Huck's decision to run west suggests a continued desire for freedom, not the reverse. To use Marx's argument of geography, Huck is no longer confined by the raft which "lacks power and maneuverability" (18) - he can now turn west, the last region untouched by civilization. While "the raft patently was not capable of carrying the burden of hope Clemens placed upon it," (18) Huck is. He brings west a profound "knowledge of human nature and of himself," (11) that will prevent anyone from "sivilizing" him in the ways of racism and mob mentality. Watching Jim, whom he treated like a father-figure, get abused by Tom and other whites, it is no wonder Huck does not want to stay with the Phelps' - "I been there before" (307) he says. Huck is much like Twain, buoyed by a courageous "optimism undaunted by disheartening truth" - he understands he cannot forever evade the "inescapable advance of civilization" (19), but as a young adolescent boy with his life ahead of him, Huck is willing to try. Huck "can't stand" the idea of being locked down once more and so dares to move "ahead of the rest" (307) into the unknown - to freedom. While Marx argues that this pure state of freedom is merely an "ecstatic dream" (14), it is the pursuit of that dream that matters - Huck and Jim never achieved total freedom on the raft - but the hope of freedom was all they needed to keep going. By continuing westward, Huck's move rings of "unclouded success" (19) rather than "defeat in the guise of victory" (15). By the end of Huckleberry Finn, readers see the quest continues.
The ending to Twain's Huckleberry Finn shall continue to be controversial - but the debate over the ending keeps the novel fresh and relevant. With each scholarly clash, readers come closer to finding deeper truths "about literature and about ourselves" (20). While Mark Twain may not have "acknowledged the truth his novel contained" as Marx argues, generations of readers and critics are certainly trying to.
Works Cited
Marx, Leo. "Mr. Eliot, Mr. Trilling, and Huckleberry Finn." Mark Twain's Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. 7-20.
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Penguin Books, 1985.
1,465 words, 6 pages
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