Huck’s “Conscience”

1. Huck’s “Conscience” In Chapter 16, Huck faces what to him is a very powerful dilemma – whether to turn Jim in or continue to help him seek freedom. This dilemma seems to be between what Huck repeatedly refers to as his “conscience” and some other, unnamed desire he feels to help Jim. In the end, one of his on-the-spot lies ends up saving Jim from a band of slave-catchers, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Huck feels good about what he’s done. Look carefully at this scene (110-113); what is ironic about Huck’s statements and his predicament? After you’ve explained what is ironic about Huck’s predicament, answer this question: What do these ironic statements reveal to us about Huck, his “conscience,” and the society that formed it?

2. Blackface and Minstrel Shows A 19th Century American Theatre Tradition

3. What is a Minstrel Show? • The Minstrel Show presents us with a strange and awful phenomenon. In the US they began in the 1830s, with working class white men dressing up as plantation slaves. These men imitated black musical and dance forms, combining savage parody of black Americans with genuine fondness for African American cultural forms. By the Civil War the minstrel show had become world famous and respectable. Late in his life Mark Twain fondly remembered the "old time nigger show" with its colorful comic darkies and its rousing songs and dances.

4. Blackface • White performers would blacken their faces with burnt cork or greasepaint, dress in outlandish costumes, and then perform songs and skits that mocked African Americans as lazy, buffoonish, dumb, superstitious and musical. Some of the most famous songs in American history--Dixie, Camptown Races, Oh Sussanah, My Old Kentucky Home--began as minstrel songs.

5. Caricatures • These three stock characters were among several that reappeared in minstrel shows throughout the nineteenth century. "Jim Crow" was the stereotypical carefree slave, "Mr. Tambo" a joyous musician, and "Zip Coon" a free black attempting to "put on airs" or rise above his station. The parody in minstrel shows was often savage.

6. “Jim Crow”

7. A Blackface “Routine” • Dog-gone it, seems like every time there's a [train] excursion, I'm always broke. • You wouldn't be broke if you'd go to work. • I would work, if I could find any pleasure in it. • I don't know anything about pleasure, but always remember it's the early bird that catches the worm! • Uh, the early bird catches what worm? • Why, any worm! • Well, what of it, what about it? • He catches it, that's all! • Well, what's the worm's idea in being there? • (They go on and on with this as Moran gets ever more exasperated, and Mack finally sighs): • Who wants a worm, anyhow?

8. The Legacy of Blackface • old “Looney Tunes” cartoons • Buckwheat (The Little Rascals) • Amos ‘n Andy • Disney’s Song of the South • Aunt Jemima • Uncle Ben’s Rice • modern-day sketch comedy • Spike Lee’s Bamboozled (This film accuses black entertainment of exploiting African-American culture for the benefit of white audiences.)

18. Making Sense of Jim’s Portrayal (#itscomplicated) • Does there seem to be a minstrel show influence in Jim and Huck’s dialogue? • What effect do the illustrations have on the story? • What have many readers found offensive about Jim? • What defense of Jim (and Twain) might we offer?