Journal entry# 14 Mark Twain

Siu Faat Jimmy Wong
English 48b
January 25, 2008
Professor Lankford

Quote:

"All right, then, I’ll go to hell”---and tore it up.

Summary:

It is a quote also found in the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. It is said by Huckleberry Finn when he wanted to send a letter to Miss Watson and told her the location of her slave, Jim.

Response:

At first, Huck wants to inform Miss Watson about the location of Jim in order to let Miss Watson to protect Jim or save Jim. When Huck is writing this letter, he thinks about the happy moments between Jim and him. On one hand, he wants Miss Watson to help his good friend. On the other hand, he sadly understands that after Miss Watson finds Jim, she will punish him. Also, if he frees Jim, he would go to hell. Therefore, Huck put himself into a very hard situation. He struggled between right and wrong. He knew that once he sent Miss Watson a letter, she could come to find Jim and save Jim. If I was him, I would definitely be mad. At last, Huck chose to tear up the letter because it would be better for Jim. He understood that it was wrong to free a slave and he claimed that he was ready to go to hell. From this quote, I can see their deep friendship and I also appreciate that Jim has such a good friend like Huck.

After reading this part about Jim and Huck, there is suddenly something coming out in my mind. Decades ago, friendship was more real and was placed in a more important position in people’s lives. However, in this century, I think that people are getting more self-centered. Relationships between friends are getting looser. I admit that people in today’s world have to deal with much more things than the people in 70s or 80s. However, I think that it is not an excuse to overlook friendship.