Model Thesis
In this passage where Huck decides to sacrifice everything, even his soul, to save Jim from slavery, Twain creates the ultimate irony of his novel: as Huck becomes more and more convinced of his depravity, the reader becomes more and more convinced of his moral superiority to the rest of the characters in the novel. Twain’s use of irony, diction, and syntax reveals Huck as eloquent and principled, kind and compassionate, in sharp contrast to the hypocritical and corrupt role models he sees on the shores of the Mississippi.
Model Paragraph
The turning point in the passage occurs as Huck attempts to harden himself against Jim and prepare himself to do what he believes is right and Christian. As he lapses into a long interior monologue, Twain shows us the powerful and compassionate force Jim has had on Huck through Huck’s syntax.
I’d see him standing my watch on top of his’n, ‘stead of calling me, so I could go on sleeping; and see him how glad he was when I come back out of the fog; and when I come to him again in the swamp, up there where the feud was; and such-like times; and would always call me honey, and . . . said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in this world, and the only one he’s got now; and then I happened to look around and see that paper.
This incredibly long, loose sentence literally shows how much Jim has influenced Huck just because the list is so long. Time after time, Jim has been the only kind, dependable, and honest person in the novel. In sharp contrast to those “sivilized” folk attempting to beat righteousness into Huck, Jim has inspired goodness in Huck through his own considerate and selfless actions. Huck vainly looks for anything that could give him an excuse to hurt Jim, but all he can think of is one gracious deed after another, and then Huck sees “that paper;” that letter written to the Widow Douglass that is supposedly so good and pure, but in reality sits there glaring Huck in the face and daring him to do it, to tear it up. How could the letter stand a chance, compared to all those good deeds? Huck tears it up and decides he will risk “hell” in order to do what he knows in his heart is right.
The irony here is clear . . .