Quote 3
It
was a close place. I took . . . up [the letter I’d written to Miss
Watson], and held it in my hand. I was a-trembling, because I’d
got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it. I studied
a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself: “All
right then, I’ll go to hell”—and tore it up. It was awful thoughts
and awful words, but they was said. And I let them stay said; and
never thought no more about reforming.
These lines from Chapter 31 describe
the moral climax of the novel. The duke and the dauphin have sold
Jim, who is being held in the Phelpses’ shed pending his return
to his rightful owner. Thinking that life at home in St. Petersburg—even
if it means Jim will still be a slave and Huck will be a captive
of the Widow— would be better than his current state of peril far
from home, Huck composes a letter to Miss Watson, telling her where
Jim is. When Huck thinks of his friendship with Jim, however, and
realizes that Jim will be sold down the river anyway, he decides
to tear up the letter. The logical consequences of Huck’s action,
rather than the lessons society has taught him, drive Huck. He decides
that going to “hell,” if it means following his gut and not society’s
hypocritical and cruel principles, is a better option than going
to everyone else’s heaven. This moment of decision represents Huck’s
true break with the world around him. At this point, Huck decides
to help Jim escape slavery once and for all. Huck also realizes
that he does not want to reenter the “sivilized” world: after all
his experiences and moral development on the river, he wants to
move on to the freedom of the West instead.
