Mark Twain

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Jim Devine wrote:
>On the other hand, "Huck Finn" ethics comes from below, from within the
>human psyche (though it might be formalized so that people can deal with
>differences of interpretation, etc.)  It's based in the inherent human
>possibility of being empathic, caring, benefiting from helping others, etc.
>It's the morality that actually allows us to be more complete human beings
>(self-actualizing) rather than telling us what to do all the time. It's a
>kind of morality that capitalism discourages.

I think that what is annoying to black American readers of the novel is
this assumption that Jim (as well as real-life black persons) mainly exists
for Huck's (and by extension all white persons') "self-actualization."

Yoshie