In AIS we are reading a book called the Kentucky Cycle. And in this book the similarities between JT Wells and the King and Duke from Huck Finn are very close. All three characters trick and swindle people out of money and then run off. I think that is the biggest similarity. However, unlike the King and Duke, JT Wells had a sudden rush of conscience and told Mary Anne that he had tricked them (the Rowen family).
In the Kentucky Cycle and Huck Finn JT, the King, and the Duke tell people stories that they want to hear. Like JT said to Mary Anne, "I say what people want me to say and I am whatever they want me to be" (166).
JT got so wrapped up in his role that he turned on his own people. Just like how Michael wanted money and land so much that he killed his companion, Sam, without a second thought.
I feel like this "every amn for himself" attitude hasn't gone away since the 1700s and 1800s. Today many people hurt others to get to the top or to obtain something. That is like how the housing crisis statred because banks wanted more money, and they let people take out mortgages when they wouldn't beable to keep-up payments later. The banks were thinking short-term and wanted instant gratification, but by doing that they made many people homeless, maybe like the movie we watched yesterday about Detroit.
In Spanish this year we've been learning about a style of Literature called "realismo magico"(magical realism) that is particular to Latin American countries, and I think the South has its own literary trademark of tricky conniving swindlers like the the King and the Duke, and JT Wells. I know of a short story that some AP English classes read called Good Country People that takes place in the South, in which a seemingly innocent boy pulls one over on an unassuming girl, but instead of swindling her for her money, he takes her prosthetic leg. When we read Tall Tales on Friday, I was reminded of this twisted story of trickery, but unlike the man in Good Country People and the King and the Duke, JT Wells had the heart to let Mary Anne in on his mischievous plot and call the whole thing off.
ReplyDeleteLove that you used a direct quote from the text, Livvie. Another quote from Huck Finn could makes this even stronger!
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