Why does Huck tear up the note to Miss Watson? What change does this mark within him?

There are two main reasons that Huck decides to tear up the note to Miss Watson. At first Huck wants to write the letter to Ms Watson because he is feeling bad and guilty about taking her slave Jim away from her and keeping him safe. In the letter Huck would explain everything to Ms Watson and if he had sent it on he wouldve gotten in big trouble by her and Ms Watson would not trust him anymore. Sending the letter to her could've also made Ms Watson want to sell Jim down river. The main reason that Huck tears up the note/letter to Ms Watson though is because in a way Huck has created a relationship with Jim and he would also feel guilty if he wrote all those things to Ms Watson. Not only would Huck get in trouble but so would Jim. At the end it just didn't seem like a good idea to Huck anymore. Tearing up the letter showed a side to Huck that has been developing throughout the novel. Huck is becoming more mature and he is understanding things better. He is understanding that choosing the easy to solving problems isn't always the best way in the end. This shows a side to Huck's character that is positive and continually growing.

How does Huck ruin the Duke and King’s plan? Why does he do it?

Huck ruins the Duke and King's plan in several ways. The first thing that Huck did to ruin their plan was by taking their money that they had hidden under their bed. After that people come in when Huck is trying to hide the money he then decides to place it near Peter Wilk's coffin. Unfortunately though before he has time to get the money back the coffin is buried and the money is lost. Because of everything that had happened Huck decided to speak to Mary Jane and explain to her everything that had happened to them (from meeting the Duck and King to speaker to her). Huck in a way ruins the Duke and King's plan because he cares for the men and he doesn't want anyone to get hurt.

At the end of Ch. 23 Jim tells a story about his daughter. What is significant in that story and what does it reveal about Jim?

The story is about Jim's ornery daughter who had scarlet fever for a few years. During that time things were difficult for her and she eventually became deaf. She was therefore not able to respond to others as easily and it was hard for her to understand certain things. This whole process made Jim very sad and one morning Huck wakes up and Jim was thinking about what had happened again and he explained everything to Huck. Jim was in tears and very sad and Huck must've felt sorry for him.

The most shocking part about the story is when Jim tried talking to her daughter and she did not respond and ignored him. She couldn't help it though. This shows a different side to Jim that we haven't seen much in the novel so far. Jim is more sensible to things than what we thought he was. This also shows the affection and care that he still has towards his family. Even though he is living a good life now some of his family still isn't and his emotions for them will never leave.

What do you make of the Duke and the King? Is it wise for Huck and Jim to go along with them?

I believe that the Duke and the King aren't good people at all and Huck and Jim shouldn't trust them at all. It isn't wise at all for Huck and Jim to go along with the Duke and the King. Huck and Jim are just being tricked by them. The Duke and the King want the 200$ and they are counting on Jim to get that. The Duke and the King are going South to Cairo and they decided to travel during the day at first, but then decided to travel at night, mainly so that they can tie up Jim and get their reward. Overall, the Duke and the King can't be trusted at all and it was a big mistake for both Huck and Jim to go with them. Jim may seriously get hurt and bad things could happen to the both of them very shortly.

In what ways are Buck and Huck similar?

First off their names is the first thing that jumps out to everyone as they are only different by one letter. Huck's and Buck's personality, general lifestyle and mind spirit is also quite similar. They are both two extremely adventurous individuals with a violent mind. They are attracted by doing dangerous things and getting involved into different adventures. Buck and Huck are also similar to one another because they have things in common such as that both of them are raised in a very nice household. But although they have all these nice things for them they rather be out in the wild. Huck and Buck are somewhat forced to live in a wealthy well behaved civilized society but its not what they want; for the both of them. They are different then the average person who lives in the same kind of life as them. They want an adventure and they want to explore.

How do the events in this chapter characterize raftsmen?

The first thing to notice about the raftsmen is that they are middle to lower class people. The upper class usually go on the bigger steam boats and not on the rafts. After that one of the steamboats completely ran into Huck's raft and didn't even stop at all to make sure everything was okay shows that the raftsmen aren't very "important". However the raftsmen are good and responsible people and they try and help others when needed. Huck doesn't like the people on the bigger steamboats and the upper class as much as the raftsmen. Huck likes how they live their life and how they have their own rules. Although the raftsmen are generally characterized lower than everyone else that doesn't mean they are bad people at all.

Why does Huck want to help the men on the wreck? What does this show us about him?

Huck initially wants to get on the wrecked ship to see if he can find anything useful that would cost some money. Huck thinks that he could be rich by finding the captain's things around the ship. As he gets on the ship though he sees two men arguing and threatening each other. Huck now has two things to do as he wants to help the man that is being yelled at and he wants to find some belongings across the ship.

Huck then believes that stealing the ship would be the only way to get away from the murderers. Jim agrees on doing this but Huck later regrets this decision. After leaving with the ship he then decides to go back as he wants to watch out for the people on the ship. This shows that Huck does care for others and that he has a good heart. There is a man in danger on the ship that may get killed and Huck wants to help. Instead of getting the loot he thinks that helping this man is better.

What trick does Huck play on Jim? Why is he tricking him now when he didn’t want to before?

Huck put a dead rattle snake at the bottom of Jim's sleeping bag. What Huck didn't know was that the when a rattle snake dies its mate always coils around the dead partners body. This resulted in Jim being bitten by the snake on his heel and what was supposed to be a funny joke ended up being a serious accident and a dirty trick played on Huck's part. Huck felt extremely bad about the incident though and told Jim he would do anything to make up for his mean trick.

Huck decided to trick Jim this time and not any earlier because he didn't have to worry about anything at all to play this trick. Huck didn't have to worry about the Widow finding out or making too much noise. He also didn't have to worry about Jim finding out and telling on him. All these factors ultimately led to Huck's decision in tricking Jim now opposed to any earlier. This trick was an easy one for Huck to do and he was sure at the time that nothing would bounce back at him and get him in trouble for doing this. This incident caused Huck to believe that he had bad luck now, as well as Jim.