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SUMMARY
Huck enters the house as "Sarah Williams" pretending to have come looking for her uncle because her mother is unwell. The lady tells him that he is in the wrong town and then she goes on telling him all about her family's woes and troubles. This bores Huck as he has come to gather information about himself and Jim.
Huck succeeds in getting the woman to talk. She tells him about his murder and reveals that initially they had suspected that Pap had killed the boy to get his money. Now however Jim is suspected as the murderer The lady, then, apprises Huck of the reward of three hundred and two hundred dollars that Jim and Huck, respectively, carry on their head. The lady is almost certain that Jim is hiding somewhere on Jackson's island because, despite being a deserted place, she noticed smoke coming from there, a couple of days back. This information makes Huck feel extremely edgy and he tries to hide his consternation by sewing. His hands are trembling and invites the lady's suspicion. On being asked his name, Huck commits another faux pas by saying it is "Mary Williams (not "Sarah Williams", as he had said earlier). Huck notices that the place is infested with them and pose quite a menace. She then asks him to throw a piece of lead at the rats to keep them at bay.
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| The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Chapter 11 |
The way Huck does things fortifies her suspicion. She looks straight into his eyes and asks him to tell her his real name. Huck manages the situation well by saying that he is a runaway apprentice. He goes on to tell her a cock and bull story about his life and how he has run away because he has been treated badly. He says that he had lost his parents and was legally bound to a mean old farmer who treated him in a callous manner. He tells her that when the farmer had gone out for a couple of days, he had seized the chance. He had stolen some of his daughter's clothes and run away. Mrs. Judith Loftus believes him and gives him some tips on how to add credibility to his disguise as a girl. She tells him the nuances of threading a needle and sewing more like a girl, so as to add credibility to his pretence in front of other people.
Huck finally gets away from the woman and rushes to the cavern where Jim is sleeping. They hurriedly leave their hideout and escape.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The chapter reveals Huck's presence of mind by the way he cooks up a story to fool the lady. On being cornered because he says his name 15 Mary Williams instead of "Sarah Williams", he is quick to say something and restore the lady's confidence. "Sarah Mary Williams. Sarah's my first name. Some calls me Sarah, some calls me Mary." It is laudable how 'a fourteen-year can have such mental agility. The suppleness and quickness that he displays speak volumes of the fact that lack of education does, in no way, retard his astuteness.
Ironically, when he is in disguise, Huck can interact with society much better than when he is his 'natural' self.
At the end of the chapter, when Huck rushes back to where Jim is, he lights a fire on the site of their earlier camp. "I shoved right into the timber where my old camp used to be, and started a good fire there on a high and dry spot". This he does to use it as bait to hoodwink the lady's husband who is expected to raid Jackson's island that night. Huck demonstrates his good judgment once again. While Mrs. Loftus is kind towards Huck, she betrays her underlying racist attitude. She condones Huck's act of escaping from the despicable farmer and offers all her help. "I'll help you. So'll my old man if you want him to. You see, you're a runaway prentice, that's all. It ain't anything. There ain't no harm in it. You've been treated bad, and you made up your mind to cut. Bless you, child, I wouldn't tell on you". Hasn't Jim been governed by a similar instinct - that of running away from the uncaring Miss Watson? If "there ain't no harm in it" for Huck, why are there stricter measures to judge Jim with? Is it just because Jim is a nigger and does not have the privilege of reasonable treatment? In view of the fact that he is a slave, his human instinct (of seeking freedom) is unpardonable while Mrs. Judith Loftus is more tolerant towards Huck's behaviour.