American Literature / Unit 11 AML 1012 short lesson, about 20 seconds
"All right, then, I'll go to hell"
Captions available
The idea
Huck writes a letter turning Jim in, feels good about it, remembers Jim's kindness, and tears it up, deciding he will go to hell rather than betray him. He believes he is choosing damnation, which is why the moment is the novel's climax and its sharpest irony.
In practice
A boy choosing hell, and being right.
Where people slip
Huck's conscience is the one the book indicts.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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