Continuing HuckCognitive Dissonance, Morality, and

Huck’s Decision

Cognitive DissonanceO Twain uses Huck as a master satiric

voice; but he also uses the idea of cognitive dissonance

O Definition: The feeling of discomfort accompanied by holding two contradictory ideas at once

Freewrite

ONobody wants to be in an abusive relationship. But people continue to be in them. This is a form of cognitive dissonance. How do people deal with this?

CD ExamplesO DietingO Relationships

O Unemployed boyfriendO Unstable/abusive boyfriend

O Office supplies from workO Premarital sex

Cognitive Dissonance and Racism

O If you accept that “other” people are human persons, then you’re essentially arguing for their equality

O But this means you can’t treat them as less than human – but people did, and people do

Dealing with racist cognitive dissonance

O How do people deal with this?O Option one: Convince yourself that your

ideas and actions aren’t actually treating them as unequalO Segregation

O Option two: Convince yourself, consciously or unconsciously, that you are indeed somehow better than people of a specific raceO “They’re human too, but more prone to

theft, etc.”

Huck’s Racism?O What about Huck? Does he recognize Jim’s

humanity? O Yes! (Read end of chapter 23)

O Is Huck racist? Does he disagree with slavery?O Yes and no! (read the book)

O So he is involved in cognitive dissonance:O On the one hand, he recognizes Jim’s

humanityO But on the other hand, he is OK with slavery

Climax of Cognitive Dissonance in Huck

O Psychologically speaking, you can’t be involved in cognitive dissonance for too long – you either “correct” the problem, or go crazy

O Where do we see this cognitive dissonance (this feeling of discomfort) coming to a climax? (Hint: In some ways, it’s also the climax of the novel.)

Why the Dissonance? Society

O On the one hand, Huck has society’s morals, and everything they have taught him: slavery is OK; helping a slave is wrong; you go to hell for doing bad things

O But on the other hand, we see that Huck, even if unconsciously, wants to help Jim because he is a person and friend

Huck’s Decision

OHe resolves this by rejecting society’s morals: ripping up the letter, saying he’d go to hell, etc.

Twain’s Points O So what is Twain saying to his times?O You can’t recognize others’ humanity

while involving yourself in racist practices

O You can step outside of your society’s morality and recognize morals more important