HUCKLEBERRY FINN
RELIGION QUOTES
QUOTE PARAPHRASE RELATE TO LIFE
“After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushers; and I was in a sweat to find out all about him; but by-and-by she let it out that Moses had been a considerable long time; so then I didn’t care no more about him; because I don’t take no stock in dead people.”
Chapter 1 page 4
“Miss Watson She took me in the closet and prayed, but nothing come of it. She told me to pray everyday, and whatever I asked for I would get it. But it warn’t so. I tried it. Once I got a fish-line, but no hooks.”
Chapter 3 page 14
“I says to myself, ‘If a body can get anything they pray for, why don’t Deacon Winn get back the money he lost on pork? Why can’t the widow get back her silver snuff box that was stole?Why can’t miss Watson fat up? No, says I to myself, there ain’t nothing in it… I must do everything I could for other people… and never think about myself’”
CHapter 3 page 14
“It made me shiver and I about made up my mind to pray; and see if I couldn’t try to quit being the kind of a boy I was and be better. So I kneeled down, but the words wouldn’t come… I was trying to make my mouth say I would do the right thing and clean thing… but deep down I knowed it was a lie- and He knowed it. You can’t pray a lie- I found that out.”
Chapter 31 page 248
“You couldn’t make out what the preacher said anymore, on account of the shouting and crying...flung themselves down on the straw just crazy and wild”
Chapter 20 page 154
This quote talks about Huck Finn being forced to learn about the Bible even though he could care less about what it has to say. At first he seems concerned for Moses but once he finds out he has been dead for centuries, he decides that dead people are irrelevant to him.
Huck Finn believes that if you ask for something, you should get it. However, he also believes praying doesn’t work for him. He supports this with an example of the time he prayed and only got half of what he expected.
In this passage, Twain is displaying Huck’s confusion and anger towards praying. Huck does not understand the way God works. He thinks people should get what they want when they want it. He tries to question God’s abilities and whether he can really do what everyone says he can.
Huck tries praying to God hoping he will grant him something and in exchange offer his good behavior as a thank you. However, he eventually admits he wouldn’t be able to hold up on his part of the deal. This makes him feel guilty and ashamed for trying to pray about something he knew couldn’t be done.
The author is dramatizing the religious ceremony to make it seem intense by describing the way people are screaming, jumping, and freaking out over the presence of God.
This quote connects to reality in the way religion is passed down to us by our parents. They teach us what religion to practice from an early age, like Miss Watson teaching Huck. However, once one interperets the religion passed down to them, their mindset might change, causing them to turn their back on what they believed growing up.
This passage can be seen in real life because usually when someone prays for something, they don’t receive it right away. This causes people nowadays to not see a point in praying. If the thing someone wants doesn’t come right away, they take things into their own hands rather than relying on a God.
This can be related to real life because religion and God are not genies who can grant anyone’s prayers without lifting a finger. If I pray for a million dollars at night, it won’t pop up at the edge of my bed the next morning. This quote is displays the controversial side of religion in real life that argues whether or not there is a God who has the ability to grant these prayers.
This can be related to real life because when a lie is being told, the guilt is already built up from the start. It is our choice to either continue the lie or shut it down.
This connects with real life, because around the time of the book’s release, there was a thing called the Second Great Awakening, during the 1840s. Twain might have been relating this time in history with the book to poke fun at how outrageous the worshippers were.