Misplaced Pages

#160839

62-417: Huckleberry "Huck" Finn is the son of the town's vagrant drunkard, "Pap" Finn. Sleeping on doorsteps when the weather is fair, in empty hogsheads during storms, and living off of what he gets from others, Huck lives the life of a destitute vagabond . The author metaphorically names him "the juvenile pariah of the village" and describes Huck as "idle, and lawless, and vulgar, and bad", qualities for which he

124-426: A composite portrait of black men Twain knew, or based on the "shrewd, wise, polite, always good-natured" George Griffin , a former slave whom Twain employed as a butler and treated as a confidant. Twain grew up in the presence of his parents' and other Hannibal, Missourians' slaves, and listened to their stories; an uncle, too, was a slave owner. Jim's is one of the several spoken dialects called deliberate in

186-652: A constant supply of labor. Those who were punished under this system were either put in local jails for a short time or sent to armed forces. This system was abolished during the Mexican–American War to increase conscripts . The Ordinance of Labourers 1349 was the first major vagrancy law in England and Wales. The ordinance sought to increase the available workforce following the Black Death in England by making idleness (unemployment) an offence. A vagrant

248-555: A habitual drunk, or living on the social welfare benefits or pensions of others. This law established as vagrants all those healthy adults who are not engaged in gainful employment. Vagrancy laws proven unacceptably broad and vague may have been found to violate the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution . Such laws could no longer be used to obstruct

310-491: A hole, about the compass of an inch about, would be burned through the cartilage of his right ear with a hot iron. A rogue who was charged with a second offence, unless taken in by someone who would give him work for one year, could face execution as a felony . A rogue charged with a third offence would only escape death if someone hired him for two years. The Vagabonds Act 1572 decreed that "unlicensed beggars above fourteen years of age are to be severely flogged and branded on

372-662: A new law moved the emphasis from criminalization into social assistance. Forced labor sentences were abolished in 1971 and anti-vagrancy laws were repealed in 1987. In Germany, according to the 1871 Penal Code (§ 361 des Strafgesetzbuches von 1871), vagabondage was among the grounds to confine a person to a labor house . In the Weimar Republic , the law against vagrancy was relaxed, but it became much more stringent in Nazi Germany , where vagrancy, together with begging, prostitution, and "work-shyness" ( arbeitsscheu ),

434-462: A prefatory note. Academic studies include Lisa Cohen Minnick's 2004 Dialect and Dichotomy: Literary Representations of African American Speech and Raphaell Berthele's 2000 "Translating African-American Vernacular English into German: The problem of 'Jim' in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn". The character, who is referred to with the racial slur "Nigger Jim" throughout the novel, is introduced at

496-420: A raft together, and Jim plans to reach Cairo, Illinois , so that he can be free and buy his family's freedom as well. His character and perceptions dominate the novel and include spirituality, parental tenderness, and nonviolence: he leaves unmolested two rogues - Jim's term is "rascals" - who have taken over the raft despite their vulnerability as they sleep drunk. When the rogues sell Jim as an escaped slave,

558-475: A runaway slave whom Huck befriends, is another dominant force in Huck's life. He is the symbol for the moral awakening Huck undergoes throughout Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . This is seen when Huck considers sending a letter to Ms. Watson telling her where Jim is but ultimately chooses to rip it up despite the idea in the south that one who tries helping a slave escape will be sent to eternal punishment. Pap Finn

620-499: A vagabond could be jailed. Vagabonds, beggars and procurers were imprisoned in vagrancy prisons: Hoogstraten ; Merksplas ; and Wortel ( Flanders ). There, the prisoners had to work for their living by working on the land or in the prison. If the prisoners had earned enough money, then they could leave the "colony" (as it was called). On 12 January 1993, the Belgian vagrancy law was repealed. At that time, 260 vagabonds still lived in

682-527: A vagrancy law in America typically has rendered "no visible means of support" a misdemeanor , yet it has commonly been used as a pretext to take one into custody for such things as loitering , prostitution, drunkenness , or criminal association . Prior to 2020, the criminal statutes of law in Louisiana specifically criminalized vagrancy as associating with prostitutes, being a professional gambler, being

SECTION 10

#1732798466161

744-531: A vagrant if they could not prove their own standing (title), or if they changed residence without a permission from authorities, rather than punishing loitering or absence of livelihood. Foreigners who had been twice expatriated with prohibition of return to the Russian Empire and were arrested in Russia again were also recognized as vagrants. Punishments were harsh: according to Ulozhenie , the legal code,

806-618: A vagrant who could not elaborate on his kinship, standing, or permanent residence, or gave false evidence, was sentenced to a 4-year imprisonment and a subsequent exile to Siberia or another far-off province. In the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (1960)  [ ru ] , which came into force on 1 January 1961, systematic vagrancy (that which was identified more than once) was punishable by up to two years' imprisonment (section 209). This continued until 5 December 1991, when Section 209

868-526: A vagrant. Thousands of inhabitants of colonial and early national America were incarcerated for vagrancy, usually for terms of 30 to 60 days, but occasionally longer. After the American Civil War , some Southern states passed Black Codes , laws that tried to control the hundreds of thousands of freed slaves . In 1866, the state of Virginia , fearing that it would be "overrun with dissolute and abandoned characters", passed an Act Providing for

930-416: Is Huck's abusive, drunken father who shows up at the beginning of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and forcibly takes his son to live with him. Pap's only method of parenting is physical abuse. Although he seems derisive of education and civilized living, Pap seems to be jealous of Huck and is infuriated that his son would try to amount to more, and live in better conditions than he did. Despite this, early in

992-460: Is absent for a fortnight, he is condemned to slavery for life and is to be branded on forehead or back with the letter S; if he runs away three times, he is to be executed as a felon... If it happens that a vagabond has been idling about for three days, he is to be taken to his birthplace, branded with a red hot iron with the letter V on his breast, and set to work, in chains, on the roads or at some other labour... Every master may put an iron ring round

1054-553: Is described in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . He wears the clothes of full-grown men which he probably received as charity, and as Twain describes him, "he was fluttering with rags." He has a torn, broken straw hat, his trousers are supported with only one suspender, and "was the first boy who went barefoot in the spring and the last to resume leather in the fall," (Mark Twain believed that it was "tough" or "manly" for young boys to go around barefoot at that time). Even Tom Sawyer,

1116-428: Is freed by the boys. However, Tom is shot by a pursuer. Jim gives up his freedom to help nurse Tom back to health, and is taken back to the plantation in chains. Upon waking up, Tom admits that he knew Jim was free the whole time, and Jim is released. Tom pays Jim 40 dollars, and the trio departs. As a study of two slaves escaping, Huckleberry Finn is largely sympathetic to the plight of escaped slaves and critical of

1178-529: Is inaccurate but it is not specified if he is being wrong on purpose or as a joke on Jim. In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , the Widow attempts to "sivilize" [ sic ] the newly wealthy Huck. Huck's father takes him from her, but Huck manages to fake his own death and escape to Jackson's Island, where he coincidentally meets up with Jim, a slave who was owned by the Widow Douglas's sister, Miss Watson. Jim

1240-487: Is one of two major characters in the classic 1884 novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain . The book chronicles his and Huckleberry's raft journey down the Mississippi River in the antebellum Southern United States . Jim is a black man who is fleeing slavery ; "Huck", a 13-year-old white boy, joins him in spite of his own conventional understanding and the law. The character may have been

1302-517: Is running away because he overheard Miss Watson planning to "sell him South" for eight hundred dollars. Jim wants to escape to Cairo, Illinois , where he can find work to eventually buy his family's freedom. Huck and Jim take a raft down the Mississippi River , planning to head north on the Ohio River , in hopes of finding freedom from slavery for Jim and freedom from Pap for Huck. Their adventures together, along with Huck's solo adventures, comprise

SECTION 20

#1732798466161

1364-617: Is shown in the Bible as having compassion for beggars, prostitutes, and the disenfranchised. The Catholic Church also teaches compassion for people living in vagrancy. Vagrant lifestyles are seen in Christian movements, such as in the mendicant orders . Many still exist in places like Europe, Africa, and the Near East, as preserved by Gnosticism , Hesychasm , and various esoteric practices. In some East Asian and South Asian countries,

1426-432: Is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging , scavenging , or petty theft . In Western countries, vagrancy was historically a crime punishable with forced labor, military service, imprisonment, or confinement to dedicated labor houses . Both vagrant and vagabond ultimately derive from

1488-499: Is unaware. He awakens from dreams of witches (see Richard Dorson's 1956 Negro Folktales in Michigan ), and from a nickel left by the boys becomes a storyteller of regional fame, able to command pay for his tales, and in the concluding phrase, all but unfit to be a servant. Jim flees from his owner after overhearing her discussing whether or not to sell him for 800 dollars. He meets up with Huck on Jackson's Island. The two travel on

1550-503: The estates of the realm (nobility, clergy, burghers or land-owners) were obliged to be employed, or otherwise, they could be charged with vagrancy. Legal protection was mandatory already in medieval Swedish law, but Gustav I of Sweden began strictly enforcing this provision, applying it even when work was potentially available. In Finland, the legal protection provision was repealed in 1883; however, vagrancy still remained illegal, if connected with "immoral" or "indecent" behavior. In 1936,

1612-623: The " freedom of speech " of a political demonstrator or an unpopular group. Ambiguous vagrancy laws became more narrowly and clearly defined. In Papachristou v. City of Jacksonville , 405 U.S. 156 (1972), the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a Florida vagrancy law was unconstitutional because it was too vague to be understood. Nevertheless, new local laws in the U.S. have been passed to criminalize aggressive panhandling . Jim (Huckleberry Finn) Jim

1674-506: The Act as a form of entrapment, the attempted reinstitution of "slavery in all but its name". He forbade its enforcement. It is not known how often it was applied, or what was done to prevent its implementation, but it remained statute in Virginia until 1904. Other Southern states enacted similar laws to funnel blacks into their system of convict leasing . Since at least as early as the 1930s,

1736-544: The Expropriated, from the End of the 15th Century. Forcing Down of Wages by Acts of Parliament ), Karl Marx wrote: James 1: Any one wandering about and begging is declared a rogue and a vagabond. Justices of the peace in petty sessions are authorised to have them publicly whipped and for the first offence to imprison them for 6 months, for the second for 2 years. Whilst in prison they are to be whipped as much and as often as

1798-588: The Latin word vagari , meaning "to wander". The term vagabond and its archaic equivalent vagabone come from Latin vagabundus ("strolling about"). In Middle English , vagabond originally denoted a person without a home or employment. Vagrants have been historically characterised as outsiders in settled, ordered communities: embodiments of otherness , objects of scorn or mistrust, or worthy recipients of help and charity. Some ancient sources show vagrants as passive objects of pity, who deserve generosity and

1860-570: The Punishment of Vagrants . Homeless or unemployed persons could be forced into labour on public or private works, for very low pay, for a statutory maximum of three months; if fugitive and recaptured, they must serve the rest of their term at minimum subsistence, wearing ball and chain. In effect, though not in declared intent, the Act criminalized attempts by impoverished freed people to seek out their own families and rebuild their lives. The commanding general in Virginia, Alfred H. Terry , condemned

1922-557: The St. Petersburg hamlet boys' leader sees him as "the banished Romantic". Tom's Aunt Polly calls Huck a "poor motherless thing." Huck confesses to Tom in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer that he remembers his mother and his parents' relentless fighting that stopped only when she died. Huck has a carefree life free from societal norms or rules, stealing watermelons and chickens and "borrowing" (stealing) boats and cigars. Due to his unconventional childhood, Huck has received almost no education. At

Huckleberry Finn - Misplaced Pages Continue

1984-585: The Wortel colony. In medieval times, vagabonds were controlled by an official called the Stodderkonge who was responsible for a town or district and expelled those without a permit. Their role eventually transferred to the police. In premodern Finland and Sweden , vagrancy was a crime, which could result in a sentence of forced labour or forced military service . There was a "legal protection" (Finnish: laillinen suojelu ) obligation: those not part of

2046-426: The beginning of Chapter Two, seen at midnight by the two boys, Huck and Tom, standing silhouetted in the doorway of the outdoor detached kitchen. He hears them approach and inquires into the darkness; he states that he will wait to hear the sound repeated, and he sits at the doorway until he dozes, relieving the hidden narrator's tension indicated by an entire paragraph on an itch unscratched because of fear, of which Jim

2108-408: The character Tom Sawyer arrives. Tom knows that Jim is a free man by this point (having been freed by his owner, Miss Watson, in her will), but uses the opportunity of Jim being imprisoned to act out prison escape fantasies from books he has read, refusing Huck's simpler plans that would free Jim easily, but without the drama that Tom sought. Jim, who is now on a plantation owned by Tom's aunt and uncle,

2170-578: The condition of vagrancy has long been historically associated with the religious life, as described in the religious literature of Hindu , Buddhist , Jain , and Muslim Sufi traditions. Examples include sadhus , dervishes , bhikkhus , and the sramanic traditions generally. The Belgian Criminal Law had defined vagrants as lacking a stable residence, the necessary means to survive, and employment. The Belgian Criminal Law of 1867 had high levels of recidivism, leading to questions concerning it's effectiveness in combating vagrancy From 27 November 1891,

2232-407: The constable or watchman and brought before a magistrate who had the legal right to interview them to determine their status. If declared vagrant, they were to be arrested, whipped, and physically expelled from the county by a vagrant contractor, whose job it was to take them to the edge of the county and pass them to the contractor for the next county on the journey. This process would continue until

2294-416: The core of the book. In the end, however, Jim gains his freedom through Miss Watson's death, as she freed him in her will. Pap, it is revealed, has died in Huck's absence, and although he could safely return to St. Petersburg, Huck plans to flee west to Indian Territory . In Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective , the sequels to Huck Finn , however, Huck is living in St. Petersburg again after

2356-469: The ear sliced off; but for the third relapse the offender is to be executed as a hardened criminal and enemy of the common weal." In the Vagabonds Act 1547 , Edward VI ordained that "if anyone refuses to work, he shall be condemned as a slave to the person who has denounced him as an idler. The master has the right to force him to do any work, no matter how vile, with whip and chains. If the slave

2418-639: The early 19th century. The law was an amendment to the Elizabethan Poor Law . It was created as an indirect result of Britain's involvements in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1793–1815). In 1821, the existing vagrancy law was reviewed by a House of Commons select committee, resulting in the publication of the, 'Report from the Select Committee on The Existing Laws Relating to Vagrants'. After hearing

2480-443: The end of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer , Tom and Huck recover a treasure worth thousands of dollars, which is invested on their behalf; Huck is adopted by the Widow Douglas, who enrolls him in school in return for his saving her life. In the course of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , the sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer , he learns enough to be literate and reads books for entertainment. His knowledge of history as related to Jim

2542-514: The events of his eponymous novel. In Abroad , Huck joins Tom and Jim for a wild, fanciful balloon ride that takes them overseas. In Detective , which occurs about a year after the events of Huck Finn , Huck helps Tom solve a murder mystery. Huck is Tom Sawyer 's closest friend. Their friendship is partially rooted in Sawyer's emulation of Huck's freedom and ability to do what he wants, like swearing and smoking when he feels like it. In one moment in

Huckleberry Finn - Misplaced Pages Continue

2604-486: The findings and recommendations from the 1821 House of Commons Select on Vagrancy, a new Act of Parliament was introduced, 'An Act for the Punishment of Idle and Disorderly Persons, and Rogues and Vagabonds, in that Part of Great Britain called England', commonly known as the Vagrancy Act 1824 . The Vagrancy Act 1824 consolidated the previous vagrancy laws and addressed many of the frauds and abuses identified during

2666-556: The gift of alms. Others show them as subversives, or outlaws, who make a parasitical living through theft, fear and threat. Gyrovagues were itinerant monks of the early Middle Ages . Some fairy tales of medieval Europe have beggars cast curses on anyone who was insulting or stingy toward them. In Tudor England , some of those who begged door-to-door for "milk, yeast, drink, pottage " were thought to be witches. Many world religions, both in history and today, have vagrant traditions or make reference to vagrants. In Christianity, Jesus

2728-417: The inspiration for creating Huckleberry Finn in his autobiography: "In Huckleberry Finn I have drawn Tom Blankenship exactly as he was. He was ignorant, unwashed, insufficiently fed; but he had as good a heart as ever any boy had. His liberties were totally unrestricted. He was the only really independent person—boy or man—in the community, and by consequence he was tranquilly and continuously happy and envied by

2790-673: The institution of slavery . However, beginning in the 20th century, the novel was frequently criticized for depicting Jim as a stereotype, and Tom as an aggressor. According to Professor Stephen Railton of the University of Virginia, Twain was unable to fully rise above the stereotypes of black people that white readers of his era expected and enjoyed, and therefore resorted to minstrel show –style comedy to provide humor at Jim's expense and ended up conforming to rather than challenging late 19th-century racist stereotypes. Actors who have portrayed Jim in films and TV: Note 1 : Jim's wife

2852-414: The justices of the peace think fit … Incorrigible and dangerous rogues are to be branded with an R on the left shoulder and set to hard labour, and if they are caught begging again, to be executed without mercy. These statutes, legally binding until the beginning of the 18th century, were only repealed by 12 Anne, c. 23. In late-eighteenth-century Middlesex , those suspected of vagrancy could be detained by

2914-426: The left ear unless someone will take them into service for two years; in case of a repetition of the offence, if they are over eighteen, they are to be executed, unless someone will take them into service for two years; but for the third offence they are to be executed without mercy as felons." The same act laid the legal groundwork for the enforced exile ( penal transportation ) of "obdurate idlers" to "such parts beyond

2976-404: The neck, arms or legs of his slave, by which to know him more easily." In England, the Vagabonds Act 1572 passed under Elizabeth I , defined a rogue as a person who had no land, no master, and no legitimate trade or source of income; it included rogues in the class of vagrants or vagabonds. If a person were apprehended as a rogue, he would be stripped to the waist, whipped until bleeding, and

3038-548: The novel Huck uses his father's method of "borrowing" though he later feels sorry and stops. The character of Huck Finn is based on Tom Blankenship, the real-life son of a sawmill laborer and sometime drunkard named Wood-son Blankenship, who lived in a "ramshackle" house near the Mississippi River behind the house where the author grew up in Hannibal, Missouri . Twain mentions his childhood friend Tom Blankenship as

3100-531: The novel, he openly brags to his teacher that he was late for school because he stopped to talk with Huck Finn and enjoyed it, something for which he knew he would (and did) receive a whipping. Nonetheless, Tom remains a devoted friend to Huck in all of the novels they appear in. In Huckleberry Finn , it's revealed that Huck also considers Tom to be his best friend. At various times in the novel, Huck mentions that Tom would put more "style" in Jim and his adventure. Jim ,

3162-403: The other hand, [there should be] whipping and imprisonment for sturdy vagabonds. They are to be tied to the cart-tail and whipped until the blood streams from their bodies, then they are to swear on oath to go back to their birthplace or to serve where they have lived the last three years and to 'put themselves to labour'. For the second arrest for vagabondage the whipping is to be repeated and half

SECTION 50

#1732798466161

3224-574: The parish where they were last legally settled, often the parish where they were born. This led to a system of convicted vagrants being 'passed' from parish to parish from where they had been convicted and punished to their own parish. The 'pass' system led to them being transported by vagrancy contractors, a system found to be open to abuses and fraud. It also found that in many instances the punishment for vagrancy offences were insufficient and certain types of vagrants should be given longer prison sentences and made to complete hard labour during it. Based on

3286-538: The person reached his or her place of legal settlement, which was often but not always their place of birth. In 1795, the Speenhamland system (also known as the Berkshire Bread Act ) tried to address some of the problems that underlay vagrancy. The Speenhamland system was a form of outdoor relief intended to mitigate rural poverty in England and Wales at the end of the 18th century and during

3348-748: The rest of us. And as his society was forbidden us by our parents the prohibition trebled and quadrupled its value, and therefore we sought and got more of his society than any other boy's." – Mark Twain's Autobiography . Since Mark Twain's death, Huck Finn has also appeared in a number of novels, plays, comic strips , and stories written by various authors that purport to tell the latter adventures of Huck and his friends. The Mark Twain Museum, CNN and The Times of London have dubbed American canoeist and author Neal Moore "the modern-day Huckleberry Finn.” Actors who have portrayed Huckleberry Finn in films and TV include: Vagrancy (people) Vagrancy

3410-557: The seas as shall be […] assigned by the Privy Council ". At the time, this meant exile for a fixed term to the Virginia Company 's plantations in America. Those who returned unlawfully from their place of exile faced death by hanging. The Vagabonds Act 1597 banished and transplanted "incorrigible and dangerous rogues" overseas. In Das Kapital ( Capital Volume One, Chapter Twenty-Eight: Bloody Legislation Against

3472-473: The section does not apply, if such act is performed by a parent of the juvenile under harsh life circumstances due to the loss of livelihood or the absence of living place. In the early 1800's Mexico's political leaders had to put together a "Vagrant Tribunal", defining vagrants as young men who were robust and able to work despite panhandling. These tribunals had become a necessity after President Vicente Guerrero abolished slavery in 1829, leaving Mexico without

3534-489: The select committee hearings. Much reformed since 1824, some of the offences included in it are still enforceable. Colonists imported British vagrancy laws when they settled in North America. Throughout the colonial and early national periods, vagrancy laws were used to police the mobility and economic activities of the poor. People experiencing homelessness and ethnic minorities were especially vulnerable to arrest as

3596-526: The views of many witnesses appearing before it the select committee made several recommendations. The select committee found that the existing vagrancy laws had become over-complicated and that they should be amended and consolidated into a single act of Parliament. The payment of fixed rewards for the apprehension and taking vagrants before magistrates had led to abuses of the system. Due to the Poor Laws , vagrants to receive poverty relief had to seek it from

3658-419: Was a person who could work but chose not to, and having no fixed abode or lawful occupation, begged. Vagrancy was punishable by human branding or whipping. Vagrants were distinguished from the impotent poor , who were unable to support themselves because of advanced age or sickness. In the Vagabonds Act 1530 , Henry VIII decreed that "beggars who are old and incapable of working receive a beggar's licence. On

3720-460: Was admired by all the other children in the village, although their mothers "cordially hated and dreaded" him. Huck is an archetypal innocent, able to discover the "right" thing to do despite the prevailing theology and prejudiced mentality of the South of that era. An example of this is his decision to help Jim escape slavery , even though he believes he will go to Hell for it. His appearance

3782-793: Was classified as " anti-social behavior " ( Asoziale ) and punishable by confinement to concentration camps . Until July 2006, vagrancy was punishable with imprisonment between one month to 3 years, according to the article 327 on the Penal Code. In the Russian Empire , the legal term "vagrancy" (Russian: бродяжничество , brodyazhnichestvo ) was defined in a different way than in Western Europe ( vagabondage in France, Landstreicherei in Germany). Russian law recognized one as

SECTION 60

#1732798466161

3844-533: Was repealed and vagrancy ceased to be a criminal offense. At present, vagrancy is not a criminal offence in Russia, but it is an offence for someone over 18 to induce a juvenile (one who has not reached that age) to vagrancy, according to Chapter 20, Section 151 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation . The note, introduced by the Federal Law No. 162 of 8 December 2003, provides that

#160839