Huck Finn 4th Blog - Social Responsibility

 In the beginning Chapter 23 the duke and king finally set up their play...only to rip off their audience. The audiences realizes that the play ended quicker than it should have so they protest against them by having the other people in the town see the play. By the third night the duke, king, and Huck runaway with the audiences money before they get caught. That night Jim says "But Huck, dese kings o' ourn is regular rapscallion; dat's jist what dey is; dey's regular rapscallions."  Then Huck responds,"Well that's what I'm a-saying; all kings is mostly rapscallions, as fur as I can make out," (Twain, 179) In this story it seems like the nobleman have the social responsibility to be rapscallions since everyone expects them to be mischievous. But if this is the case and since the audience did not know that they were descendants of noblemen they expected them to go along with normal moral social responsibility and not rip them off. If they had known that they were a duke and king this situation would have a different outcome.
     Also in Chapter 23 Jim explains to Huck how he had a family. One day he told his daughter to do a chore but she didn't do what she was told. A part of a parents social responsibility is to discipline their child so Jim responded by hitting his daughter. "...Oh Huck I bust out a-cryin' en grab her up in my arms en say, 'Oh de po' little thing! de Lord God Almighty fogive po' ole Jim, kaze he never gwyne to fogive hisseff as long's he live!" (Twain, 182) Sometimes when a character goes along with social responsibility they regret their decision. Jim wanted to discipline his daughter but what he did not realize was that she was deaf. There was probably a different kind of social responsibility Jim could have gone along with if he had realized that his daughter was deaf and so now he can't forgive himself for hurting her in an unjustified way.