Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Betrayal in Puddn'head Wilson

Betrayal is an incident of disloyalty. Describe an incident when a character has failed to guard, maintain, or fulfill another character(s) trust in them. What does the outcome of this example say about betrayal?

16 comments:

  1. Chapter 18

    In this chapter, Roxy tells "Tom" how she escaped from being a slave, and how mean it was for him to sell her down the river. "You could be Judas to yo' own mother to save yo' wuthless hide!"

    Because "Tom" betrayed Roxy and sold her down the river, she has changed for the worst. Betraying someone could be hurtful and affect a person permanently.

    P5-9

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  2. P5-19

    Chapter 16- Betrayal
    Pudd'nhead Wilson agrees to embarrass the twins and even go so far as to shoot Luigi. He turns on the two people whom help him to obtain his spot in office.

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  4. P5-19

    Chapter 16- Betrayal
    Pudd'nhead Wilson agrees to embarrass the twins and even go so far as to shoot Luigi. He turns on the two people whom help him to obtain his spot in office. I believe this is betrayal because he didn't even care the validity of what "Tom" was saying he just turned on the twins just like that.

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  5. English Stone I-6

    There is an excellent example of betrayal shown in chapter 17. In the previous chapter we see as Roxy figures out se is being sold "down the river" by her own son. In chapter 17 we see as "Tom" is confronted by Roxy who is both hurt and livid that her son who is not only a coward and a thief, has the gall to betray her so badly.

    P6-20

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  6. English Stone I-6

    In chapter 19, the ultimate act of betrayal ended in murder. In the previous chapter "Tom" had conspired to steal from his uncle who had finally trusted him again. In chapter 19, we witness "Tom" sneak into his own house and him finding and killing his uncle. Although this was not part of the plan it still happened. I imagine Judge Driscoll's last thoughts of panic and hurt. His nephew, who was more like a son to him, was standing above him with a knife in his hand after he caught him trying to steal from him. Since the Judge saw "Tom" as his son this betrayal is so much worse as his last fleeting moments were filled with terror and emotional agony. I know I would feel like that if I were put in that position.

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  7. Chapter 15

    When Tom leaves for St. Louis, Roxy is right behind him concerned about her son. Roxy is so distressed about her son that she tells him to sell her as a slave to someone near by and buy her back soon. He does this. Later, Roxy finds out that she is sold to a planter down the river.

    P6-8

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  8. Ch. 18

    Betrayal

    “… I will not ask for the money and ruin myself; I will rob the old skinflint.”

    Throughout the book we see that Tom will do anything to save himself from compromise. I believe that this passage exemplifies Tom’s nature to save himself even if it meant “biting the hand that fed him”. Tom’s Uncle, Judge Driscoll, had loved Tom deeply, had been Tom’s caretaker, and had forgiven him not once, but twice. However, Tom showed that his love for himself was far greater than his gratitude to others, so he decided to betray his beloved uncle. We see that the consequences of Tom’s continuous betrayals included having the guilt of murder, being responsible for great pain caused to the community, and ultimately being “sold down the river.” This tells us that betrayal leads to the undoing of all parties involved.

    P1-9

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  9. Chapter 19
    Betrayal
    "Tom stopped instantly—stopped, and softly drew the knife
    from its sheath, with his heart thumping, and his eyes fastened
    upon his benefactor’s face. After a moment or two he
    ventured forward again—one step—reached for his prize and
    seized it, dropping the knife sheath. Then he felt the old man’s
    strong grip upon him, and a wild cry of “Help! help!” rang in
    his ear. Without hesitation he drove the knife home—and
    was free. Some of the notes escaped from his left hand and
    fell in the blood on the floor. He dropped the knife and
    snatched them up and started to fly; transferred them to his
    left hand, and seized the knife again, in his fright and confusion,
    but remembered himself and flung it from him, as being
    a dangerous witness to carry away with him."

    By killing Driscoll, "Tom" betrayed Driscoll's trust towards him. He betrayed probably the only person who cared about him just to get his hands on some "notes". "Tom" had also betrayed, or gone against, Roxy's instructions.

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  10. Ch.19 Betrayal
    After Roxana's plan to be sold into slavery doesn't work, she commands "Tom" to get enough money to bail her out. This eventually leads "Tom" to betray his own uncle by robbing and murdering him.

    P1-21

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  11. Betrayal in Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson

    Chapter 16

    "So Tom argued with himself that it was an immense advantage for Roxy to have a master who was pleased with her, as this planter manifestly was... And then he (Tom) kept diligently saying to himself all the time: 'It's for only a year. In a year I buy her free again; she'll keep that in mind, and it'll reconcile her.' Yes; the little deception could do no harm, and everything would come out right and pleasant in the end, anyway."

    Tom tried to convince himself that selling his mother "down the river" was fine. He betrayed her by doing this because he didn't take her feelings into account, and her thoughts on the situation didn't matter a whole lot to him.

    P1-19

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  12. Chapter 18

    "He sole me down de river - he can't feel for a body long; dis'll pass en go."

    In this part of the chapter, Roxy is happy for a second that Tom seems to be grieving for her wrongs and seems to be having resentment against her prosecutors, but her happiness soon disappears. Roxy is still distraught over the fact that her own son sent her down the river, and feels a sense of betrayal.

    P2 - 24

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  13. Chapter 7
    disloyalty
    "...he went away satisfied that he know of things that were going on in her house of which she herself was not aware."
    Its betrayal because after how nice judge driscoll and his wife have been to Pudd'nhead, he should have told them that there was something wrong going on in their house.

    P2-4

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  14. Chapter 15

    "...He had modified Wilson's sweetness for the twins with one small bitter taste that he wouldn't be able to get out of his mouth right away; and, best of all, he had taken the hated twins down a peg with a community..."

    Tom was disloyal towards the twins. He purposely betrayed them and turned Wilson against them, as well as the rest of the town. He made them look foolish by framing them for offering a reward for a bauble they never had or lost. His plan to betray them worked perfectly.

    P2-9

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  15. Chapter 19

    "Then he felt the old man’s strong grip upon him, and a wild cry of “Help! help!” rang in his ear. Without hesitation he drove the knife home—and was free."

    Judge Driscoll gave his nephew "Tom" multiple chances to get back onto his good side to repent his ways and to try his best to reform. Every time "Tom" reformed he soon went back on his word and did anything for his own benefit. This time it was to kill his loving uncle for his own protection.

    P7-20

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