8: Theme

  Twain uses one of Pap's drunken rants to question the morality of slavery in chapter six. He talks about a well-off black man that was free because he had not lived in the state long enough to be sold as a slave. He was an intelligent man; a college professor that knew many languages. He was also nice looking, had fancy things, and could even vote. Pap is complaining about how awful the government is for allowing this man to not be sold for six months, and letting him be free and successful. The way Twain writes this passage, on pages 35-36, has the potential to make readers realize that slavery is ridiculous, because the African-Americans being sold may be even better people than the white individuals purchasing them.