Theme: the theme of slavery in the novels of m. Twain contents

2.3.6. The Duke and the Dauphin
On their journey down the river Huck and Jimpick up two con menwho claim to be descendent of royalty. The older tells them that he is a king and should be treated like one; while the younger tells them, he is a Duke and should be treated like one, they perform bad plays in many towns near the river. Huck knows about their trick and their lies but he has little choice since the two men are stronger and can turn Jim at any time “It didn‟t take me long to make up my mind that these liars warn‟t no kings nor dukes at all, but just low-down humbugs and frauds (Twain 127).
The king and the duke convinced the family that they are Wilks‟ brothers. In order to strengthen the confidence of the town, the duke and the king offer their portion of gold to the daughters “take it all. It‟s the gift of him that lays yonder, cold but joyful” (Twain 170).Huck betrays them when they scheme to steal the Wilks sisters out of their inheritance. Huck discovers where the king and the duke hide the gold therefore he takes the six thousand dollars and waits to give it back to its rightful owners “I‟ll hive that money for them or bust” (Twain 178). Huck thinks to hide the money in the house but he had doubts that the king will find it, so he decides to hide the money in the coffin “I run in the parlor and took a swift look around, and the only place I see to hide the bag was in the coffin” (Twain 182). In this chapter Twain is focusing on the hypocrisy of the society and how the king and the Duke try to trick the daughters of the dead man just for the sake of stealing their money, they have no moral values or feelings toward these family members.
Then the King and the Duke sell the slave Jim for a meager reward. Mark Twain tries to show us how the Duke and the King could betray Huck, the boy who helps them and gives them shelter on his raft by selling Huck‟s friend the black slave with no mercy. “Because they could have the heart to serve Jim such a trick as that, and make him a slave again all his life, and amongst strangers, too, for forty dirty dollars.” (Twain 215).
The King and the Duke cause harm to Jim and cause themselves moral harm by misunderstanding what it is to be human only for the sake of profit, because they sell Huck‟s friend the black slave Jim without any thinking as if they are selling an object or something worthless.