The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn.
By
Mark Twain
Author of
“The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer” “Life on the Mississippi” “The Innocents Abroad”
__________
Great Britain, USA and Canada
Charles L. Webster &
Co., Publisher
1884
Summary:
1. Introduction
§ Biography about the
author
§ Brief bibliography
2. Main part
§ Section 1
§ Section 2
§ Section 3
§ Section 4
§ Section 5
3. Conclusion
Introduction
Section
1:
The
story is set in St. Petersburg, a town in the state Missouri in the USA. That town is also near the Mississippi river, which plays an important role in the
whole book. In that town there is a young boy called Huckleberry Fin, he is the
main character in this story and tells it from his own perspective. “The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” continues, where “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”
ends.
In
the end of the first story, Huck and his best friend Tom Sawyer found a
treasure with twelve thousand dollars. In the beginning of the story, Huck
lives at the house of the old Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, because they want
to civilize Huck. So they buy him new clothes and teach him the bible. But that
new lifestyle is weird for Huck so he tries to escape to live in freedom. This
scene is the first point where the author shows the main theme of the book,
namely the conflict between civilization and freedom. Huck hates the new
clothes and can’t see the sense in eating from a diner table, because he ate more
natural in his former life. But Tom convinces Huck to stay at home and proposes
to found a band of robbers.
So
Huck, Tom and other boys in the town found the band and Tom Sawyer creates
serious rules und morals to organize the band as in the old pirate tales.
However, the band falls apart a few days later, because the boys were bored.
During the time, where Huck lives with the old Widow Douglas, Miss Watson tried
to teach him, that he has to pray to god, because it brings spiritual gifts.
When Huck was fishing next time, he prayed to get a fish on the hook but was
disappointed. So he decides that praying is not really working. That passage shows
that Huck is very logical and reasonable, because he sees the things practical.
After
a while, Huck’s father appears, because he wants to claim Huck’s money from the
treasure. But the Widow Douglas tries to stop the drunken father from
harassing Huck. According to that, Huck’s father kidnaps the young boy and
brings him to an old wood cabin a few miles away from town.
Here,
Huck lives in freedom and enjoys staying away from school. But soon he gets
sick of getting beaten by his dad, so he decides to escape. In a couple of
days, he makes his plan for an escape; he pretends to be dead by using a dead
wild pig and making wrong tracks around the cabin. In this part, it
demonstrates Huck’s genius for innovation and shows the ability to fight
powerfully for his life, because he escaped from hard injuries when his father
was drunk.
I
have to say, that I read the book twice, one time in German, a long time ago
and the other time in English.
The
language, the author uses in this book is foreign for me, especially the
different dialects from the characters. It is very funny to read the
conversations in the book, because they’re written in that slang and dialect.
The childish character of Huck is also amusing, because I could easily follow
his thoughts and could understand his opinion. All in all in the beginning in
the book, the way of writing is exciting and let me continue reading.
I
got the book (an old version) from my mother, who loved it when she was young.
Every time I read it, I have to think about the time and place where my parents
grew up. Actually, the setting of the story isn’t really connected with the
German Democratic Republic, but I think that the Youth was kind a free and
careless on both sides, especially life in villages. So when I imagine Huck in
his hometown, I imagine a free young boy who has no troubles he can’t solve.
When I read the book it is important to me, to imagine the setting places. In
my imagination, St. Petersburg is a small town with many houses out of wood. In
connection to this town, the weather is always sunny in those first chapters.
Section
2:
Huck
swims to the near Jackson Island, where he lives in the wildness. On the island,
Huck meets the house slave of the Widow Douglas, called Jim. He ran away from
home, when he heard that the widow wants to sell him in the South. Soon they
got friends and build a raft by collecting wood from the river.
One
day, Huck dresses himself like a girl and goes back to St. Petersburg to get
information about the situation. When he heard from a woman, that she suspects
Jim as the murderer of Huck and that he is on the Jackson’s Island, Huck
returns to Jim. As soon as they can, they loaded their belongings on the raft
and drive away. On their ride on the river, they discover a crashed ferryboat
with three robbers on board.
In
a dangerous situation, they steal the robbers’ skiff, because they lost their
own raft. But Huck feels sorry with the robbers and informs a ferry
night-watcher, who comes too late to rescue the men on board of the sinking
ferryboat. After that, they continue their trip on the river and from day to
day, Jim and Huck get closer friends. On one day, Huck tells Jim about aristocratic
personages, for example King Solomon. But Jim thinks, that Solomon got too many
wives and that he shall show more respect for children, because he wants to
divide a child in two halves.
In
that Section, the reader gets in touch with the issue of slavery at that time. Huck
also shows the normal way of thinking about slaves. On one hand he is sure
about the slave status of Jim, but on the other hand he treats Jim like an
equal partner and also promises him not to reveal Jim. Jim is a very calm character
but doesn’t present much logical or intelligent thinking.
I
was very excited, when I read that part of the book, because it explained the
beginning of the adventures on the Mississippi river. It was very funny to read
the passage, when Huck dressed himself as a girl, because that is a bit unusual
in our society. Furthermore, I liked Huck’s behaviour towards Jim.
In
the beginning, I wasn’t really sure about that relationship, because I didn’t
hear many stories about a relationship between a white boy and a black slave in
Southern states. I think it was a bit strange in the former society that
children could behave on such a friendly way towards slaves, especially when
adults had so many prejudices against blacks.
When
I read the part of the crashed ferryboat, I had some problems, because I wasn’t
sure how to imagine a ferryboat. I thought of a big ferryboat, so it irritated
me that the boat was in the middle of the river and didn’t sink.
Section
3:
The
plan of the both is to take a steamboat in Cairo and get to the Free states in the North. As soon as they reach Cairo, a huge fog rises up and they miss Cairo. Afterwards, Huck gets into an interior conflict. On one hand, Jim is a friend, but
on the other hand, it’s against the law to let a slave escape. Finally he
decides not to hand him out. One day, a steamboat appears on the river.
Instead
of getting out of the way, the steamboat drives directly over their raft. Jim
and Huck are forced to jump over board, so that Huck gets separated from Jim.
Ashore, Huck happens upon the Grangerford household. After he is welcomed with
open arms, he finds out that the family is in a feud with the nearby
Shepherdson family for a long time. Even though, he stays at the Grangerford’s
and soon he becomes friend with Buck, the youngest son of the family. After a
few days, one of the Grangerford slaves shows Huck the hiding place of Jim, who
repaired the raft. Soon, Huck gets witness of the bloody family feud, where
many men of the Grangerford family died.
On
the occasion of that, Huck decides quickly to continue his travel with Jim. A
few days later, they find two chased humbugs, which they take on board. One man
is called the King, he is in his thirties. The other man is called the Duke, he
is about seventy. After they prattled about their ancestry, Huck and Jim treat
them as royalty, although Huck believes neither is true royalty. In the nearest
town, the group stop the raft and get ashore, because the King and the duke
want to make some money.
In
town, they make money with trickery. But soon, they attract the anger of the
people in town, because they cheated them with a silly performance, where the
King emerges completely naked and crawling on all fours. After they earn money
with that trickery, they flee and continue their trip on the raft.
That
section shows the social commentary of the people and places along the Southern Mississippi. In each scene, many characters are shown, that represent different
prejudices or follies. Especially in the part, where Huck thinks about how to
deal with Jim – whether he hand him over or continue his trip with him. On one
hand, It shows the strong tradition of slavery in the South, that almost
ignores all other things like a friendship. Next, the family feud shows an
distorted image of a wealthy and civilized family, that gets shattered by
excessive and tragic killings. That episode demonstrates the stupidity of the
families, because even the most educated and respected families destroy
themselves through nonsensical behaviour and excessive pride. Furthermore, the
show of the King and the Duke shows how fragile human egos are.
It
was a little hard for me to imagine the speed Huck and Jim drive down the
river. I always had the association that the river flows really fast. So, on
some point of the story, I was a bit unsure and nervous, because Huck and Jim
could pass so many important places with high speed. I always had to remember
me that a raft is not that fast on a river, even if it is a wide river like the
Mississippi.
On
the whole trip I felt with Huck and wished a save place for him where he can
stay. Exactly that happened when he reached the Grangerford family. I was very
happy over that amiable conditions in the family and I could really imagine the
place where that scene played.
All
the worse it was when that idyllic lifestyle was destroyed by the family feud.
I sympathized with the family and was sad about the bloody ending of the family
feud, especially because most of the friendly characters like Buck died. On the
other hand it was also exciting that Huck continued his voyage with Jim. The
Duke and the King are two interesting characters in my opinion.
On
one hand they are good-for-nothing, but on the other hand, it’s exciting to see
their cleverness to make money and fool the people. I always felt funny, when I
read the parts about the population at the river, for example at the show from
the Duke and the King. It’s really impressing how naively the people act in
front of the conmen.
Section
4:
In
the next town, the King and Duke are given the information, that a man called
Peter Willks died and leaves his estate to his daughters and brothers.As the
brothers have not arrived yet, the two conmen masquerade themselves as the
brothers from England.
Soon
the false brothers get the confidence of the people in town, when they arrive.
In spite of a Doctor, who notices the bad British English, the King and Duke
get the whole estate of the deceased man. After a while, Huck establishes a
relationship to the two young daughters of the deceased man.
Therefore,
he steals the money from the conmen to bring it back to the daughters. Against
Huck’s will, the King and Duke continue the travel with them, when their humbug
leaks out and the whole town chase them. The village Pikesville is the next
stop of the travel group. As Huck goes to town, the King takes Jim and sells
him for forty dollars to get something to drink. In his desperation, Huck
decides to go to the farm where Jim was sold. When Huck reaches the farm, Tom’s
Aunt Sally welcomes him and is glad to see him, because she and Silas Phelps
believe that Huck is their nephew Tom Sawyer. Later on, when the real Tom
arrives, he pretends to be Sid Sawyer in front of the Phelps. Huck and Tom
warned the Phelps about the King and Duke and say that they are conmen.
Although they want to warn the King and Duke, so that they can leave town, they
come too late. They see the two men being carried through the street, covered
in tar and feathers.
When
Huck steals the money, he breaks free of the authority of the King and Duke. It
is a symbol for the liberation of the authority from his father, the Widow
Watson, Miss Watson and Judge Tatcher. In addition to that, Huck is not simply
scared of the King and the Duke, when he tries to escape by the end of the
ordeal. It is clear, that he tries to break free from the control they hold
over him. When Huck witnesses the selling of Jim, he is forced to decide what
he believes about slavery. Huck’s care about Jim indicates how his relationship
with Jim has changed over the course of the journey downriver. He decides to
free Jim because he thinks of all the times Jim protected him – something,
which no one else has ever done for Huck.
When
the King and the Duke gained the confidence of the people in town and received
the money on this way I felt very angry, because I thought about the two poor
daughters of the Peter Wills. Especially when the two conmen started two sell
all the property of the family, I thought about the two daughters who loose all
their possessions. All the happier I was when Huck pulled himself together and
began to do something against the trickery. Of course it was annoying, that the
King and Duke reached the raft on time, so that they continued the voyage with
Huck and Jim.
When
Huck arrived at the Phelps and Tom joined him, I had a securely feeling about
the case and knew that Tom and Huck can beat the conmen together. The stay at
Aunt Sally remembered me of my visits at my grandmother. I compared the stay,
because there is a friendly and forthrightly atmosphere where I feel save. The
picture of the tarred and feathered conmen was very funny, and I could see a
real clear image of that scene.
Section
5:
After
the two conmen are chased, Huck and Tom plan to free Jim from his slavery.
Instead of taking a simple plan from Huck, Tom wants to dig a hole to Jim’s
room. Once again, Tom hangs in his fantasy and wants to make it look like a
true escape. First, they try to dig a hole with spoons, but soon they took
shovels, because it works easier.
A
short time before the escape, Uncle Silas wants to bring back Jim to his real
farm, so Tom and Huck write an anonymous letter, where they threat with a band
of robbers who want to steal Jim. Frightened by that news, Uncle Silas gets
over fifteen armed farmers. As they wait for the robbers, Huck, Tom and Jim
have to run away from the shooting farmers. After they reach a hiding place,
Tom shows a bullet in his leg. Soon, Huck gets a doctor who cares for Tom. Huck
stays in town and returns to the Phelps, who are glad to see him.
After
a while, the doctor returns with Tom on a stretcher and Jim in chains. Only
when Tom’s Aunt Polly shows up, she finds out what tricks Tom has been playing
on her relatives. She reveals the true identities of Tom and Huck to her sister
and spoils and explains, that Jim is already free, because it is Miss Watson’s
will. The novel ends with the announcing, that Aunt Sally wants to adopt Huck,
so he have to plan on heading west since he tried to be civilized once before
and he didn’t like it.
For
the most part, this section mirrors Tom’s humorous adventures. In contrast to
Huck, who is concerned only with breaking Jim out of slavery, this all is just
a game for Tom. Once again, Tom makes the decisions, while Huck plays along,
and Jim just accepts. The last chapters provide a happy ending for all.
Huck
is reunited with Tom and Jim is finally a free man. Like the plan of heading
west shows, Huck doesn’t really changed in his attitude to be free and live in
nature. However his opinion about slaves changed. With the relationship to Jim,
Huck learned to see the slaves as human being and not as a good.
The
way Tom wanted to free Jim was exciting and I laughed about the things he
considered for that escape. But I was also very glad to see, that Huck built a
strong relationship to Jim and lost his prejudices. The scene with the shooting
farmers created a large suspense in me, because I was worried about the
evaders, Huck, Jim and Tom. Especially when Tom was hit in the leg, it created
a short breathing spell. But when all things come to a good end and Aunt Polly
arrives, I was very glad about the happy ending.
Conclusion:
All
in all I liked that book very much, because it shows a really interesting story
about a boy in the Southern states.
I
had the chance to relax and forget my problems, because the story played in a
totally different society and time. As I heard many things about the Southern
states in school, it was also interesting to read a book about the everyday
life in that time. As Huckleberry Finn is the same age as me, it was easy to me
to hatch in his role and feel with him.
But
the book also taught me many things about the behavior with prejudices. In that
book I could see how easy people follow the mass, without thinking on their own.
The ironic way, the author described the adventures in the towns and on the
river should stand as a warning sign and remember everyone to think about the
own behaviour. Therefore, I can recommend the book, because it’s a funny
lecture about the everyday life in the Southern states.
It
shows all the different people and places in that time and let it act true with
many details in the language and other things. However, the deep moral
questions are also very interesting and made me read this book.