Film Study Worksheet for the Adventures of Huck Finn

Film Study Worksheet for The Adventures of Huck Finn

1.In voiceover at the beginning of the film, Huck says that he had never known anyone who wouldn't lie a little when the situation suited him. What specific situation was he talking about?

2. Huck is in a fist fight, which ends when he sees a boot print in the mud. He knows that the boot belongs to his father, who has apparently been away and has now returned. What is the feeling engendered in Huck at this moment?
3. At the séance, Huck is told that his father has two spirits, one good and one bad. His father listens to both voices and pays attention to the one that is more convincing. Later in the film Huck listens to two voices in his head as he must make important decisions. When do you hear Huck arguing with himself about what he should do?
4. Huck makes a mistake that he says changes his life forever the evening after he sees his father's boot print in the sand. What is the mistake, and what does Huck learn from it?
5. On the Island, it appears that Huck may have to shoot his father in order to survive. Is it chance or a reasoned decision that keeps him from killing his father?

6. Huck's plan is to make everyone think he is dead. He says, "Now that I was dead I could go where I wanted and do what I wanted." In what ways is this true, and in what ways is this incorrect?

7. Jim and Huck have a conversation about the fact that Jim has run away from slavery. Huck, too, has run away. In what ways are their escapes alike and in what ways are they different? How do their motives for escape differ?

8. Huck and Jim steal and call it borrowing. When Jim said he felt guilty about stealing, Huck told him he would get over it. Later, Jim says he would steal his wife and children if he couldn't work to buy them. This is a problem for Huck. What causes Huck to begin to change his mind about the morality of stealing things and saving a family from slavery?

9. On the river, when Huck worries about the fact that he is helping Jim escape from slavery, he says he feels wicked and that he could feel the hand of God about to take a swing at him. This scares Huck into deciding to turn Jim in to the authorities. The people Huck had known in his young life had used religion to justify slavery. There is an irony here. What is it?
10. The feud seen in the episode between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons shows Huck something important about himself and others. What does he learn during this time?

11. Once Huck is back on the river, he begins to feel better. What does he say about how the river makes him feel? What is it about the river that makes Huck feel this way?
12. The Widow Douglas tells Huck that just because an idea is popular, like slavery, it is not necessarily right. Huck seems to have learned this lesson earlier. What does Jim learn at the end of the story?
13. Huck hears the steamship at the film's end. What does he do? What is he leaving behind that he had grown to appreciate during his adventure?
14. Describe Huck's parents? What bearing does this have on the universality story and on its description of a change in American attitudes?