Study Guide
Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Chapter 1: Consider the following
Contradiction between Miss Watson’s intolerance of Huck and her belief that she was going to the “good place”: “Well, I couldn’t see no advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn’t try for it.”
Note Huck’s frankness; using that tone Twain comments on society through his young, innocent narrator.
Satire: Twain satirizes religious sensibility of the day. Huck finds widow’s teachings boring and unrelated to everyday life. Twain also satirizes Christians who profess kindness and civility (bringing in slaves to pray at night), yet buy and sell slaves as property.
Theme: Individual Freedom – Brought up in Huck’s aversion to Widow Douglas and her attempts to change him. Later journey down the river will be an escape from the hypocrisy of society’s corrupt institutions as well as a search for freedom from that society.
Questions (Cite examples from the novel to support your answers):
How does Chapter 1 foreshadow superstition in the novel?
Discuss the ways in which a young, innocent narrator can make a profound statement about the hypocrisy of his society.
Chapters 2-3: Consider the following
Jim’s superstitious beliefs are a recurrent thematic element throughout the novel.
Twain’s satire of the institution of slavery will reach its greatest height through the character of Jim.
Tom Sawyer is introduced in these chapters as a foil to Huck. Twain satirizes Tom’s romantic adventure stories and his need to do everything “by the book” (i.e. kidnapping people for ransom when he doesn’t even know what the word means).
Mississippi River is introduced as a symbolic image. Twain contrasts the freedom and peacefulness of live on the river with the corruption of life on the shore. We sense the river’s power: “. . . the river, a whole mile broad, and awful still and grand.” Watch for life on the river to ultimately become an idyllic escape for Huck and Jim.
Questions (Cite examples from the novel to support your answers):
Compare and contrast the characters of Huck and Tom.
Examine the idea that Huck, who has had more experience with breaking the law than any of the others, comes close to being excluded from the gang. Why?
Chapters 4-5: Consider the following
Look for more evidence of the recurrent theme of superstition in these chapters. Twain’s mockery of superstition is reflected in the tone of these chapters.
Questions (Cite examples from the novel to support your answers):
Analyze the relationship of Huck and his father. In what ways was he different from the ideal?
Why did the judge exchange one dollar for six thousand dollars? Was he cheating Huck? Explain.
Chapters 6-7: Consider the following
Twain’s characterization of Pap in these chapters is a sad commentary on a society that would grant custody of a child to such a father.
Twain continues to satirize Tom’s false romantic notions. Huck is practical and down-to-earth, and Twain endorses his actions by portraying him as a survivor.
Questions (Cite examples from the novel to support your answers):
Huck seems to adapt to almost any situation. He has become accustomed to civilized life with the Widow Douglas. Later he finds life in the woods carefree and easy. Analyze the character of Huck; discuss possible reasons for his adaptability.
In the novel Pap does not appear to be a civilized man. Discuss ways in which he does, however, fit into the larger society. Does he compare to the Widow Douglas in any way?
Chapters 8-9: Consider the following
The playful, relaxed tone at the beginning of Chapter 8 is set in juxtaposition to the preceding chapter where Huck frantically escapes from the clutches of his abusive father.
Twain’s theme of individual freedom is apparent in the contrast of the natural life on the island where Huck is “comfortable and satisfied,” to the respectable, hypocritical life on the shore where he faces the tyranny of his father and the Widow Douglas.
Although the island offers peace and freedom, it is also the agent of loneliness and fear.
The island and the river, symbolic of freedom, are also subjected to dangerous river currents and treacherous storms (watch for Twain’s most artistic language at those times).
Huck quickly makes his decision to help Jim escape from slavery, even though people would call him a “low-down Abolitionist.” Throughout the novel, Huck encounters this moral dilemma several times (watch for them!).
The choice between the hypocritical values of society and Huck’s friendship with Jim is the central conflict of the novel and is also where Twain employs his most biting satire. For example, Jim comments that he is not poor now because he owns himself, and his is worth $800.
Also watch for the ultimate satiric treatment of the theme of superstition, particularly when educated townspeople are shooting cannons to bring a dead body (supposedly Huck’s) to the river’s surface. Ironically, the floating bread on the water finds Huck as it was meant to do!
Questions (Cite examples from the novel to support your answers):
If Huck keeps Jim’s secret of his escape, people will call him a “low-down Abolitionist.” In what way are those words more effective when spoken by a young narrator? What is Twain’s message about the hypocritical values of his society?
Miss Watson could sell Jim for $800. He, therefore, feels rich because he owns himself. Explain Twain’s use of satire in Jim’s statement.
Chapters 10-11 Consider the following
In these chapters we begin to see Huck’s growing concern for Jim’s welfare.
In reality they are after Jim but in Huck’s close identity with Jim, it never occurs to Huck that he and Jim are not in this together.
Questions (Cite examples from the novel to support your answers):
Huck’s growing concern for Jim’s welfare is evident in many ways. Discuss the events where this concern is reflected in Huck’s behavior. In what ways does he protect Jim from danger?
Chapters 12-13 Consider the following
Chapter 12 is the beginning of the adventurous odyssey down the Mississippi. In contrast to life on the shore, the journey on the river is presented as a solemn experience where “we didn’t ever feel like talking loud, and it warn’t often that we laughed.” It would almost seem disrespectful to the “big, still river” to disturb its peacefulness. In the journey down the river we see Huck’s movement away from civilization, with its corrupt institutions , and toward the natural world of the river.
The natural beauty of the river gives the novel a mythological characteristic.
When Huck “lifts a chicken,” or “borrows a watermelon,” Twain is satirizing the human need to rationalize our wrongdoings. It is another attach on Pap, who brought Huck up to believe it is all right to “borrow” things if one intends to bring them back someday.
As Huck and Jim escape from the steamboat leaving the robbers to die, Huck’s conscience begins to bother him, and he decides to find help for them. As his relationship with Jim deepens, Huck shows a growing concern for other human beings as well.
Questions (Cite examples from the novel to support your answers):
Huck’s journey on the river is filled with adventures, but it is also a symbolic journey. What does his journey symbolize? How does his relationship with Jim tie in to the symbolism? Compare the symbolism of the shore to that of the river.
Chapters 14-15 Consider the following
In three more nights Huck and Jim intend to reach Cairo, Illinois, where they will pick up the Ohio River and travel north into the free states.
In Chapter 14, Huck and Jim’s new reading material stimulates discussion about kings and dukes. Their easy bantering back and forth illustrates their human characteristics. Twain’s satiric treatment of royalty is evident in this scene.
Talk of Louis XVI and his son, the “Dolphin” (Dauphin) is a foreshadowing of the conmen’s appearance as the king and the duke in Chapter 19.
There is imminent danger that Jim and Huck will be permanently separated when they lose sight of each other in the fog one night. Huck is immediately “dismal and lonesome.” The threat of possible separation has brought their relationship into painful focus.
Jim’s heart was broken when he thought Huck was lost, and Jim learns that Huck would not have played a trick on him “if I’d ‘a’ knowed it would make him feel that way.”
Questions (Cite examples from the novel to support your answers):
The relationship between Huck and Jim is brought into focus in these chapters. How does their frightening separation in the fog draw them closer together? How do they feel about each other at this point in the novel?
In what ways does Twain satirize royalty in these chapters?
Chapters 16-17 Consider the following
Painfully aware that he is helping a slave escape to freedom, Huck’s conscience suddenly bothers him. For the second time, Huck faces a moral decision forcing him to come to grips with the idea that he is helping a slave escape. This time he cannot seem to rationalize his actions as he has done before.
Twain’s biting satire reaches its greatest height when Huck censures Jim for wanting to steal his own wife and children. Huck, a product of the society of his day, believes that Jim’s rights to his own children are superseded by those of the slave-owner.
Huck eventually makes a choice not to turn Jim in, but in doing so he also believes he has done the wrong thing. Ironically, he sees his choice as a weakness, when in reality it is his greatest strength.
Note the point at which the raft drifts south of Cairo, taking the journey deeper into slave territory. It is at this point, critics believe, Twain’s difficulty with the plot caused him to set the book aside for two years.
The ease with which Huck pulls up a believable story to tell the Grangerfords characterizes him as a young boy with an amazing understanding of the foibles of human nature.
Huck’s lengthy description of the Grangerford house, decorated with gaudy furnishings and drawings, is a satire against morbid art and poor taste in decorating.
Questions (Cite examples from the novel to support your answers):
Huck makes a moral decision concerning Jim’s freedom in Chapter 16. How does this decision affect Huck as a character in the novel? Discuss the first time in the novel that he made a decision to help Jim escape to freedom. How did the decision affect him then?
There is irony in the statement Jim makes about stealing his children. In what way is it ironic that Jim’s children belong to someone else? Why did Huck feel it was morally wrong for Jim to claim his children as his own?
Chapters 18-19: Consider the following
Huck’s description of Colonel Grangerford paints a picture of a typical aristocratic landowner of the day. Twain satirizes aristocratic gentlemen for being well-born, and that’s worth “as much in a man as it is in a horse.”
Feud: Started 30 years ago, but no one knows why. Further criticism of aristocratic pretensions of respectability.
Sunday: Grangerfords and Shepherdsons sit in church together with guns held “between their knees” while they listen to minister’s sermon on brotherly love.
Ironically, there is a controlled sense of respectability in Colonel Grangerford’s gentle reprimand to Buck for “shooting from behind a bush,” rather than bravely stepping out into the road to defend the family honor. The Colonel’s expectations for a 13-year-old boy make his values seem even more incongruous, especially when the 13-year-old does not even know why they are feuding.
The scene on the raft is appropriately set in juxtaposition to the bloody feud between the Shepherdsons and the Grangerfords. It brings to light the corruption and hypocrisy on the shore in opposition to the idyllic life on the raft where peace and harmony prevail.
Ironically, the raft is small, but Huck feels that “Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don’t.”
Questions (Cite examples from the novel to support your answers):
Harney Sheperdson and Miss Sophia are victims of the feud between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons. Compare and contrast their conflict with that of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Was Huck sympathetic with the young couple?
Twain employs satire throughout the novel to speak out against the hypocrisy and corruption in his society. In what way is the church service, attended by the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons, an attack on the religion of Twain’s day?
Life on the raft is contrasted sharply with the violence and bloodshed Huck has recently encountered on the shore. How does this contrast bring out the theme of freedom in the novel? How does Huck feel about life on the raft? How does Jim feel?
Chapter 20-21: Consider the following
Huck must necessarily produce another story at this point. It is understood that Huck stories are, ironically, a necessary ploy for the survival of an innately moral young man caught up in a pretentious, hypocritical society.
Note Twain’s description (again) of the thunderstorm in these chapters. Huck’s appreciation for the natural world around him is again brought out in his artistic description of the storm.
In the camp meeting scene Twain is satirizing the gullibility of the people who hang on the king’s every word, allowing the king to manipulate the crowd out of $87.25.