How can your life be applied to a
plot diagram?
Based on your life so far, what would
you say is the “climax” of your life?
Adventures of Huck Finn
The Climax
King and the Duke’s Evil Plan
 Huck and Jim tried to give the King and Duke
the slip, but fail.
 So, the King and the Duke do something about
it. What?
– Sell Jim for $40.00
 What does this tell you about the King and the
Duke?
– Just as evil if not more evil than Pap
 What does this tell us about Jim’s role?
– He is the “brains” and the “glue” that holds them
together
Huck’s Realization
 Huck realizes the depth of the conmen
when Duke lies about Jim’s
whereabouts—especially after the guilt
trip he lays on them.
 At first he was willing to go along with
their lies to keep the peace and now he
realizes the dangers of that
Huck’s Breakdown
 Huck feels LOST without Jim and we see him break
down with emotion for the first time. He has to make an
important decision:
 Free Jim or Write to Widow Douglass and
send him home/back into slavery.
 Huck makes his decision: Huck decides he’d rather do
the WRONG thing and free Jim and go to Hell than do
the RIGHT thing and allow Jim to be a slave. HUCK
HAS INTEGRITY, but he never thinks that he is doing
the right thing!!!!
Tests his Morality on Aunt Sally
 Aunt Sally is relieved that no “people”
died when Huck’s imaginary steamship
went aground—only a black person did.
How is this a test?
Given this information:
 What is the CLIMAX (highest point of
action) of the novel?
– Jim is sold
 What is the DENOUEMENT (the “ah-ha”
turning point where a character realizes
something) of the novel?
– When Huck makes his decision to free Jim
Huck has severed his
relationship with society
completely.
Can he go back?
Satire in Huck Finn
 What is satire?
– Satire is a kind of literature that tries to open
people’s eyes to the need for change by
exposing the flaws of a person or society
 What is irony?
– Irony as you may recall is a contrast between
what appears to be true and what IS true, or
between what is expected to happen and what
actually happens.
Satire in Huck Finn
 Example: Government Judicial system:
 Pap is an example of satirizing the government
judicial system because of his relationship to
Judge Thatcher and his son. You expect a father
to care about his son, but he scolds him about
learning to read and “getting religion.” We may
laugh at Pap, but we should also be aware of the
messages: the new judge is too easily tricked by
Pap’s “Reformation” and there is something wrong
with a system that would let Pap take Huck.
Find an example for each of these in
the novel
 Man’s Cruelty to Man
 Religious Hypocrisy
 Romanticism (look in your notes to recall
what this is)
 Superstition
With your partner…
 Create a satirical cartoon representing one
of these examples that you have found.
 Sketch a rough draft in your packet, then
create a beautiful one on the paper
provided.