XII. Huck Finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
A Boxful of character
Now that you have read most of the novel, you should know the various characters pretty
well. Therefore, if you had to compile a character’s personality into one box, what items
would you put in the box?
What is a life box? A life box is a container of carefully chosen items that represent a
particular character in a novel, in this case, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Directions:
Create a life box for one character in Huck Finn. The box must be decorated on the
outside, as fitting the character. The box must contain six to eight items the character
might use daily or have as a keepsake.
You must, however, justify your items. In addition to the items in the box, you must
present a written explanation as to why you have chosen this particular item to represent
your character.
Requirements for Written Explanation:
1)
Write the explanation of each item on one side of an individual index card.
2)
Find a direct quotation from the novel that justifies your choice of item. Write
this direct textual evidence on the other side of the individual index card.
Due Date: Monday, December 15th
Assessment:
1.
Did the student find six to eight items?
2.
Did the items represent the character appropriately?
3.
Did the student support his/her choices with textual support?
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A brief History of the “N” Word
*History often traced to the Latin word “niger,” meaning “black”.
*Became the noun “negro” (black person) in English.
*Probable that “nigger” is a phonetic spelling of the white Southern mispronounciation of
“negro.”
*Early 1800s: firmly established as a degenerative nickname.
*21st century: remains a principal symbol of white racism regardless of who is using it.
*Historically, “nigger” defined, limited, made fun of, and ridiculed all blacks.
*Although nigger has been used to refer to any person of known African ancestry, it is
usually directed against blacks who supposedly have certain negative characteristics.
*Use of “nigger” by African Americans:
*argument is that the word has to be understood in its situation, that repeated use of the
word by blacks will make it less offensive;
*not really the same word b/c whites are saying “nigger” but blacks are saying “niggah”;
*also, it is just a word and blacks should not be prisoners of the past or the ugly words
that originated from the past;
*within the African-American community, the word and its derivations can be used to
denote affection, camaraderie, power, and disdain.
*Randall Kennedy argues that the word nigger should be usable by all people as long as
no one is being harmed. “There is nothing necessarily wrong with a white person saying
nigger, just like there is nothing necessarily wrong with a black person saying it. What
should matter is the context in which the word is spoken.”
*“Only when African Americans stand up and demand that their own culture stops using
the word in any context, will they have the moral authority to insist that the word not be
used anywhere else, by anyone else.”
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Conflict in Huckleberry Finn
The first chapters of a novel usually introduce readers to the conflicts, or struggles that
the characters will face throughout the course of the story. EXTERNAL CONFLICTS
are struggles between characters who have different goals or between a character and
forces of nature. INTERNAL CONFLICTS are psychological struggles that characters
experience when they are unhappy or face difficult decisions. EXTERNAL
CONFLICTS can often trigger INTERNAL CONFLICTS.
Directions: Using the first ten chapters of Huck Finn, think over all of the conflicts
presented, both external and internal and fill out the chart below. You must have AT
LEAST 5 conflicts. If you find more, use the back of this sheet to document them. Be
sure that you are clear in your explanation of the conflict in order to receive full credit!
1. _______________________ vs. ________________________
Explanation of conflict:
2. ______________________ vs. _________________________
Explanation of conflict:
3. ______________________ vs. _________________________
Explanation of conflict:
4. _____________________ vs. __________________________
Explanation of conflict:
5. _____________________ vs. ___________________________
Explanation of conflict:
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Consider the following things as you read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:
1.
Setting of novel: Mississippi River Valley from St. Petersburg, Missouri to St.
Louis.
2.
Point of view: Told in first person point of view from the eyes of Huck.
3.
Time period: Around 1840 (thus, pre-Civil War).
4.
Should we take Twain at his word when he tells us, at the beginning of the novel,
“Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons
attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it
will be shot”?
5.
Is this novel a book that can only be read and enjoyed by children? What are its
elements that make it a good child’s adventure story?
6.
What are the elements in this novel that make it decidedly not for children?
7.
Why is Twain’s depiction of Jim so controversial?
8.
Analyze the different ways Twain uses humor in this novel and then consider its
purpose and effectiveness in this novel.
9.
Examine the structure (the pattern of organization involving the sequence of
events) of this novel. What does Huck’s alternation between the land and the water
represent or symbolize.
10.
Speculate about reasons why Twain had so much difficulty completing this book
(begun in 1876, it was finally finished in 1884—at one point, Twain was desperate
enough to consider killing Huck off via a steamboat accident).
11.
Why did Ernest Hemingway, among others, admire this novel so much?
According to Ernest Hemingway, it was the "one book" from which "all modern
American literature" came, and contemporary critics and scholars have treated it as one
of the greatest American works of art.
12.
HF as an initiation story?
13.
Note all the examples of lies, games, tricks, and deceptions that proliferate in this
work.
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Do the right thing:
Huck and morality
Huck’s sense of morality in the book at times seems quite flexible. He tells fibs on
occasion and, indeed, seems to think that the occasional “stretcher” is ok. At the same
time, he believes his word is his bond.
Throughout the novel, Huck is troubled by the tensions between what society tells him is
“right” and his own sense of morality—his conscience. In this exercise, you will closely
analyze Huck’s behavior throughout the first 15 chapters of the novel in order to better
understand his moral choices and conflicts.
Directions: For the following statements, find AT LEAST TWO SPECIFIC
EXAMPLES from Chapters 1-15.
1.
find two examples of huck fibbing, fudging, or exaggerating the truth:
2.
Find two examples of huck obeying social conventions and authority:
3.
find two examples of huck disobeying social conventions and authority:
4.
find two examples of huck doing the “right” thing:
5.
find two examples of huck doing the “wrong” thing:
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Huck finn
Mini-research project
Due: thursday, dec. 4th
Many literary critics have, throughout the years, discussed the function of the Duke/King
episode in Huck Finn. While some critics say that the episode detracts from the main
storyline of Huck and Jim, other critics argue that it plays a pivotal role in the book as a
whole.
In this assignment, you are going to do a bit of research into the function of the
Duke/King episode in Huck Finn. Here are some questions that need to be addressed in
this “mini-research project”:
1.
What aspect of human nature does Twain criticize through the Sherburn-Boggs
fight and aftermath?
2.
What is Twain implying about human nature through the advertising for the
“Royal Nonesuch” (the second play)?
3.
Why is Huck's response to the Wilks family con so strong in Chapter XXIV (24)?
Why does Huck make moral evaluations now (you'll recall that he remained morally
neutral concerning the prior schemes of the duke and king)?
4.
What function does the Duke/King section serve to the novel as a whole? Why
did Twain include them in his book?
Using the Internet (or any other outside research tool), investigate these questions, and in
a well-written paragraph, give a summary of HOW and WHY the Duke/King episode is
important to the novel as a whole according to the information you have found. The
paragraph must be AT LEAST ½ pages long and must be TYPED!
______________________________________________________________________
To many Americans, Mark Twain’s book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is
considered a classic and is read in classrooms as a rite of passage for growing up. Written
in 1884, Twain tells the childhood adventure of Huck Finn, a white boy who has no
family and a great deal of money. In a turn of events, he runs away down the Mississippi
River with an escaped slave, Jim. The two form a bond and learn about growing up,
adventure, conscience and loyalty. Some say, however, that a better ending to the story
could have been written and that the ending was a failure on Twain’s part. This essay will
argue that the ending was indeed, a failure, and show the reasons why.
Twain’s failure is argued by author Ernest Hemingway. He felt the ending of Huck Finn
was “cheating.” His reasoning comes from two facts; one, it was a not a realistic ending.
The fact that Huck and Jim just happen to come to the farm and meet up with the family
that was related to Tom Sawyer is not realistic and would have been nearly impossible to
coincidentally find a family that Tom knew on the huge area of the Mississippi River.
The other reason Hemingway thought the ending was a failure was that Tom Sawyer
stepped in during the last eight chapters, saved the day and brushed Huck and Jim out of
the way. Their friendship took back seat to all the work, cruel scheming and adventuring
that Tom was planning for Jim’s escape from the Phelps plantation. This was a “cop-out”
to some who felt Jim and Huck could have been further developed in that time.
Hemingway, along with others, felt the ending took away from the main point of the
book, the moral and ethical responsibilities of people and as a coming of age story. Tom
Sawyer simply takes the story back to the “non-story” which was the book, Tom Sawyer,
a plain adventure book that had no ethical undertones, as Huck Finn did. Huck was a
moral voice and the story delved deeper into emotion and made the reader think about
issues more serious than what steamboat to get on and which house to rob.
Another writer David Bradley felt that, like Hemingway, there were problems with
Twain’s ending like why no one in America has been able “to suggest-- much less write...
a better ending as he did or write any ending at all” for Huck Finn besides the one Twain
came up with. Experts in literature and others feel that there is an explanation for this.
Twain writes in the ending that Jim is freed in Miss Watson’s will and that Huck is free
from the grasp of his terrible father’s beatings. This freedom causes two questions to be
raised: why is Tom so cruel in his part of Jim’s escape and what was Huck really running
from- his father or from society?
The reason these questions will never be answered and why there will never be a
better ending is because America as a society has never been able to rise above social
classes and their given upbringings and that America has not yet become sophisticated
enough to deal with the role of slavery in American history and to rise above it.
American society is partly at blame for this problem. As youngsters, many are taught
to go with what their parents have taught them and to act the way they were raised. Tom
was raised with a family who supported him and a decent household. Though he had this
background, that didn’t stop him from taking advantage of people and being cruel for fun.
Huck was raised in a totally opposite household that had practically no morals, and yet he
turned out better than Tom did. With the type of language and ideals Pap placed in
Huck’s mind, it’s amazing he was able to act with the convictions he did.
America will never be able to come into the mind set of its best and moral citizens,
like Jim, who was willing to be different to get his point across. Though relationships and
helping Huck was probably a taboo subject, Jim did what he had to do to get free and
help Huck to do the same. This difference was evidence that Jim had more moral
character than any of his white counterparts. Other people, like Huck’s Pap, were the bad
part of society that was against slaves receiving rights and getting anything more or the
same that white people received. Pap’s uneducated attitude was the type of behavior that
shows that white people may not always be correct and his idea that he was smarter than
any black person was wrong. His mind frame was reason that slavery continued as long
as it did.
In the case of Miss Watson, she was a good and moral enough woman to free her
slave after she was dead, but not quite ethical enough to mind owning slaves. She was a
person who chose not to have to deal with her values while she was alive, but took the
easy road and had no questions to answer to those who objected to it. Her heart was in the
right place in freeing Jim, but she was still a slave owner and that was the matter at hand.
It was her dilemma to think Jim ran away because of her, but yet, she thought nothing of
tearing apart Jim’s family while he was her slave.
Something of significance that Twain put in the end of the book was that Miss Watson
was truly sorry for not freeing Jim earlier: “Old Miss Watson died two months ago, and
she was ashamed she ever was going to sell him down the river, and said so, and set him
free in her will ” (317). This showed that Jim’s freedom was a moral issue that was to be
taken care of and meant something to her. Obviously Miss Watson did care for Jim, but
she chose to go with the norm of society and try to do what people around her would
accept her. This may not be what all Americans did, but it many people, like Miss
Watson, wait until it is too late to take responsibility for their actions so they won’t have
to deal with it. Her lapse in character was part of Twain’s failure.
Huck, on the other hand, also was free by the end of the book. His freedom, however,
was from his father. His situation came to a seemingly easy ending: stay with the Phelps
and be adopted by Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas. This would have been convenient and it
would give him the family he had always wanted, but Huck, unlike Miss Watson, went
above the easy route he had seen other people do and decided to go off on his own and
not be tied down. He doesn’t want to be trapped by his morals and by society. Twain
says, “But I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt
Sally she’s going to adopt and sivilize me and I can’t stand it. I been there before (321),”
as a way to show Huck’s understanding of the importance of freedom in his life. His
difference was that he made the conscious decision to get away from a society that
condoned slavery as a moral issue and get out while he was alive, not (like Miss Watson)
when he was dead and wouldn’t have to worry about the consequences. Though is seems
like Huck is also avoiding society by running away, he is trying at least to become a
better person and make his life more meaningful than it is.
Huck Finn as a whole thinking, feeling novel was not a failure. It was Twain’s dream
and idea to spin the tale the way it was written in the 1880’s. The ending, however, was
not written the way many felt it should have been. Twain’s power of pen and paper was
wasted in the last eight chapters of Huck Finn and could have been better spent without
Tom Sawyer. It wasn’t though, and now it’s up to Americans as a whole and as a society
to write a better ending in the case of slavery and not just Twain’s book, to better close a
chapter on one of the country’s worst times.
THE PHELPS FARM, SHERBURN, AND THE UNDERTAKER
Besides debates over the censorship of Huckleberry Finn and over the propriety of
teaching it in public schools, no other issue about the book has spawned as much
controversy as the ending. Ernest Hemingway described the end of the novel as
"cheating" (11) (he seemed to be speaking aesthetically), while Lionel Trilling and T. S.
Eliot saw "a certain formal aptness" to it. (12) Leo Marx took the high ground by
proclaiming that the ending is morally bankrupt, while James M. Cox argued that it is
supremely moral. Numerous (almost innumerable) critics have sprung up to take sides
and to slightly complicate these four basic positions about the ending. By examining
Huck's morality of practical wisdom, through which he demonstrates a continual
understanding of the contingency of his moral decisions, and of himself as a moral agent,
I argue that the ending if fitting in that it demonstrates Huck's ability to navigate
increasingly complex moral situations and to successfully mediate a multiplicity of
competing voices, all of which make claims on Huck as a moral agent.
The concrete situation Huck must navigate at the Phelps farm is quite complex, more
complex than any situation he has yet faced. He goes there to help Jim gain his freedom,
but Tom's appearance immediately complicates the situation. Not only must Huck, in
remaining open to the voices of his surrounding community, take into account Tom's
voice, but he must also figure the Phelpses into the equation as well. Each one of these
voices demands something different from Huck: Tom wants Huck to follow him into
romantic escapades and follow his rules, the Phelpses want him to behave properly, and
Jim, of course, wants freedom.
The reintroduction of Tom Sawyer at this point in the novel seems to be Twain's parting
satirical shot at the insanity of placing such high value on abstract precepts that are
obviously inadequate to address reality. In the terms of this study, Twain demonstrates
the inadequacy of techne through Tom's antics. Critics following Leo Marx see this as the
most critical problem of the last chapters, in that by submitting to Tom's (largely literary)
authority, Huck implicates himself in the actions that unnecessarily extend Jim's
suffering. In this vein, Marx writes, "Most of those traits which made him [Huck] so
appealing a hero now disappear" (296). Critics sometimes say Huck is subsumed by Tom,
(13) and Neil Schmitz asserts that Huck's discourse is taken from him by Tom (68). In
one of the more ingenious readings of the ending, Keith Opdahl argues that the ending is
weaker because it, quantitatively, lacks the amount of first-person narration (the
communication of Huck's inner-life and feelings to the audience) that the first part of the
novel has. Opdahl's excellent observation is well-taken, but when viewing Huck's
morality through phronesis and Huck's sense of contingency, Opdahl's observations help
strengthen my claims about the strength of the ending. Huck's situation at the Phelps farm
is so complex, and he has to navigate such a multiplicity of voices and demands, that he
has much less room for himself and his own considerations. Huck does indeed get
subsumed, but not just by Tom. Instead, his person is subsumed in the multiplicity of
voices competing for his attention and action. Huck's narration effectively realizes this,
and therefore reflects the complex contingency of his situation. Hence, Huck does less
communicating of his inner-feelings.
Tom H. Towers well describes the difficulty of Huck's situation when he says that the last
chapters demonstrate
how decisively he [Huck] has entered the world of contingency
and complication which for Huck, and Twain, is a hell
far worse than the dreariest imaginings of Miss Watson. Nor
can Tom be held finally responsible for the events of the last
chapters. He is merely the personification of the trouble that
Huck has chosen. Even if Tom had not re-entered the story,
and even if Huck had freed Jim from the Phelps farm as easily
as he might have, the pursuit of the slave-hunters would be
renewed; and as the Phelps chapters suggest, that pursuit
would be more dangerous than before. And, with or without
Tom, Phelps' advertising of Jim's--and Huck's--secret.
[...] It is not even the case that Tom's desire for intrigue
mesmerizes Huck to the peril of this character. Tom's romancing
is just another trouble Huck must deal with. Since Tom knows
both Huck's and Jim's secrets, Huck must first placate him
and in the end take him along. (35)
Towers' explanation of this scene is excellent for demonstrating the complexity of the
predicament Huck and Jim face. I only want to modify slightly the way Towers
characterizes Huck's view of Tom. Huck does not just "deal with" Tom's romancing on
his way to setting Jim free his own way; instead, Huck maintains a sincere and open
communication with Tom, just as he has with the other characters, and he takes Tom's
views seriously. In fact, he admires Tom immensely. Thus, if Huck listens seriously to
people he doesn't admire, like Pap and Miss Watson, how much more consideration will
he give to Tom's perspective? Of course, this is not to say that Huck is completely
submissive to Tom. He continually questions him on the practicality of his plans and
occasionally makes an outright suggestion. Thus, he is able to navigate Tom's voice of
mostly literary authority, while also heeding Jim's need for freedom. It seems that the
third voice of this community, the Phelps's voice, is often least heeded by Huck.
However, Huck periodically mentions Aunt Sally's possible consternation over their
activities to Tom (303). Huck's openness to Aunt Sally is most clearly seen, though, when
she talks to Huck after Tom has been shot, and trusts him to stay in his room through the
night, even though he desires to be with Jim and Tom. Huck listens to her and decides to
stay in his room: "Laws knows I wanted to go, bad enough, to see about Tom, and was all
intending to go; but after that [Aunt Sally's admonition] I wouldn't a went, not for
kingdoms" (351).
By maintaining a basic relational openness to those surrounding him, and employing a
morality that is based on what is contingent and on the concrete situation instead of
abstractions, Huck successfully navigates an extremely complex situation at the Phelps
farm. One could question whether or not Huck would have been successful had Jim not
already been free, but such questions are ultimately moot since Tom's behavior would
have been different, and Huck's actions, through practical wisdom, would always adapt to
the situation.
The Phelps farm section concludes the novel with Huck's greatest moral accomplishment.
If anything about the last chapters is "cheating," it is the last paragraph in which Huck
sets out alone for the Territory. Like Michael Boughn, I too read "deep sadness" in
Huck's decision to head for the Territory (46). It seems like a rejection of community,
with all its attendant moral complexities, that Huck has so well learned to navigate. And
since Huck's morality based on contingency implies an understanding of the self that only
exists as contingent, his rejection of community "means rejecting some possibility of a
further self' (Boughn 46). Phronesis is about possibility. Where techne must fit all moral
situations into some predetermined plan of behavior or set of precepts, phronesis allows
for infinite possibility--Huck leaves much of that behind, it seems, to live apart from
community in the Territory.
One the other hand, after all Huck has been through, perhaps the idea of a temporary
vacation (a getting away from one's usual community) is not a bad one. For, even with
his escape to the Territory, I do not want to place Huck in the same category as Sherburn,
the loner who Twain handles rather ambivalently. Even though Sherburn looks Boggs
straight in the eyes when he shoots him, and even though he looks the community straight
on when he calls them cowards, at bottom, Sherburn is the novel's greatest coward,
morally, when viewed through the lens of phronesis. Sherburn stands alone with his
moral precepts of manhood which only serve to isolate him from the community. He is,
perhaps, afraid of the complicated moral contingencies that life in a community entails.
For Sherburn, it is easier to stand on his porch and preach a stern message than it is to
navigate the demands of life with others.
Huck, though, is no Sherburn. Instead, he is more comparable to the undertaker he
witnesses at Mr. Wilkes's funeral. Huck, in admiration, describes the undertaker in
action:
When the place was packed full, the undertaker slid around in
his black gloves with his softy soothering ways, putting on
the last touches, and getting people and things all ship-shape
and comfortable, and making no more sound than a cat. He
never spoke; he moved people around, he squeezed in late
ones, he opened up passage-ways, and done it all with nods,
and signs with his hands. Then he took his place over against
the wall. He was the softest, glidingest, stealthiest man I ever
see. (236)
Huck, like the undertaker, is also quite stealthy. He has a knack for accomplishing what
he needs to without anyone noticing and getting his way while still keeping everyone
happy. But the key moment for the undertaker comes when a dog gets hold of a rat during
the service and causes not a little commotion. The undertaker, quite unobtrusively, and
effectively, takes care of the problem and satisfies the people's curiosity by notifying
everyone of the source of the noise: "He had a rat!" the undertaker explains. There is no
book of etiquette that outlines the proper behavior for such a situation; no techne would
be adequate to what the undertaker accomplishes. Huck praises his handling of the
situation: "You could see it was a great satisfaction to the people, because naturally they
wanted to know. A little thing like that don't cost nothing, and it's just the little things that
makes a man to be looked up to and liked. There warn't no more popular man in town
than what the undertaker was" (237). And, in the end, Huck is popular as well. He has
maintained community, kept himself open to many voices and many possibilities, and he
has helped a friend in need of his help. Quite an accomplishment for an adolescent boy!
Paul Ricoeur has written that "Few ideas today are as healthy and as liberating as the idea
that there is a practical reason but not a science of practice" (199). Ricoeur argues that a
healthy understanding of morality realizes that action is governed by what is plausible,
not by what is demanded. Huck's is a practical ethics, an ethics of phronesis, of
possibility. By giving us Huck, Twain has given his readers a breath of fresh air; for in
our time as in his, there are pressures that work to force us into narrower visions of
morality, narrower views of what is possible. We need art and criticism of art that helps
us realize that few things are actually ever demanded of us, that there is no "science of
practice," but that the ethical universe is always full of possibilities, if we only have the
courage, like Huck, to open ourselves up to them.
______________________________________________________________________
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Essential Themes and Topics:
*Exclusion of groups of people—racial oppression
*Abolition of slavery
*Naturalism: nature’s indifference to man
*The development of regional literature
*The development of the English language
*Language as an identifying marker of social status and education
*Literature as a commentary of social ills, human vices, and the oppression of various
subgroups
*Huck Finn: The “All-American Boy”:
*The American male archetype
*Limitation of women’s role
*1st person narration and the use of dialect
*Natural vs. learned intelligence and morality
*American geography and nature symbolism
_____________________________________________________________________
Huck Finn Discussion Questions
Chapters 1-10
Directions: Read over the following questions and answer them completely on a
SEPARATE piece of paper!
1.
Compare and contrast the characters of Tom and Huck. Based on what you’ve
read so far, how are the two boys alike? How are they different?
2.
Twain makes heavy use of dialect in the novel. Why? (“To make me crazy” is
not an answer).
3.
Critics have called Huck an “unreliable” narrator. What does it mean that he is
“unreliable”? What is it about Huck that makes him “unreliable”?
4.
The first section of the novel ends with Huck’s staged death. In what ways does
this serve as a symbolic function? How is this related to Huck’s escape on the river?
5.
In the first 10 chapters of the novel, one of the major themes of the book has
already been set into motion: Appearance vs. Reality. Go back through these chapters
and find as many examples as you can which correspond with this theme.
6.
The idea of religion is mentioned frequently. Go back through these chapters and
find when religion is mentioned and how it is treated by the characters. Is Twain making
a comment about religion? If so, what? (Don’t forget, to some people, the belief of
superstitions is a kind of “religion.”)
Huck Finn Discussion Questions
Chapters 1-10
Directions: Read over the following questions and answer them completely on a
SEPARATE piece of paper!
7.
Compare and contrast the characters of Tom and Huck. Based on what you’ve
read so far, how are the two boys alike? How are they different?
8.
Twain makes heavy use of dialect in the novel. Why? (“To make me crazy” is
not an answer).
9.
Critics have called Huck an “unreliable” narrator. What does it mean that he is
“unreliable”? What is it about Huck that makes him “unreliable”?
10.
The first section of the novel ends with Huck’s staged death. In what ways does
this serve as a symbolic function? How is this related to Huck’s escape on the river?
11.
In the first 10 chapters of the novel, one of the major themes of the book has
already been set into motion: Appearance vs. Reality. Go back through these chapters
and find as many examples as you can which correspond with this theme.
12.
The idea of religion is mentioned frequently. Go back through these chapters and
find when religion is mentioned and how it is treated by the characters. Is Twain making
a comment about religion? If so, what? (Don’t forget, to some people, the belief of
superstitions is a kind of “religion.”)
HUCKLEBERRY Finn
Discussion Questions
Chapters 16-19
Directions: As you read chapters 16-19 in Huck Finn, please answer the following
questions COMPLETELY!
1.
What does Jim plan to do when he becomes a free man? What is Huck’s reaction
to the plan?
*pg.66-7: Jim tells Huck that once he got to a Free State, he would start saving up
money, enough to buy his wife who was a slave on a farm near the Widow Douglas’s
house. Then, they would both work hard to buy back their children, and if their master
wouldn’t give them up, they’d get an Abolitionist to help them steal their children.
Huck, already upset about helping Jim to freedom, gets even more upset after
hearing this plan b/c he feels bad about “helping” Jim steal “property” from a man who
hasn’t done anything bad to him. He makes up his mind to go onto shore and turn Jim in
the first chance he gets.
2.
Why do the bounty hunters give Huck money? What is ironic about their reaction
to Huck’s story?
*pg. 68-9: The bounty hunters give Huck money b/c they feel sorry for him. Huck has
told them that his father is sick on the raft and needs help. The men believe that Huck’s
“father” has smallpox and won’t dare go near the raft, so they feel guilty and both give
him a 20 dollar piece since they cannot physically go and help Huck’s “father”.
The irony is that by giving Huck money, they are also giving Jim, a runaway
slave money, thus making it easier for Jim to escape to the free states, thus helping Jim
run away (something that they are supposed to be trying to prevent!).
3.
What does the destruction of the “naturally” created raft by the “industrially”
created steamboat symbolize?
*pg. 71: Perhaps Twain is making a statement that the beauty of the naturalness of the
Mississippi River is slowly being polluted and destroyed by industrialization as
symbolized by the steamboat. Ironic in that Twain’s ultimate fantasy in life was to be a
steamboatman. Also could mirror Huck’s fight against being “sivilized” by the Widow
Douglas and Miss Watson.
4.
16?
What is significant about the decision about Jim that Huck makes during Chapter
*pg. 67: Huck has the perfect opportunity to turn Jim in when he is confronted by the
bounty hunters—he had set off to shore with the determination that he WAS going to turn
Jim in b/c he felt so bad about doing something illegal which had the potential to hurt
people who didn’t deserve to be hurt.
However, as Huck is setting off for shore, Jim tells Huck that he is the best friend that
he’s ever had, making it more difficult for Huck to go and turn him in. The guilt begins
to eat Huck up and when Jim addes that Huck is the only white man that has kept his
promise to him, Huck REALLY struggles with his mission. After he lies to the bounty
hunters, Huck rationalizes not turning Jim in by saying that he wouldn’t feel any better if
he had done it than he would if he had not done it, so he decides from then on to just do
what was handiest and not think about what would make him feel better.
5.
What happens to Huck and Jim’s plans to connect with the Ohio River in Cairo,
Illinois?
*Huck and Jim quickly realize that they have passed Cairo while during the fog incident.
They plan on taking the canoe and going back up stream, but then the canoe gets stolen.
They are now at the mercy of the current of the Mississippi River, a current that is
leading them deep into slave states (NOT a good thing for Jim!)
6.
Speculate on why Twain put Huckleberry Finn aside for two years at the end of
Chapter 16 (XVI).
*As indicated in the biography of Twain, Twain had intended this book to be a “true”
sequel to Tom Sawyer, but at the point where Huck makes a stupendous moral decision,
not NOT follow the white man’s law and turn Jim in, this book begins to travel down a
different path, not one about the hijinks of a young boy running away from home. Now it
is a book dealing with a more serious subject, vastly different from the more innocent
aspects depicted in Tom Sawyer.
7.
Describe the Grangerford house. What is satirical about the furnishings, art, and
poetry? What does this description say about the Grangerfords?
*Huck's stay at the Grangerfords represents another instance of Twain poking fun at
American tastes and at the conceits of romantic literature. For Huck, who has never really
had a home aside from the Widow Douglas's rather spartan house, the Grangerford house
looks like a palace. Huck's admiration is genuine but naïve, for the Grangerfords and
their place are somewhat absurd.
In the figure of deceased Emmeline Grangerford, Twain pokes fun at Victorian
literature's propensity for mourning and melancholy. Indeed, Emmeline's hilariously
awful artwork and poems mock popular works of the time. The combination of
overzealous bad taste and inherently sad subject matter in Emmeline's art is both bizarre
and comical: as we learn, Emmeline was so enthusiastic in her artistic pursuits that she
usually beat the undertaker to a new corpse. Huck, meanwhile, feels uneasy about the
macabre aspect of Emmeline's work. His attempts to accept her art and life remind us that
sometimes laughter is insensitive: Emmeline and her subjects were all real people who
died, after all.
8.
Describe what has caused the Grangerford-Shepherdson feud. Does this remind
you of another famous piece of literature? Explain.
*Through the Grangerford-Shepherdson feud, Twain is satrizing the romantic notion of
“family honor.” No one still alive in either the Grangerford family or the Shepherdson
family remembers what started the feud, but they blindly and stupidly carry on the
tradition without questioning it. Should remind you of Romeo and Juliet.
9.
What happens to the Grangerford men (as a result of the feud)? How does this
illustrate Twain's theme of "man's inhumanity to his fellow man?"
10.
Huck and Jim’s manner of dress in Chapter 19 (XIX) on the raft is symbolic.
Explain its symbolism.
*pg. 90: Huck and Jim are often without clothes on the raft. Clothes symbolize
civilization and without them, they are as close to nature as one can get: a kind of
Edenistic existance on the river (look at how Huck describes their life on the river at the
beginning of this chapter).
11.
Two men join Huck and Jim on the raft in Chapter 19. Who do they claim to be?
*Huck comes upon two men on shore fleeing some trouble and begging to be let onto the
raft. Huck takes them a mile downstream to safety. One man is about seventy, bald, with
whiskers, and the other about thirty. Both men's clothes are badly tattered. The men do
not know each other but are in similar predicaments. The younger man used to sell a
paste that was meant to remove tartar from teeth but that took off much of the enamel
with it. He fled to avoid the locals' ire. The older man used to run a temperance revival
meeting but had to flee after word got out that he drank.
Having heard each other's stories, the two men, both professional con artists, decide to
team up. The younger man declares himself an impoverished English duke and gets Huck
and Jim to wait on him and treat him like royalty. The old man then reveals his true
identity as the dauphin, the long lost son of King Louis XVI of France. Huck and Jim
then wait on the men and call them “Duke” and “Your Majesty,” respectively. Huck
quickly realizes that the two men are liars, but to prevent “quarrels,” he does not let on
that he knows.
Huck doesn’t let on that the knows that these guys are just con men because the
encounter with the duke and the dauphin reminds Huck and Jim of their relative
powerlessness. Although the duke and the dauphin are criminals, they are free, adult,
white men who have the power to turn in both Huck and Jim.
HUCKLEBERRY Finn
Discussion Questions
Chapters 20-30
Directions: Please answer the following questions COMPLETELY!
1. "Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts
pain for the pleasure of doing it. It is a trait that is not known to the higher animals." This
quote is from Twain's essay, "The Damned Human Race." How is this contempt for
certain aspects of human behavior evident in the description of the Arkansas town in
Chapter XXI (21)?
2. What aspect of human nature does Colonel Sherburn criticize in his speech to the mob
on pages 110-111?
3. Compare the circus with the entertainment supplied by the duke and king?
4. What is Twain implying about human nature through the advertising for the "Royal
Nonesuch" (the second play)?
5. What is Twain’s purpose for including Jim’s story of his Lizabeth? What does Huck
learn about Jim through this incident?
6. Why is Huck's response to the Wilks family con so strong in Chapter XXIV (24)?
Why does Huck make moral evaluations now (you'll recall that he remained morally
neutral concerning the prior schemes of the duke and king)?
7. Why is it significant that Joanna eats in the kitchen? What is the significance of her
nickname? What is Twain saying about society through her?
8. What function does the Duke/King section serve to the novel as a whole? Why did
Twain include them in his book?
1. "Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts
pain for the pleasure of doing it. It is a trait that is not known to the higher animals." This
quote is from Twain's essay, "The Damned Human Race." How is this contempt for
certain aspects of human behavior evident in the description of the Arkansas town in
Chapter XXI? How does he describe the residents?
2. Through the Grangerford episode, Twain was able to criticize the myth of Southern
honor. What myth of Southern life does Twain satirize in the Sherburn / Boggs incident
(which, by the way, was based on a true incident)? What aspect of human nature does
Twain satirize through the scene in the drugstore?
3. Compare the circus with the entertainment supplied by the duke and king?
4. What is Twain implying about human nature through the advertising for the "Royal
Nonesuch" (the second play)?
5. "What was the use to tell Jim these warn't real kings and dukes? It wouldn't a done no
good; and besides, it was just as I said; you couldn't tell them from the real kind." (117).
What does Twain imply by this quote from Huck?
6. Comment on the last paragraph of Chapter XXIV. Make a connection to Twain's
description of the Arkansas town. Why is Huck's response to the Peter Wilks incident so
strong? Why does Huck make moral evaluations now (you'll recall that he remained
morally neutral concerning the prior schemes of the duke and king)?
7. What is Twain’s purpose for including Jim’s story of his Lizabeth?
8. Why is it significant that Joanna eats in the kitchen? What is the significance of her
nickname? What is Twain saying about society through her?
9. On page 141 Huck says, ". . . here's a case where I'm blest if it don't look to me like
the truth is better, and actuly safer, than a lie." Fully explain what Huck is saying here.
10. By the end of Chapter XXX, do you think Twain vindicates the characters of the
duke and king or does he have them remain as villains? Explain.
____________________________________________________________________
Huckleberry Finn
The final questions
The Controversial Conclusion:
As Mark Twain wrote Huckleberry Finn, he pondered over the plot. He thought
especially long and hard about how to end the novel and effectively resolve the conflicts
that he had presented. Though some critics feel that the conclusion of HF is logical and
effective, other critics have severely criticized it. Judge the conclusion for yourself. Is it
consistent with the characters we have come to know? Does it resolve the major conflicts
in the novel in a satisfactory way? Why or why not?
Personal Response:
The novel ends with Huck feeling unsure about what his future holds. What do you
predict will happen to Huck? What sort of life do you think he will have? Why?
(*Make sure your response is logical. Based on the information you have about Huck as
a character, does your response make sense—would Huck really do what you predict?)
____________________________________________________________________
Huckleberry finn
Unit test study guide
Test: Wednesday, april 9th
*You should be completely familiar with the basic plot of the book, completely
understanding the ending of the book, as well as all of the characters introduced to you in
the book.
*Be prepared to discuss the moral dilemma(s) Huck has to face throughout the book. Be
prepared to cite examples where you see Huck having moral dilemmas.
*Be prepared to discuss the importance of the Grangerford-Shepherdson feud.
*Be prepared to discuss the theme of Realism vs. Romanticism. Be prepared to give
examples of Realism and Romanticism from the novel.
*Be prepared to discuss Twain’s views on industrialization vs. nature. Be prepared to
cite examples from the book showing his viewpoints.
*Be prepared to speculate as to why Twain put the book down for 2 years (at the end of
Chapter 16) before finally completing the book in 1884.
*Be prepared to discuss the importance of the Mississippi River to the novel as a whole.
*Be prepared to discuss the ways in which Huck and Tom need each other despite the
fact that they are so different.
*Be prepared to discuss the reasons as to why critics have referred to Huck as an
unreliable narrator of the story.
*Be prepared to discuss why many critics severely criticized the conclusion of Huck
Finn.
________________________________________________________________________
The adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Unit test
Name: __________________________
Part One: Multiple Choice Questions
Directions: Please CIRCLE the letter that BEST answers the question.
1. At the beginning of the novel, why does Huck quit Tom Sawyer’s gang?
a) he has no parent to ransom
b) he feels guilty about robbing people
c) the gang’s adventures are too imaginary and not realistic
d) the Widow forces him to quit
2. How does Huck know that Pap has returned to St. Petersburg?
a) He sees him lurking around the Widow Douglas’s house.
b) He sees a boot print with a cross on it in the snow.
c) He hears it from Judge Thatcher.
d) Jim alerts him.
3. Why has Jim run away from Miss Watson and the Widow Douglas?
a) they beat him
b) they won’t believe his superstitions
c) they plan to sell him “down the river”
d) they sold his family “down the river”
4. How is Huck disguised when the meets and talks to Mrs. Loftus (the woman in the
cabin)?
a) as an Arab
b) as a cowboy
c) Tom Sawyer
d) as a girl
5. Whom do Huck and Jim discover on the wrecked steamboat?
a) Pap
b) the Duke and the King
c) a band of murderers
d) Tom Sawyer
6. What is the name of the island that Huck and Jim meet up on?
a) Johnson’s Island
b) Jackson’s Island
c) Joseph’s Island
d) Johnny’s Island
7. What disease does Huck tell the bounty hunters that his “father” has?
a) smallpox
b) the plague
c) leprosy
d) malaria
8. How do Huck and Jim float past and miss Cairo?
a) the Duke and the King take over the raft
b) Jim spots bounty hunters and they can’t stop on shore
c) the wrecked steamboat was blocking the way
d) they miss it in the fog
9. What event sets off the final gunfight between the Grangerfords and the
Shepherdsons?
a) the death of Buck Grangerford
b) the theft of the Grangerford cattle
c) Sophia Grangerford’s elopement with Harney Shepherdson
d) an insult to Colonel Grangerford
10. What important decision does Huck make in Chapter 31?
a) gives Jim over to the bounty hunters
b) tears up the letter to Miss Watson telling Jim’s whereabouts
c) turns over the Duke and King to the authorities
d) tells the Widow Douglas that he is alive and well
11. Who does Aunt Sally think Huck is when he comes onto the Phelps farm?
a) Sid Sawyer
b) George Jackson
c) George Elexander
d) Tom Sawyer
12. What eventually happens to the Duke and the King?
a) caught and tarred and feathered by the townspeople
b) killed by an angry mob
c) they get away to New Orleans
d) join the circus to perfect their acts
13. Tom suggests doing all of the following to free Jim EXCEPT:
a) saw the leg off of Jim’s bed
b) give Jim a rope made from a bed sheet
c) give Jim a shirt to write a message on with his blood as ink
d) hijack a steamboat
14. What does Huck decide to do at the end of the novel?
a) head out West
b) go back and live with Miss Watson
c) stay with Aunt Sally
d) go help Jim free his family
15. All of these are superstitious items to Huck and Jim EXCEPT:
a) a spider
b) a snake’s skin
c) a full moon
d) hairy arms and a hairy chest
16. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn can best be described as:
a) a social commentary
b) a children’s adventure story
c) an epic
d) a pro-slavery novel
17. Why does Pap return to St. Petersburg?
a) he wants revenge on Judge Thatcher
b) wants Huck’s money
c) misses his son
d) all of the above
18. Which contradiction is inherent in Huck’s character:
a) he fully supports slavery but wants to free Jim
b) he has a realistic approach to life but is superstitious
c) he hates money but he wants to be rich
d) he loves school but hates to learn
19. According to Tom Sawyer, why must Jim’s escape be so elaborate?
a) that is the way it is done in adventure/romance novels
b) to fool the ignorant villagers
c) to ensure success
d) to throw off suspicion
20. Where is Pap’s body found?
a) on the shore of the Mississippi
b) in a house floating on the Mississippi
c) on an abandoned riverboat
d) in the shack on Jackson’s island
Part Two: Discussion Questions
PLEASE DO NOT WRITE YOUR ANSWERS ON THIS SHEET! PLEASE USE A
SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER FOR YOUR ANSWERS!
Directions: Choose FOUR of the following discussion questions of the SIX listed below
and answer them COMPLETELY on a SEPARATE sheet of paper! In order to receive
FULL credit for your answer, you must FULLY answer all parts of the question in
COMPLETE sentences!
1. Discuss the moral dilemmas that Huck has to face throughout the novel. Give 2
examples where you see Huck having moral dilemmas and explain why they are
dilemmas.
2. Discuss Twain’s views on industrialization vs. nature. Give 2 examples from the book
and explain how they fit with Twain’s viewpoints on this point.
3. Discuss the ways in which Tom and Huck need each other despite the fact that they
are so different from one another
4. Discuss HOW Huck is an unreliable narrator of the story.
5. Discuss WHY critics severely criticize the conclusion of Huck Finn.
6. Discuss the theme of Realism vs. Romanticism. Give 2 examples and explain 2
examples of Realism vs. Romanticism from the novel.
________________________________________________________________________
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
'Huck Finn' a masterpiece -- or an insult
Renton High revisits teaching of book after objections raised
By GREGORY ROBERTS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
RENTON -- At first glance, the fight over "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" at
Renton High School fits a conventional pattern.
An outraged parent objects to her child reading a book for class that offends the family's
religious, moral or political sensibilities.
Gilbert W. Arias / P-I
Beatrice Clark and her granddaughter, Calista Phair, are challenging Renton High.
School district officials consider the protest, but defend the book's educational merit. The
book stays, and champions of freedom of inquiry and expression applaud the decision.
Except the role of unreasoning zealot doesn't quite suit Beatrice Clark or her 16-year-old
granddaughter, Calista Phair.
They've led the assault in Renton against Mark Twain's novel, marshaling vigorous
arguments against a work that is widely regarded as a masterpiece -- yet that also ranks
with the books most consistently challenged in the nation's classrooms, according to the
American Library Association.
Although the Renton School District hasn't dropped the book, it has directed teachers to
hold off on assigning it until a special committee draws up guidelines for how to present
it to students.
'It's not just a word'
"Huckleberry Finn," first published in 1885, chronicles the journey of a rough-hewn, 13year-old white boy and a runaway slave down the Mississippi River on a raft through the
antebellum South. What's wrong with the book, Clark, Phair and numerous other critics
have said, is its use of the notorious "n" word -- not once, not a few times, but more than
200 times.
"It's not just a word," said Clark, the guardian for her granddaughter. Both are African
American.
"It carries with it the blood of our ancestors. They were called this word while they were
lynched; they were called this word while they were hung from the big magnolia tree.
"That word, in the history of America, has always been a degrading word toward African
Americans. When they were brought to America, they were never thought of as human
beings in the first place, and this word was something to call a thing that wasn't human.
"So that's what they bring into the classroom to talk about. I just think it's utterly
unconscionable that a school would think it's acceptable."
Clark, who was president of the Parent-Teacher-Student Association at Renton High last
year, took up the battle against "Huckleberry Finn" after Phair reported in April that her
11th-grade language arts teacher had assigned the book.
"I was humiliated and horrified that this book was being taught, when it has the word
'nigger' 215 times," Phair said.
Before the language-arts students turned to Chapter 1 of "Huckleberry Finn," their
teacher, Hilari Anderson, led the class in two weeks of discussion about the controversy
surrounding the book and its terminology. The class viewed videotapes addressing the
issue, researched the definition of the n-word and hashed out ground rules for its
inclusion in the classroom.
Clark sat in on one of those classes.
"I just couldn't believe what I was hearing," she said. "That in the year 2003, the teacher
was saying, 'Today, we're going to discuss the use of the word 'nigger.' "
"Huckleberry Finn" is listed among the books approved by the Renton School District for
assignment in the 11th-grade language arts class, and Anderson has opted to teach it in
each of her six years at Renton High. She speaks of her "passion" for Twain's novel.
"In terms of contemporary issues, I think it opens the door to a conversation that we just
don't have, in terms of who are we and where do we come from and what does our
language mean and why kids in the hallway use the word so frequently," she said.
"We could ignore the book, but then we're ignoring history. We're ignoring that that
language exists. I don't think, in the long run, that's helpful to our kids."
Anderson, who is white, said Twain attacks the racism of 19th-century America in his
book. Jim, the slave, is a man of dignity, while most of the white characters are ne'er-dowells, rapscallions or criminals. Huck, the product of a society in which even the
churches condone slavery, consciously risks eternal damnation to cast his lot with Jim.
Two students object
Black students account for just over a third of the enrollment at Renton High, making up
the single largest ethnic group at the school; students of Asian and Pacific Islander
ancestry represent 30 percent of the student population, white students 25 percent and
Hispanic students 9 percent.
At the end of each unit on "Huckleberry Finn," Anderson asks her students to write an
essay arguing for or against the banning of the book from schools. In six years, she said,
not one student has written an essay calling for expelling the book from the curriculum.
Phair didn't get that far. She sat in amazement through the preliminary discussions.
"I found it pretty shocking that where the book was supposed to be educational, they
were trying to sugarcoat it and say, 'Now that we've done all this, it's OK to read it,' " she
said.
"How do you teach a word that's degrading and denigrating to a race with sensitivity?"
Clark said, "The word 'nigger' doesn't change. We don't want to educate our kids in
niggerology."
Surely, she said, the lessons taught by "Huckleberry Finn" can be learned from other, less
inflammatory sources.
"They're probably are a lot of books that might have the n-word, but I don't think you
need to get a book that's saturated with it," she said.
Phair asked to be excused from reading "Huckleberry Finn," and so did a classmate who
has since moved out of state (Anderson said they are the only two of her students who
have ever sought to avoid the book). Phair was assigned "The Awakening" by Kate
Chopin instead, and she attended study hall during the language-arts classes that
discussed Twain's novel.
But Clark wasn't satisfied with that. She wants the book ruled ineligible altogether for
assignment to any of the 12,600 students in the district, although she does not object if it
remains in school libraries.
Phair, too, pressed the fight. She handed out fliers attacking the book in school hallways
and at local events. Under the name Students and Parents Against Racial Slurs, she and
Clark have sought to round up support.
The squabble became something of a community cause celebre. Phair was interviewed on
radio and TV. Ironically, she said, she was instructed by the interviewers not to utter the
n-word on the air. Local newspapers weighed in on the dispute; one paper -- the semimonthly Renton Reporter -- editorialized in favor of the teaching of the book, but
specifically declined to print the word at the center of the dispute.
Committee keeps book on list
Clark carried her protest through the bureaucratic channels of the Renton School District.
She filed a formal written request last spring for reconsideration of "Huckleberry Finn" as
an approved text. She met with Anderson and the Renton High principal, then with
central office administrators. Her plea was considered by two curriculum committees.
Ultimately, the committees recommended retaining the book on the list for 11th-grade
language arts, and the School Board approved that list this summer. Coincidentally,
"Huckleberry Finn" has been adopted as required reading for advanced-placement high
school English classes in Renton as well. Administrators have argued that questions
about the book appear on AP tests, and it would be unfair to Renton students to deny
them access to the text.
But there is a caveat: The book has been suspended from classroom use until a panel of
teachers, outside advisers and others specifies procedures for how to handle it.
A spokeswoman for the Seattle School District, the state's largest, said administrators
were not aware of any challenges to "Huckleberry Finn," which is taught in some schools
and also included on the district's recommended summer reading list for grades 10-12.
The spokeswoman said an informal survey of English teachers suggests they, like
Anderson, do not present the novel in isolation. At Garfield High, for example, students
in 11th-grade American literature and AP classes begin by discussing the language in the
book and the issues around race that are raised by Twain's writing, the spokeswoman
said.
Renton administrators said the committee developing guidelines for their schools hopes
to complete its work before the time when "Huckleberry Finn" normally would be taught,
in the second half of the school year.
Anderson plans to include "Huckleberry Finn" in her junior-year language arts course
again this spring. She said she'll be happy to go along with whatever the committee
recommends.
"It's a really important book to teach," she said. "It could go away from Renton, but I
don't think it's going to go away from the world."
CONTROVERSIAL BOOKS
The following books were the most frequently challenged in 2002:
• Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling, for its focus on wizardry and magic.
• Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, for being sexually explicit, using offensive
language and being unsuited to age group.
• "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier, for using offensive language and being
unsuited to age group.
• "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou, for sexual content, racism,
offensive language, violence and being unsuited to age group.
• "Taming the Star Runner" by S.E. Hinton, for offensive language.
• "Captain Underpants" by Dav Pilkey, for insensitivity and being unsuited to age group,
as well as encouraging children to disobey authority.
• "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain, for racism, insensitivity and
offensive language.
• "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson, for offensive language, sexual content
and occult/Satanism.
• "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" by Mildred D. Taylor, for insensitivity, racism and
offensive language.
• "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George, for sexual content, offensive
language, violence and being unsuited to age group.
Sources: Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association.
___________________________________________________________________
Important Literary Terms in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
1) Local color: A detailed setting forth of the characteristics of a particular locality,
enabling the reader to "see" the setting.
2) Satire: A piece of literature designed to ridicule the subject of the work. While satire
can be funny, its aim is not to amuse, but to arouse contempt. Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's
Travels satirizes the English people, making them seem dwarfish in their ability to deal
with large thoughts, issues, or deeds.
3) Conflict: In the plot of a drama, conflict occurs when the protagonist is opposed by
some person or force in the play. An example occurs in the film "Star Wars." Having
learned that Princess Lea is being held prisoner by the evil Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker
sets out to rescue her. In doing so, he becomes involved in the conflict between the
empire and the rebels which Lea spoke of in her holograph message in the drama's
exposition. Since Luke is the protgonist of "Star Wars," the conflict in the drama
crystallizes to that between Luke and Darth Vader.
*External conflict: struggle between a character and an outside force is an external
conflict. Characters may face several types of outside forces. The outside force may be
another character. It may be the character and the community. The outside force may also
be forces of nature. For example, a story might be the main character struggling against
the arctic cold.
•
Man against man.
•
Man against nature.
*Internal conflict: A struggle that takes place in a character's mind is called internal
conflict. For example, a character may have to decide between right and wrong or
between two solutions to a problem. Sometimes, a character must deal with his or her
own mixed feelings or emotions.
•
Man against himself.
4) Initiation story: This deals with the movement of a character from childhood to
adulthood, innocence to experience, and ignorance to knowledge. A narrative that
chronicles the transformation of the protagonist from adolescence or childhood to
adulthood, as the result of either a pivotal decision or series of experiences.
5) Unreliable/Fallible narrator: In literature and film, an unreliable narrator is a literary
device in which the credibility of the narrator, either first-person or third-person, is
seriously compromised. This unreliability can be due to psychological instability or other
disability, a powerful bias, a lack of knowledge, or even a deliberate attempt to deceive
the reader/audience.
6) Realism: In art and literature, an attempt to describe human behavior and
surroundings or to represent figures and objects exactly as they act or appear in life.
Attempts at realism have been made periodically throughout history in all the arts; the
term is, however, generally restricted to a movement that began in the mid-19th century,
in reaction to the highly subjective approach of romanticism.
7) Dialect: the language of a particular district, class, or group of persons. It
encompasses the sounds, grammar, and diction employed by a specific people as
distinguished from other persons either geographically or socially. Dialect, as a major
technique of characterization, is the use by persons in a narrative of distinct varieties of
language to indicate a person’s social or geographical status, and is used by authors to
give an illusion of reality to fictional characters. It is sometimes used to differentiate
between characters.
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Me ‘n huck
A lesson in language use
When Huckleberry Finn was first published, some critics attacked the use of language in
the book. In fact, the Concord, Massachusetts, Public Library decided to ban the book,
taking issue with, among other things, its “rough, ignorant dialect,” “systematic use of
bad grammar and an employment of inelegant expressions.” Why did Twain, a wellread, successful author, choose to use the voice of an uneducated rural boy to tell his
story?
PART ONE:
Directions: Read Chapters One and Two in your book and answer the following
questions AND find examples from the two chapters to SUPPORT your claims! What
can you tell about Huck just from the way he speaks? Please answer these questions on
the BACK OF THIS SHEET!
1)
How old do you think he is?
2)
Is he educated or uneducated?
3)
Is he smart or dumb?
4)
Is he moral or immoral?
5)
Is he a rebel or a conformist?
6)
How does he feel about nature?
7)
What does freedom mean to him?
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River Vs. Shore in Huck Finn
The river provides a place for Huck and Jim to escape the harsh society around them and
develops into a god. The river provides a pathway for the action to progress, unlike other
forms of travel it proceeds to guide the book in one direction down a set path. The godlikeness of the river controls the adventures, "It is the River … that will not let them land
at Cairo, where Jim could have reached freedom; it is the Rive that separates them …the
River that reunites them, …" (Eliot 333). Society has lost the moral meaning of the river,
"… the river was forgotten, and precisely by the "dwellers in cities," by the "worshippers
of the machine" (Trilling 325). It is through the adventure of Huck and Jim that Twain
tries to show the power that can only be displayed by the natural force of the river, "…the
river was forgotten, and precisely by the "dwellers in cities," by the " worshippers of the
machine" (Trilling 325).
Whenever Huck goes to shore he eventually seeks the refuge of the raft and the river. The
problems of society become apparent to Huck when he goes ashore, while watching the
gun fight between the Grangerfords and Shepardsons he becomes ill with the violence
between these two families, "I wished I hadn’t ever come ashore that night, to see such
things" (Twain 94). The river never deals with the insignificant matters of society, and
allows Huck the freedom to be himself. The river is freedom, the land is oppression, and
that oppression is most evident to Jim. In Huck’s dealings with society he sees people for
who they truly are, "He sees the real world; and he does not judge it-he allows it to judge
itself" (Eliot 329).
Huck is rejuvenated by the river, when he goes ashore he faces society and all the
injustices that it carries. When he returned to the raft he felt free again, "Other places do
seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don’t. you feel mighty free and easy and
comfortable on a raft" (Twain 96). The river becomes the place where freedom is felt for
Huck and Jim on a grand scale.
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Role of Religion:
One of the most noticeable traits of Huck's personality that reflect his opinion on religion
and spirituality is that he often dismisses such popularly accepted beliefs as Moses
(because he is dead), but will put his faith into a hairball that he believes is magic because
it was taken from an oxen's stomach and therefore he believes that "it had a spirit inside
of it, and it knowed everything" (38). In fact, he even asks it about his father and supplies
it with a fake coin for it's services. Perhaps Huck truly believes in it, or he is searching
for something to believe in that he could depend on. In either case, he is wise enough not
to give it his real dollar.
Clemens gives the entire story a religious vibe through the continual use of phrases that
relate to or have a biblical sense to them. Just one example of this is when Huck is
describing his father after coming home from laying drunk in a gutter the entire night
before, and as Huck narrates "A body would have thought he was Adam, he was all mud"
(44). This, among many of the other biblically inspired statements made throughout,
shows that Huck was in a society that revolved heavily around religion, whether he
accepted it himself or not. With Huck using such statements, it shows that Huck has
either adapted them for himself because it is the vernacular to speak like that or it could
show that he finds truth in religion but not the myths and society who follows them. This
is one of the main inner conflicts that Huck must tackle alone.
Due to Huck's lifestyle and the society that raises him, he often feels guilty about helping
a runaway slave escape, as he has been taught to believe that slaves are not people as
much as they are property. Revolting against this causes him much doubt and the serious
questioning of himself which causes him to write a letter to Miss Watson about Jim. After
writing the letter, Huck expresses relief by saying "I felt good and all washed clean of my
sin for the first time I had ever felt in my life, and I knowed that I could pray now" (168).
This quote is extremely significant because it shows that Huck is feeling the burden of
following his conscience that is telling him to help Jim, and wishes to rid himself of it by
washing his hands of the situation. However, the martyr in him that Clemens has been
slowly establishing throughout the story begins to emerge and takes full effect after a
brief introspection which causes him to tear the letter and say to himself "All right, then,
I'll go to hell" (168). By choosing hell rather than betraying Jim, he uses his conscience
and heart rather than the pious and unjust values that society has instilled upon him. On
his path to personal growth, he learns what it means to sacrifice oneself and suffer any
consequences in order to do what he believes is right in true martyr fashion.
Working from the notion that the word "religion" is derived from religare, to bind, the
beliefs held by Huck and Jim in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn can be called a
religion. Both characters are bound to these beliefs by faith and through them each is
bound to a certain perception of the world.
Early in the story, Huck investigates Christianity and finds that is comes up short.
"I set down one time back in the woods, and had a long think about it. I says to myself, if
a body can get anything they pray for, why don't Deacon Winn get back the money he
lost on pork? Why can't the widow get back her silver snuffbox that was stole? Why can't
Miss Watson fat up? No, says I to my self, there ain't nothing in it. I went and told the
widow about it, and she said the thing a body could get by praying for it was "spiritual
gifts." This was too many for me, but she told me what she meant -- I must help other
people, and do everything I could for other people, and look out for them all the time, and
never think about myself. This was including Miss Watson, as I took it. I went out in the
woods and turned it over in my mind a long time, but I couldn't see no advantage about it
-- except for the other people; so at last I reckoned I wouldn't worry about it any more,
but just let it go."
This rejection is justified again and again as Huck's adventures unfold. Although the
Widow and Miss Watson "fetch the niggers in for prayers," her piety does not prevent
Miss Watson from giving thought to selling Jim down the river. The Shephersons and
Grangerfords attend church and praise the sermon about brotherly love, all the time with
their guns at their sides.
On the other hand, all that Huck observes seems to confirm the truth of the beliefs he
shares with Jim.
Huck Finn's adventures begin with the death of a spider. Feeling lonesome and cheerless,
he sits at his window listening to the supernatural world around him. An owl, a
whippoorwill, and a dog are all talking of the dead and the dying, the wind is whispering
incoherently; a ghost is thwarted in an attempt to communicate. Suddenly a spider
appears on Huck's shoulder, and he inadvertently send him into the candle's flame. Huck
tells us, "I didn't need anybody to tell me that that was an awful bad sign and would fetch
me some bad luck;" his fear is so intense that it "most shook the clothes off me" (HF, 4.)
His bad luck continues with the spilling of the salt, "I reached for some of it as quick as I
could, to throw over my left shoulder and keep off the bad luck, but Miss Watson was in
ahead of me, and crossed me off" (HF, 18.) Huck is right to feel "worried and shaky"
because immediately upon leaving the house, he finds evidence that Pap has returned.
When Huck touches the snake-skin during the flood, Jim reads it as a sign of bad luck to
come. Because right afterward they find the house floating down the river and collect
such an amount of bounty, Huck doubts Jim's prediction of bad luck, "You said it was the
worst bad luck in the world to touch a snake-skin with my hands. Well here's your bad
luck! We've raked in all this truck and eight dollars besides. I wish we could have bad
luck like this every day, Jim." (HF,63) We and Huck find out later that the house also
contained his father's body. And more misfortune will follow.
The next event is Jim's snake-bite. Huck has killed a rattlesnake and, as a joke, laid it on
Jim's blanket. When they return to the cave, the dead snake's mate is there and bites Jim.
Huck kills the mate and tells us he "throwed the snakes clear away amongst the bushes;
for I warn't going to let Jim find out it was all my fault, not if I could help it." (HF,65)
But putting the dead snake on Jim's blanket is minor compared with the first sin
committed in touching that snake-skin.
Their trials continue, through the separation in the fog, the close call with the search
party, learning they've missed Cairo, and finally losing the canoe, at which Huck says,
"we both knowed well enough it was some more work of the rattle-snake skin."
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The Huck finn Literary Analysis Paper
Due: Tuesday, Oct. 17
Objective: For this assignment, you will write a literary analysis of some aspect of The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. To analyze, of course, means to take
something apart to understand it better. You begin the process by seeking to understand
the novel's component parts, using the terms and points we have discussed in class, to
yield insights about the novel’s deeper meanings. Then you take those insights and use
them to construct a 3-5 page argumentative paper using evidence from the story in the
form of quotes to back up your findings. Unlike a review, a literary analysis does not
evaluate anything. Instead, it takes it as a given that the work is complex and meaningful
enough for an extended dissection and discussion.
Helpful hints:
1. Remember that finding the right question makes all the difference. You can begin your
paper with that question, and then spend the rest of the paper answering it. Try to keep to
a narrow focus for your inquiry. Students are often tempted to take on too much.
2. Freewrite a draft before settling on an organization and outline for your paper.
3. Remember that literary analysis is a recursive process. You often have to modify and
improve on your thesis as you go along.
4. Remember that there isn't any final correct interpretation. I may not agree with your
interpretation, but as long as you have evidence from the story to prove it, I will accept it.
5. Do not plot summarize in your paper. Students often fall back on summarizing when
they have few insights.
6. Remember the more you analyze, the easier the paper is to write. Students often like to
skip the general analysis of the work in question. This assignment requires concentration,
deep thought, and a kind of detective search for deeper meanings.
Structuring the Paper:
Introduction -- Make your introduction brief and brisk; simply identify your topic (being
sure to mention which play you are analyzing) and the thesis you are proposing without
spending valuable space on generalized, large-scale assertions that will add little to what
follows. Keep in mind that you will need to revise your opening paragraph after writing
the rest of the paper to make sure that it effectively introduces what follows; until you've
written the rest, you won't really know what to say at the start.
Organization -- Each paragraph of your essay should have a mini-thesis of its own,
whether that mini-thesis is explicitly stated or not. Individual paragraphs should be as
well-focused and clearly defined as is the paper as a whole. Arguments and examples that
belong in one paragraph should not crop up earlier or later, in a paragraph devoted to a
different stage of the argument. Your paper should be organized logically, and each stage
of the argument should be presented in a paragraph which announces at the outset what it
is going to prove. It is usually inadvisable to begin a paragraph with a quotation. Instead,
begin with a statement of the conclusions you have come to through your analysis of
certain lines; then, quote the lines and explain how you came to the conclusions you did.
Coherence-- Pay attention to the transitions between paragraphs and between sentences
within a given paragraph, making sure that the argument flows smoothly. Take as much
care in shaping individual sentences as you do in shaping your argument as a whole.
Read your sentences aloud and ask yourself how clear they are. An excellent workbook
to use in polishing your writing is Joseph M. Williams, Style: Toward Clarity & Grace
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995).
Conclusion-- When you have defended your thesis clearly and thoroughly, it is time to
conclude your essay. Do not begin the concluding paragraph with an artificial-sounding
announcement like "To conclude . . ." or "In conclusion . . ." And do not make the final
paragraph a little summary of all that has come before: in a well-written essay of
moderate length, it will not be necessary to remind your reader of the argument you've
just presented. If you can think of nothing that adds to the essay, it's better to end abruptly
than to tack on a dull, repetitious summary. But here are a couple of suggestions on how
to write a more effective conclusion. A) You may wish to rephrase your thesis in more
subtle terms--terms that reflect the foregoing analysis and that your reader would not
have been prepared for before reading the body of the essay. B) You may wish to place
your thesis in a broader context, to leave your reader with food for thought about its
larger implications for the interpretation of the writer's work in general or for the
understanding of a given theme, etc. A and B work well in conjunction with each other.
Title-- Give the essay an interesting and appropriate title that will pull readers in and
make them want to read the paper. A title that is too cute or too mysterious can keep
people from taking your work seriously; but a good, meaty title is like a preview of the
paper's thesis. Don't simply name your essay after the play that is your topic. Keep in
mind that you won't be able to give the paper a good title until you've finished writing it.
*Please contact me as soon as possible if you have questions, if you want to me to look at
a draft, or if you’re just plain stuck. DO NOT wait until Monday to give me something to
look at; I will need time to read and make suggestions!
*Above all else: GOOD LUCK!
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The Huck Finn Thesis Assignment
In preparation for your final assignment on Huck Finn, the dreaded analytical paper, you
will first need to develop a good, working thesis statement. It is important that you have
a good (if not great) thesis statement because it is the foundation for the rest of your
paper. If it is weak, the rest of the paper collapses like a house of cards.
Even though we have not yet finished the novel, you need to begin thinking about what
you want to write about for the upcoming paper and also begin to narrow down your
thoughts into a working thesis statement.
I have listed below some general areas which will hopefully provide inspiration for your
final thesis statement.
•
Racism and Slavery
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•
•
•
•
•
•
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The Hypocrisy of “Civilized” Society
The Importance of the Mississippi River
Childhood to Adulthood
Huck and Jim’s Relationship
Appearance vs. Reality
Southern Traditions
Morality
Civilization vs. Natural Life
Religion
Family
Some things to consider before you choose an area and develop a thesis statement:
1)
Will you have enough textual evidence to support an argument pertaining to that
subject?
2)
Will you have a hard time developing an argument based on that subject?
3)
Are you even remotely interested in that subject?
1st Thesis Turn-In Date: Tuesday, October 3rd
Final Thesis Turn-In Date: Friday, October 6th
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