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Took Mark Twain (real
name, Samuel Clemens)
more than seven years to
write: started in 1876,
completed in summer of
1883; published in 1885.
Clemens was born in
1835 in Florida, Missouri.
Moved to Hannibal when
he was four.
Hannibal becomes “St.
Petersburg” in his books.
 Twain
himself, in his
typical humor, said:
“Everybody wants to
have read the
classics, but nobody
wants to read them.”
 Let’s prove him
wrong with this novel.
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Takes place before the Civil War (likely
about 1845).
The dominant setting is the Mississippi
River.
It is almost a character: “a living,
powerful, even God-like force that has as
much to do with what happens to Huck
as any of the human characters he meets
during the story.”
Huck reserves his most touching
language for his descriptions of the
river.
Other settings include towns and
villages Huck visits, and the people in
them give Twain (through Huck) a
chance to observe and comment on 19th
century American society.
Twain, then, often rails “at the human
race while singing a hymn to one of
nature’s greatest creations.”
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The book basically divides
into three sections.
In the first, Huck introduces
himself, Tom, and Jim,
giving us a glimpse into
Huck’s thoughts and
beliefs.
The second (and longest)
has Huck running away
from civilization and Jim
running away from slavery.
In part three, Huck is
(probably temporarily)
back in civilized society.
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Huck
Son of the town drunkard,
“Pap,” who is often missing
and often abusive toward
his son.
Huck prefers to live on his
own, although he starts out
living with a charitable
widow who tries to
“sivilize” him.
When he’s in trouble, Huck
can be a great liar.
Paradoxically, though, he is
also very honest, sensitive
about others, and kind. He
has a healthy conscience.
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He is also very hard on
himself; sees himself as
“low-down” and lacking
in all the things that
make people
“respectable”
(education, religious
training, willingness to
follow rules, etc.).
What he doesn’t realize
is that goodness is an
inner quality: something
he has in abundance.
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Jim
A slave, owned by Miss Watson, sister of
woman taking care of Huck (Widow
Douglas).
Has wife, small children; scared of being
separated from them.
Illiterate, superstitious, afraid of
unnamed forces.
He’s also tender, sensitive, loyal, and
capable of very deep feeling.
He is both child-like in some ways, and
an adult for Huck to rely on.
He unwittingly brings Huck to a series of
important moral decisions that lie at the
heart of the novel
Most importantly, some believe Twain
uses Jim as vehicle for a powerful
indictment of the institution of slavery.
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Tom Sawyer
Huck’s friend and idol.
Tom is the center of Tom’s
universe: has a flaming
imagination, is the leader of
his friends’ “gang”
dedicated to “robbing and
killing.”
An amusing dreamer,
creator of grand schemes, a
voracious reader of fantasy
and romantic novels (which
he has an imperfect
understanding of), which
leads him to ignore the real
world around him.
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Huck has mixed views about
Tom.
He sees Tom’s wide reading
and imagination as qualities
that set Tom above Huck, and
he is happy when he thinks he
can impress Tom.
Yet, Huck has little patience
with Tom’s fantasies. Huck is
interested in the here-andnow, and he is not prone to
fantasies.
He often becomes annoyed
with Tom’s daydreams, but he
always acquiesces because he
sees Tom as one of his
superiors.
 As
a reward for reviewing the PowerPoint
notes in preparation for the first test, you
have earned 3 points to be applied toward
the test.
 However, in order to receive the points:
• You must peruse the other PowerPoints: the 1-7
chapter notes and Regionalism for other potential
clues/requirements.
• You must email me with the clues as confirmation
that you did this by 9 p.m. Sunday, March 3 at
mark.johnston@wayzata.k12.mn.us.
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The novel addresses many
themes:
It is a coming-of-age novel:
Huck undergoes certain rites
of passage that allow him to
enter the adult world.
It is a satire of the American
South in the 19th century.
Slavery is its main target, but it
often attacks humanity in
general.
This includes humans’
obsession with symbols of
material wealth.
At its heart, this is a story
about real human figures with
genuine moral and ethical
problems and decisions.
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But it is also an allegory.
It is an allegory: Huck
represents mankind’s need to
retreat (at least from time to
time) from the real world and
to take solace in the pleasures
of God, be it natural creation
(the river) or religion.
It is also an allegory about
good and evil: Huck
represents the forces of good,
and most of the people he
meets represent evil. Huck
doesn’t win all of his battles
against evil, but he never
gives in to it.