Mark Twain:
Samuel Langhorne Clemens
November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910
Over 15 million copies of Huck Finn have been sold.
The US has about 40 editions in print. It has been read in English,
Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Hebrew, and practically every other language
on the globe.
How historical events influenced
Twain’s writing:
 The
Missouri Compromise
 Samuel Clemens’ childhood
 Jim Crow Laws
 Abolitionists
 Fugitive Slave Laws
 Minstrel Shows
Looking for Cairo
The Missouri Compromise
 The
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Compromise of 1850
The setting of the novel is in Missouri. Huck
and a runaway slave, Jim, flee to freedom on
the Mississippi River. Their destination is the
Ohio River to go North.
QUESTION: According to what you read on
the link and the map, why would going north
benefit them?
Twain’s Home Town
Author’s Background
 Mark
Twain Biography - Biography.com
 QUESTION:
According to the link, how
does Samuel Clemens’ background affect
the plot and characters of his writing?
Life on the Mississippi:
Twain meticulously studied
2,000 miles (3,200 km) of
the Mississippi for more
than two years before he
received his steamboat pilot
license in 1859.
Jackson’s Island?
Huck and Jim hide out on a small island in the middle
of the Mississippi River. Perhaps Twain was inspired
by what he saw on his travels up and down the river on
a steamboat.
Jim Crow Laws: 1865
Jim Crow Laws: the name ‘Jim
Crow’ originated from Minstrel
Shows. The mindset was that
Whites were superior to
Blacks in all important ways,
including but not limited to
intelligence, morality, and
civilized behavior; sexual
relations between Blacks and
Whites would produce a
mongrel race which would
destroy America
Jim Crow Guide
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Never assert or even intimate that a White
person is lying.
Never impute dishonorable intentions to a
White person.
Never suggest that a White person is from an
inferior class.
Never lay claim to, or overly demonstrate,
superior knowledge or intelligence.
Never curse a White person.
Never laugh derisively at a White person.
Never comment upon the appearance of a
White female.
How is the influence of these laws
reflected in Huck Finn?
 Miss
Watson sells Jim
 Huck apologizes to Jim
 Huck has to keep Jim tied up
 The king and the duke sell Jim
 Huck’s moral conflict
 Jim does everything he is told
 QUESTION: Do you think Twain is
mocking slaves, or sympathizing?
Abolitionism was a movement to end the slave
trade and emancipate slaves in western Europe
and the Americas.
Abolitionists
Go to the above link and
consider: Huck has a
runaway slave with him. He
must decide whether or not
to turn him in. He decides
that he’ll just “got to hell” for
being an abolitionist (Twain
Chapter 31).
QUESTION: Is being an
abolitionist a good thing, or a
bad thing? Morally? In the
eyes of the law?
Fugitive Slave Laws
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The law stated that any federal marshal who did not
arrest an alleged runaway slave could be fined $1,000.
People suspected of being a runaway slave could be
arrested without warrant and turned over to a claimant
on nothing more than his sworn testimony of ownership.
A suspected black slave could not ask for a jury trial nor
testify on his or her behalf.
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Any person aiding a runaway slave by providing shelter,
food or any other form of assistance was liable to six
months' imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.
QUESTION: How does Twain use this law in the plot of
Huck Finn?
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Minstrel Shows
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These three stock characters were among several that
reappeared in minstrel shows throughout the nineteenth
century. "Jim Crow" was the stereotypical carefree slave,
"Mr. Tambo" a joyous musician, and "Zip Coon" a free
black attempting to "put on airs" or rise above his station.
The parody in minstrel shows was often savage.
Minstrel shows developed in the 1840’s, peaked after the Civil War and
remained popular into the early 1900s. Minstrelsy was a product of its
time, the only entertainment form born out of blind bigotry .
How is Jim’s character similar to the
Minstrel Show Characters?
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Jim is illiterate and superstitious
Jim is gullible and easily fooled
Jim does everything that he is told
Jim misses his family and, ironically, wants to
buy them back
Jim cares deeply for Huck
QUESTION: Through the characterization of
Jim, do you think that Twain is doing the same
thing as the minstrel shows? Or creating
sympathy?
Think about it: Achieving a Purpose
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Setting
Satire
Irony
Characters
Plot
Themes
Motifs
Symbols
Dialogue
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Jim Crow Laws
Fugitive Slave Laws
Slavery
Abolitionists
MS River
Samuel Clemens’
early years
MO Compromise
Minstrel Shows
Huck Finn: Context
 the
interrelated conditions in which
something exists or occurs
 the parts of a discourse that surround a
word or passage and can throw light on its
meaning
 QUESTION: Under what social conditions
did Mark Twain write Huck Finn? How did
the historical context affect his purpose?