The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain

Mark Twain Samuel Clemens (1835-1910)

Grew up in Hannibal, MO – a river town

1860s became Mark Twain

Mark Twain=2 fathoms= you are safe in the water

Steamboat captain until the Civil War

Was most well paid author until he invested $1 million into a “paige machine” and went bankrupt

White suit – last 3 ½ years of his life after his wife died

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Tom Sawyer published in 1876

Huck Finn was written in 3 stages 1876 Chapters 1-11 and the first half of 12, 15-17 and half of 18 1879 Chapters 17-21 – picaresque 1883 Second half of 12-14, 21-43

1876 Tied election between Hayes (Republican) and Tilden (Democrat) – Went to the Senate because of Florida

South was mostly Democrats – Hayes made promise to the south that he would pull troops out of the south and let them run the race issue how they wanted

1882 Lecture tour in the south – treatment of blacks was the same as before the civil war

Many scholars believe this is what got him to finish the book – watch for the change in approach and subject matter

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

1876-1886 Culture for the novel Question of the time – Where can a free black man go and make

a life?

Most canonized piece of American Literature

1910’s the craze began

Until 1950’s nobody cared about the race issue – Try to consider some other issues the book brings up

1st edition was sold door to door

Pictures – Dirty pictures in the original text – had to republish

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Banned for bad morals – “It is rough, coarse, and inelegant”

Today it is banned for racial issues and language

Twain died in 1910 – book suddenly became popular

Use of 1st person tried to established that it actually happened – common during this time

Story takes place before the civil war – written after the war

Themes Journey Narrative – Americans come from all over trying

to make the journey to find a better life

Being an individual – It’s all about ME!

Get away from restrictions! No more rules!!

Why do people leave their home?

How are influenced by the “Mob Mentality”?

Satire A type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of

people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change

Why use it? – It teaches us something about ourselves and society to change our attitudes.

Context is very important with satire. Without it no one will get the jokes.

Varieties of Satire: Exaggeration, Irony, Sarcasm, Ridicule, Parody, Caricature

Dialect A way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social

groups or of the inhabitants of a certain geographical area

See Explanatory

Final Essay Options Are Jim and Huck truly friends?

Is the novel really making a statement against racial inequality, or does it miss the mark?

What is Huck’s motivation for leaving Hannibal, and is he successful in the mission he sets out on?

How do you account for Huck’s flip-flopping in who he is and what he believes in?

Journal: Chapters 1-2 What are your first impressions of

Huckleberry Finn? Find some examples in the text to help you describe him. How do you feel that you can relate to this character?

We meet two new important characters in Chapter 2; what are their names? What are you first impressions of each?

Quiz Chapters 1-2 Just before the start of the book, what has Tom stopped

Huck from doing? How did he convince him?

Huck lives with two other people. Who are they? How does each of them treat Huck?

Huck hears a cat outside. When he climbs out the window what does he find?

In Chapter 2, Huck and Tom go to a meeting. What is this meeting about? What are they planning on doing?

Huck is almost left out of the group. Why? How does he convince them to keep him in?

Journal: Chapters 3-4 In Chapter 3 we learn of the differences

between Huck and Tom. Using examples from the text describe how Huck and Tom are different. What is Tom able to do that Huck cannot understand?

Jim makes a long prophecy about Huck’s future. He takes this information from a large hair-ball taken from the stomach of an ox. What object do you have that you think would have the power to predict the future? What superstitions do you believe in?

Quiz: Chapters 3-4 How does Huck feel about religion and prayer? What do

you think has made him feel this way?

How does the raid go for Tom and Huck? What can we learn about their relationship from this section?

What does Huck do with his money?

Why do you think he decides to do this?

Huck has a surprise visitor in chapter 4. Who is it? What do you make of their relationship based on the first 4 chapters?

Journals: Chapters 5-6 Huck’s father “pap” is introduced

at the end of chapter 4. In chapter 5 we learn more about him. Using examples from the text, describe Pap’s character and what picture he gives of the Southern white man.

What is Huck’s life like with his father. How do you think this environment has changed or affected Huck?

Quiz: Chapters 5-6 How does Pap feel about school? What reasoning does he

give for this view?

Whenever Pap gets money, what does he do with it, and where does he end up?

The new town Judge tries to help Pap become a real man. Describe this process and the outcome.

Where is Huck living now?

Huck seems to have mixed emotions about his father. At times he likes living with Pap and at times he hates it. Explain why, you think, he both likes it and hates it.

Journal: Chapters 7-8 Huck is very resourceful in this chapter. He

uses those items at his disposal to help him get away. If you were in his position how might you have handled the situation?

In Chapter 8, Huck says, “People would call me a low-down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum-but that don’t make no difference.” What does this first tell us about how the South views slaver? What does it tell us about Huck’s character?

Quiz: Chapters 7-8 What does Huck find in the river? Why is this so

important?

Explain how Huck fakes his own death. Give as much detail as possible.

Who does Huck meet up with on the island?

Why is this person there? Why did they leave their home?

Why can Jim consider himself to be rich, even though he doesn’t have any money?

Quiz Chapters 9-11 What unusual object to Huck and Jim find floating down

the river after the storm?

Describe the prank Huck plays on Jim.

Who is Sarah Williams?

What does the lady of the house find out about Sarah Williams? How does she figure it out?

What do Jim and Huck do at the end of chapter 11? How do they know they need to do this so quickly?

Quiz Chapters 12-14 What do Jim and Huck find on the raft?

How do Jim and Huck get away from the wreck?

How does Huck convince someone to go back to the wreck?

What does Jim think of Kind Solomon? Why?

What does Jim think about Frenchmen?

Quiz Chapters 17-18 List at least 2 lies that Huck tells when he meets the

Grangerfords.

Thinking back to earlier in the novel, how might you compare Tom Sawyer and Buck Grangerford? Try to list at least 3 similarities and/or differences.

What is the cause of the feud between the Grangerfords and the Sheperdsons?

What does Huck do for Miss Sophia? What does this lead to?

Where has Jim been the whole time Huck has been at the Grangerfords?

Quiz Chapters 19-20 What do Jim and Huck pick up in the canoe?

Who/what do the two men insist that they are?

What does the King do at the camp meeting?

What idea does the Duke come up with so they can travel during the day?

How does Jim feel about the Duke and the King?

Quiz Chapters 21-23 What does Col. Sherburn do to Boggs?

What speech does Col. Sherburn make about “the man” from his roof? Explain what the speech was about.

Explain the performance that the Duke and King perform.

How do they convince the audience to come back two nights? What does the audience decide to do on the 3rd night?

At the end of chapter 23, Jim explains one interaction with his four year old daughter. What had he done to her?

Quiz Chapters 26-28 What does Huck decide to do to help out the girls?

Where does Huck end up hiding the money?

What happens to the slave families at the auction?

What does Huck tell Mary Jane? Why does he send her away?

Who shows up at the second auction?

Quiz Chapters 36-38 When things don’t work out (the knives for digging, Tom can’t

climb up the lightening pole) what solution does Tom always come up with.

How do you account for the fact that Jim goes along with the plan to keep him in the shed for a longer period of time to make the escape more exciting?

Name at least 3 different ways that Huck and Tom confuse Silas and Sally in these chapters.

What types of things does Tom insist Jim needs in the shed while he is a prisoner?

Why does Tom get mad at Jim at the end of this section?