Analysis Huck’s contemplation of prayer brims with humor as he tries to fathom the logic of how the quicksilver bread found him. The combination of a superstitious practice (quicksilver bread) and a religious custom (prayer) shows that Huck’s beliefs include a portion of both. As reluctant as he is to […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 8Summary and Analysis Chapter 7
Analysis Twain gives the readers another literary glimpse of the river that enchanted him throughout his life and career. The quiet Mississippi quickly lulls Huck to sleep. The river becomes symbolic of Huck’s more peaceful, natural life. The description is important, because it underscores the serenity of the river and […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 7Summary and Analysis Chapters 5-6
Analysis Upon discovering Pap, Huck’s first thoughts are of the beatings that Pap used to give him. When Huck sees Pap’s appearance, however, he immediately is put at ease. Pap’s disheveled appearance does not frighten Huck; instead, Pap appears as a clown or buffoon with exaggerated features. The appearance is […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapters 5-6Summary and Analysis Chapter 4
Analysis When Pap’s tracks appear, Huck would rather give his money away than risk confronting Pap. He knows that Pap is inspired only by whisky or greed, and if Huck is poor, perhaps Pap will leave him alone. In the previous chapter, Pap is described as a town vagrant who […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 4Summary and Analysis Chapter 3
Analysis In Chapter 3, the practical Huck again struggles to understand religion. When Miss Watson tells Huck he can receive anything he wants through prayer, the literal Huck believes he can receive fishing gear. He contemplates the concept of prayer and wonders why, if someone can get anything, he cannot […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 3Summary and Analysis Chapter 2
Analysis Chapter 2 introduces Jim, Huck’s future companion and friend. In Missouri, most slaves were domestic servants, not workers on plantations that most people today identify with slavery. Jim’s initial behaviors as interpreted through Huck are stereotypical traits attributed to blacks at the time: laziness, a tendency toward exaggeration, and […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 2Summary and Analysis Chapter 1
Huck gives a brief summary of how he and Tom got six thousand dollars each at the end of Tom Sawyer. Judge Thatcher has taken Huck’s money and invested it with a dollar of interest coming in each day, and Huck now lives with the Widow Douglas and her sister, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 1Summary and Analysis Notice; Explanatory
Analysis These statements serve three purposes. First, the warning is a satiric jab at the sentimental literary style, which was in direct contrast to Twain’s brand of literary realism. Second, the warning introduces the use of satire, a harsh and biting brand of humor that readers will continue to see […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Notice; ExplanatoryCharacter List
Pap Finn Huck’s abusive, drunken father who plots to steal his son’s reward money. The Duke River con man who claims to be the Duke of Bridgewater and takes control of Huck and Jim’s raft. The King River con man who claims to be the disappeared heir to the French […]
Read more Character ListAbout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Twain’s original intention, as he stated to William Dean Howells, was to take “a boy of twelve and run him on through life (in the first person).” In the aftermath of the war and the failure of Reconstruction, however, the work quickly bogged down as the book began to address […]
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