The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

1. “We said there warn't no home like a raft, after all.” Twain Chapter 18, p. 116 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

2. Point of View • Huck: first person narrator • A young uneducated boy • He draws the us into the society and the people which he describes. • His objectivity allows us to make our own conclusions • Made possible because Huck does not judge the social and human conditions that he encounters.

3. Setting -- The Mississippi River and several of the United States • Many episodes Huck and Jim experience occur on the banks of the Mississippi River in the states • of Illinois • Arkansas • Missouri • Louisiana

4. Huck’s journey on a raft:

5. Setting – contrast of the river and shore The river Where Huck and Jim feel safest “We said there warn’t no home like a raft, after all.” “You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft.” Where Huck and Jim develop a friendship They can think for themselves No authority Huck is brave enough to break with what others assume is correct and just.

6. Setting – on shore Shore is oppressive compared to the freedom of the river Where Huck sees the hypocrisy of society Huck and Jim encounter slavery, deception and another side of civilization on shore See social injustices The trickery and cheating of the King and Duke The lack of caring by the townspeople for Boggs The innocence of the Wilks sisters

7. Huck’s Character: shrewd, gullible and compassionate An uneducated backward boy Constantly under pressure to conform to society Has racist attitudes at first Tries to find freedom He learns to think and reason for himself Develops empathy for Jim – decides not to turn him in and with Jim’s fate in his hands, he decides to “give up try’in” ( smallpox incident ) But follows Tom Sawyer when he reappears – he is easily molded and his morals and empathy fail him The only time his morality and loyalty to Jim are clear is when he makes decisions alone with only his heart guiding him

8. Huck’s Developing Character • Initial Character • Follows Tom • Looks down on Jim • Believes society more important than human feelings • Goes along with King and Duke • Loses his identity

9. Huck’s Developing Character • Forces of Change • Grows to know and care for Jim • Observes the bloody feud • Unable to betray Jim • Travels down the river with Jim

10. Huck’s Developing Character: His character changes • Sees Tom’s unrealistic nature • Follows his own ideas • Realizes the stupid savagery inside • Believes human feelings more important than society • Sympathizes with all humanity • Gains a new sense of self • Respects Jim is a major change

11. Theme: Huck’s character change reveals that a a person can learn to think and reason morally for oneself Huck develops a moral conscience He apologizes to Jim for fooling him about the dream. Huck struggles with obeying the law and turning Jim in or risk having a bad reputation and protect Jim He fears he may have done wrong in helping a slave to escape. His traditions and environment pull him one way; what he feels in his heart pulls him another way. He feels better after he writes the letter to Miss Watson but tears it up and says, “All right, then, I’ll go to hell”. His idea of racism is based on his upbringing but he questions the validity of black inferiority Huck admits that Jim “had an uncommon head for a nigger”.

12. Theme: Friendship – Huck and Jim • Huck learns to value his own opinion regarding blacks as inferior even if it means sacrificing his reputation and being labeled. • For example, when he saves Jim and helps to secure his freedom, he is in actual fact risking his own safety. • Jackson’s Island, slave hunters, the Duke and Dauphin, the letter to Miss Watson • Huck learns that although people in his life may hurt him he is able to be loved and to love back. • He realizes this when his friendship with Jim evolves and he sees they both care about each other. • Getting lost in the fog; the apology; Jim tells the story about his daughter

13. Theme: Personal Growth and Maturity Huck takes care of himself Although young, he faces many adult situations an abusive father Jim’s freedom confessing to the Wilks The feud between the Grangerfords and Sheperdsons is one of the most tragic scenes in the book he sees blood and dying that nauseated him The cowardice of the mob that goes after Colonel Sheburn and how they only gain courage because they are a crowd Continued on next slide...

14. Theme: Personal Growth and Maturity • Huck feels bad for the King and Duke when they are tarred and feathered by the townspeople. • His ill feelings toward them melt away: • “Human beings can be awful cruel to one another”, he observes. • He concludes that a conscience is useless because it makes you feel bad no matter what you do.

15. Theme: Initiation into Society and the Realities of Society • Huck’s interaction with people and how they behave ( codes of conduct ) reveals the realities of society: • Racism: • Pap reveals racism. He is a drunken abusive person who feels superior than blacks because he is white. • Hypocrisy of Religion: • Miss Watson treats Jim as a material possession to sell. Religion is based on looks, not real devotion. • The Grangerfords and Sheperdsons: go to church, prop their guns against the wall and listen to a sermon about brotherly love.

16. Theme: Initiation into Society and the Realities of Society • Southern Society: • Restricted middle class lifestyle that influences all the lower classes. • Had to act a certain way. • Miss Watson tried to make Huck into something that he wasn’t. • Gullibility: • The Wilkes sisters are victims of a scam cooked up by two con men: • the King and the Duke • The King and the Duke trick people out of their money • The Royal Nonsense play is a way to scam people of their money.

17. Theme The quest for freedom Jim seeks freedom from slavery – he runs away when he hears Miss Watson talking of selling him “down the river” Jim can’t do anything against the rules of his taboos, superstitions and charms The hairball, the snake-skin Huck seeks to be free and not have to live in fear of his father, or being civilized

18. Conflict: with other people • Huck struggles to be free from Pap: • Violence and abuse • emotional/psychological abuse • Huck’s struggle in determining whether to stay with Pap or venture on his own (internal) • Huck versus Miss Watson (society’s rules) • she wanted to civilize Huck: religion, school, clothes, stop smoking • he struggled with hiding Jim from her – find a significant quote to support this idea • He felt governed by the rules on “shore” and wanted to find freedom on the river.

19. Conflict: with himself • Huck’s moral conscience – his problem • Society did not want to help out the black people. Why? Because white society wanted to keep them oppressed as slaves. • Huck helps Jim even though he knows this is wrong according to the rules of society.  • Huck at times struggles with the notion of giving Jim up: slave hunters • Struggled with writing the letter to Miss Watson -- find a significant quote to support this idea • Huck  and Tom: even though he “outwardly” goes along with Tom's ludicrous adventure to steal Jim out of slavery, he is internally frustrated and irritated because it violates what he has learned on the trip down river • that he has matured in some important ways so that he is a better person than Tom Sawyer, to whom he now constantly defers. • Tom has no idea how Huck feels towards Jim

20. Symbols in the Novel The River Freedom for Huck and Jim Jim Symbolizes all the slaves in the south; we see the southern attitudes toward black people; we also see through Jim the humanity even in slaves Widow Douglas and Miss Watson Symbolize society and civilization; they tried to civilize Huck but he ran away from them The Raft Grangerfords and Shepherdsons: hypocrisy in society The King and Duke: liars; swindlers; corruption

21. Mapping the character of Huck • Activity # 1 • Create a character development chart ( a sheet of paper 8 x 14 ) to show Huck’s moral growth and epiphany by the end of the novel. • Include specific examples and quotes in your chart • Your character chart should look like this: Huck’s views have changed even more Huck struggles with his conscience Huck as the novel progresses Huck at the beginning Huck’s epiphany

22. Flag project • Activity #2 • See handout

23. Examine the story as three distinct parts: • (a) initial escape of Jim and Huck and the setting out upon the river, the beginning of the voyage on the raft • (b) the adventures in the towns with the Duke and the Dauphin • (c) the events at Phelps' farm leading to the ending (the reappearance of Tom Sawyer and the liberation of Jim).

24. Significant Quotes