The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is often considered Twain’s greatest masterpiece. It combines his raw humor with an in-depth critique of southern traditions. The novel tells the story of a misfit boy around the age of 13 living in pre-Civil War St. Petersburg, Missouri, and through Huck’s thirteen-year-old eyes, the readers sees and judges the south: its faults and its redeeming qualities.
Huck begins his story by briefly describing what he has experienced since the end of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The widow Douglass and Miss Watson are trying to “sivilize” Huck with proper manners, dress, and religious piety. Huck finds this constraining and pointless.
Huck’s dad, the town drunk, shows up, demands money, and then kidnaps Huck, locking him in an old cabin by the river. To escape and avoid the cruel and constant beatings, Huck fakes his own death and hides on a nearby island where he meets another runaway: Miss Watson’s slave, Jim. Jim has run away to avoid being sold down river and separated from his family. While Jim and Huck live on the island, the river rises significantly. When the river carries an entire house by the island, they climb in the house to see if they can salvage anything. Inside, they find a dead body, and Jim does not let Huck see his face.
Soon afterward, Huck goes in town disguised as a girl and finds out that a search party is coming to collect Jim. To avoid being caught, the pair decides to float down the river on a raft they found. They travel only at night to avoid being seen. During a thunderstorm, Huck and Jim spot a crashed steamboat. Together, they climb aboard and discover three thieves. They quickly try to escape but are forced to steal the thieves’ canoe because their raft came loose from its mooring. Later, they are able to reclaim their raft, and they continue down the river with both.
Huck and Jim plan to connect with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois which will lead them to freedom in the Northern states. Throughout the novel, Huck wrestles with his conscience. Is he helping an innocent man escape slavery, or is he stealing Miss Watson’s property? Despite his reservations, Huck decides to continue travelling with Jim. One night they are caught in a dense fog, pass Cairo, and find themselves floating deeper into slave territory. A steamship hits the raft and damages it, separating Huck and Jim.
Once on shore, Huck meets the feuding Grangerfords and Shepherdsons. While staying with the Grangerfords, he befriends Buck. Huck witnesses a skirmish of the feud in which many people, including Buck, are killed. Huck runs away from the scene, reunites with Jim, and they return to the raft.
Further down river, two conmen that call themselves the “Duke” and the “King” find their way to the raft and join Huck and Jim. The conmen scam villages with a show and escape with over $400. In one of the towns where they stop, the conmen impersonate the brother of a wealthy man, Peter Wilks, who has just died. The “Duke” and the “King” plan to swindle the three orphaned daughters out of their inheritance. After being treated extremely well by the daughters, Huck thwarts the conmen’s plan. In the ensuing aftermath Huck and Jim take off is their raft, but are unable to lose the conmen, who join them a little later.
The conmen then decide to sell Jim in order to make money, claiming that he is a runaway slave from New Orleans. They sell him to Silas Phelps, who turns out to be Tom Sawyer’s uncle. Huck pretends to be Tom, and when Tom unexpectedly shows up, he pretends to be his younger brother Sid. Tom persuades Huck into an elaborate and nonsensical plan to free Jim. As can be expected, Tom’s plan fails, Jim is recaptured, and Tom gets shot. Only then does Tom reveal that Miss Watson died two months earlier and freed all of her slaves, including Jim, in her will. Then, Jim reveals that the dead man in the floating house was Huck’s father. Tom’s Aunt Sally wants to adopt Huck, but Huck has already tried the civilized lifestyle and decides to “light out for the Territory.” He heads out to the frontier before anyone can “sivilize” him again.
Huck begins his story by briefly describing what he has experienced since the end of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The widow Douglass and Miss Watson are trying to “sivilize” Huck with proper manners, dress, and religious piety. Huck finds this constraining and pointless.
Huck’s dad, the town drunk, shows up, demands money, and then kidnaps Huck, locking him in an old cabin by the river. To escape and avoid the cruel and constant beatings, Huck fakes his own death and hides on a nearby island where he meets another runaway: Miss Watson’s slave, Jim. Jim has run away to avoid being sold down river and separated from his family. While Jim and Huck live on the island, the river rises significantly. When the river carries an entire house by the island, they climb in the house to see if they can salvage anything. Inside, they find a dead body, and Jim does not let Huck see his face.
Soon afterward, Huck goes in town disguised as a girl and finds out that a search party is coming to collect Jim. To avoid being caught, the pair decides to float down the river on a raft they found. They travel only at night to avoid being seen. During a thunderstorm, Huck and Jim spot a crashed steamboat. Together, they climb aboard and discover three thieves. They quickly try to escape but are forced to steal the thieves’ canoe because their raft came loose from its mooring. Later, they are able to reclaim their raft, and they continue down the river with both.
Huck and Jim plan to connect with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois which will lead them to freedom in the Northern states. Throughout the novel, Huck wrestles with his conscience. Is he helping an innocent man escape slavery, or is he stealing Miss Watson’s property? Despite his reservations, Huck decides to continue travelling with Jim. One night they are caught in a dense fog, pass Cairo, and find themselves floating deeper into slave territory. A steamship hits the raft and damages it, separating Huck and Jim.
Once on shore, Huck meets the feuding Grangerfords and Shepherdsons. While staying with the Grangerfords, he befriends Buck. Huck witnesses a skirmish of the feud in which many people, including Buck, are killed. Huck runs away from the scene, reunites with Jim, and they return to the raft.
Further down river, two conmen that call themselves the “Duke” and the “King” find their way to the raft and join Huck and Jim. The conmen scam villages with a show and escape with over $400. In one of the towns where they stop, the conmen impersonate the brother of a wealthy man, Peter Wilks, who has just died. The “Duke” and the “King” plan to swindle the three orphaned daughters out of their inheritance. After being treated extremely well by the daughters, Huck thwarts the conmen’s plan. In the ensuing aftermath Huck and Jim take off is their raft, but are unable to lose the conmen, who join them a little later.
The conmen then decide to sell Jim in order to make money, claiming that he is a runaway slave from New Orleans. They sell him to Silas Phelps, who turns out to be Tom Sawyer’s uncle. Huck pretends to be Tom, and when Tom unexpectedly shows up, he pretends to be his younger brother Sid. Tom persuades Huck into an elaborate and nonsensical plan to free Jim. As can be expected, Tom’s plan fails, Jim is recaptured, and Tom gets shot. Only then does Tom reveal that Miss Watson died two months earlier and freed all of her slaves, including Jim, in her will. Then, Jim reveals that the dead man in the floating house was Huck’s father. Tom’s Aunt Sally wants to adopt Huck, but Huck has already tried the civilized lifestyle and decides to “light out for the Territory.” He heads out to the frontier before anyone can “sivilize” him again.