The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The author of 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' was Mark Twain, who was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. His real name is "Samuel Langhorne Clemens." He was also known as the "greatest humorist the United States had produced.
ABOUT THE NOVEL
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the best-known and most important novels written by American writer Mark Twain. This novel familiarises us with the events of the novel called 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer' that was published just before this novel. The point of view of the novel is that of the first-person narrator.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is about Huck Finn, a barely literate teen who takes his own life to escape his abusive, druken father. He encounters a runaway slave named Jim, and the two embark on a raft journey down the Mississippi River. Thus, the whole story of this novel revolves around its two major characters, Huck Finn and Jim.
SETTING
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Both novels are set in South America's town of St. Peterburg, which lies on the banks of the Mississippi River.
PUBLICATION
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The children's as well as satirical novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and next in the United States in February 1885. The novel is also known for its colourful description of people and places along the Mississippi River. The novel is a scathing satire on entrenched attitudes, particularly "racism and freedom.". The book was widely criticised upon its release because of its extensive use of language and racial epithets.
HIS MAJOR NOVELS
The Innocents Abroad (1869)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)
'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889)
All these creations are considered his masterpieces.
Twain's travelogues' such as 'Life on the Mississippi' and 'Roughing It' are prized for their humorous insights into American life in the late 19th century.
H.L. Mencken," an American journalist, essayist, and satirist, says about him (Twain) that "I believe that he was the true father of our national literature."
William Faulkner' also called him "the father of American literature".
MAJOR THEMES
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The novel's major theme is "a conflicting relationship between natural and cultural lifestyles," and it also examines institutionalised racism and explores themes of freedom, civilization, and prejudice.
BACKGROUND
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
This famous and very interesting novel, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," was written by Mark Twain. It was first published in 1884. Before the publication of this novel, Mark Twain had published another novel called 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'. In that novel, Tom had a friend named Huckleberry. In that novel, we find the adventures of Tom Sawyer. There, these boys had gone on an adventure where they discovered the great theft of gold and got a huge amount of money as a reward. But in this novel, Huck is the main character.
MAIN SUMMARY
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The story of this novel starts with the setting of St. Peterburg. Huckleberry is the main character here in this novel. He is introduced by his short name, Huck. His friend's name is Tom Sawyer. Huck's father, Pap, was a drunkard and a very violent man.When the novel starts, we find Huck living his life with a widowed woman named Douglas and her pretentious sister, Miss Watson. Widow Douglas kept Huck with her to make him civilized. Huck was spending his life with these two women to learn a civilised lifestyle. Talking about Miss Watson, she was such a showy woman. She pretended to be good most of the time but treated Huck in a very impolite manner. She was quite different from her sister, Douglas. Huck didn't want to live his life under these women. He didn't want to be civilised under these women.
Huck's friend Tom Sawyer wanted to see Huck civilised if he wanted to be in his gang. Due to this, Huck had to move his life under the orders of his widow, Douglas. As time passed, Huck seemed to enjoy his civilised living style.One night, Huck's drunken father suddenly came into his room. Huck became quite fearful to see his violent father in his room. Actually, his father, Pap, didn't want his son Huck to be a civilised person. He mostly tried his best to ask for the money that Huck had received as his reward. Later, Pap claimed that his son Huck would live with him. The reward money for Huck had been saved by a local judge named Thatcher. The judge didn't want Huck to be in the custody of his drunken and violent father, Pap. Huck didn't have a mother, and his father, Pap, mostly threatened and beat him.
One day, Pap kidnapped his own son Huck and dragged him to the bank of the Mississippi River. He locked Huck inside an isolated cabin like a prisoner. Pap started living quite a stealthy life in that isolated place, locking his son inside the cabin. Whenever he wanted to go out, he locked his son securely before leaving. When he was drunk, he beat his son severely. Huck wanted to escape from this place. One day, Huck planned to get rid of his father. He faked his own death. One day, he killed a pig, put blood over his body, scattered it everywhere in his cabin, and lay there quite still. When his father returned, he assumed his death and finally left the place, leaving Huck there. In this way, Huck finally managed to escape from the place. Later, he took a canoe and moved towards Jackson Island.
On Jackson Island, he met a black man named Jim. Actually, Huck was familiar to Jim. He knew Jim from the time when Jim worked for Miss Watson. When Jim learned about Miss Watson's intention of selling him, he escaped from that place. During that time, black people were quite badly treated in that place. Later, both Huck and Jim started living together on Jackson Island. They spent their time on the island fishing and lazing around.One day, there was a storm on Jackson Island. They saw a raft and later a house flowing into the Mississippi River. They found a dead body in the house. They also stole some foodstuffs and clothing from that house for them. They didn't even look at the dead body's face.Later, Huck disguised himself as a girl, and both of them moved towards a town. Both of them gathered information that the slave hunters were on their way to capture Jim. Actually, the slave hunters were searching for fugitive slaves for the sake of rewards. After getting information, Huck and Jim quickly left this island with the help of the raft, which they found flowing in the river. They moved towards the town of Cairo, Illinois, which was situated at the southern tip of the United States. Huck knew very well that there was a risk in saving fugitive slaves, but he didn't care much about that risk. They moved so long on that raft for many days. One day, fog hovered over the river, and both missed their main route towards free states. When the fog cleared, they met some people who were searching for the slaves. Jim laid down in that raft. Huck told the people that his father had a disease called smallpox. The slave hunters became quite fearful about the disease. They provided Huck with some money and asked him to leave the place. In this way, both saved their lives.
They passed the night on their raft. The next night, their raft was knocked down with a stemboat. Their raft broke, and both of them separated from each other. Huck flowed and reached in front of a house. The house belonged to an aristocratic family named the Grangerfords. That family kept Huck in its hospitality. But the Grangerfords had a devastating feud with a rival family named Shepherdsons. Their feud started when a Grangerfords girl eloped with a Sheperdsons boy; the feud escalated to mad blood shed. When Huck realised that Jim was hiding somewhere nearby, he escaped from that place and met Jim. They again continued their journey on a raft.
After some days on their journey, they met two people named the Duke and the King. Both of these people were con artists. But the Duke and King took advantage of Huck and Jim's hospitality, taking over their raft as they headed downriver. Both betrayed Huck and Jim and took away their raft. Hoping to collect Peter Wilk's inheritance, the Duke and King went to his house, claiming to be his brothers. They received a fine welcome from the villagers. Some of the villagers also had doubts regarding the Duke and King. In the meantime, Huck arrived there. He wanted to expose both the Duke and the King. But before his exposure, Peter's original brothers arrived there. Both the Duke and King were exposed. They escaped from there.Both the Duke and King decided to take revenge on Huck and Jim. For the sake of money, both sold Jim to a local farmer named "Silas Phelps', claiming that Jim was a runaway slave and there was a reward on his head. Huck decided to save Jim and reached the farm where Jim was sold. Huck met a woman named Aunt Sally. Huck learned that Uncle Silas and Aunt Sally were Tom Sawyer's relatives. Tom promised and agreed to help Huck in helping Jim escape from captivity. Tom had a plan to free Jim. But his plan was quite impractical. Both Huck and Jim agreed with Tom's plan. One night, Huck and Tom decided to free Jim and make him escape from that place. While they were running, some men (hunters) were following them. Tom was shot in the leg by one of their hunters. Jim sacrificed his freedom and waited with Tom until Huck fetched a doctor. Jim was again captivated.
After the recovery, Tom revealed to Aunt Sally and Huck that Jim was a slave of Miss Watson. After the death of Miss Watson, Jim would live his free life. He told them that Miss Watson had passed away two months earlier. Tom wanted to free Jim at any cost. He also informed Huck about his father's death. The dead body in the house flowing into the river was actually Huck's father's dead body. Miss Watson wrote in her will that Jim had to be freed after her death. Huck also learned that he still had six thousand dollars in Judge Thatcher's safekeeping, and he was free to do what he wanted. Fearful of being adopted by Aunt Sally and civilized again, Huck decided that he was going to go west.
Thus, in this novel, there are no adventures to be had without Jim. Before Jim's entrance, on Jackson's Island, Huck is lonely. The principle purpose of Huck's journey is to free Niager Jim from slavery. So, 'The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn is known as one of the best works of American English literature.
Earnest Hemingway wrote about the Adventure of Huckleberry Finn: All modern Americans come from one book by Mark Twain called The Huckleberry Finn; it is the best book we've had".
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
1. Why does Jim run away?
Answer:
Jim runs away because he learns that Miss Watson plans to sell him, and he wants to escape slavery.
2. When does Jim earn his freedom?
Answer:
Jim earns his freedom after the death of Miss Watson, as stated in her will, two months before Huck learns about it.
3. How does Huck escape from imprisonment by his father?
Answer:
Huck escapes imprisonment by faking his own death, making it appear as if he was killed by spreading pig's blood in the cabin where his father had locked him.
4. What happens after two con artists come on board Huck and Jim’s raft?
Answer:
After the con artists (the Duke and the King) join Huck and Jim, they take over the raft, betray them, and later sell Jim to Silas Phelps for a reward.
5. What trick does Huck play on Jim after they get separated in the fog?
Answer:
In the fog, Huck plays a trick on Jim by pretending they never got separated, making Jim believe he dreamt the entire separation.
6. What dreams and plans does Jim have for his future once he successfully escapes from slavery?
Answer:
Jim dreams of earning enough money to buy his family's freedom and eventually returning to free them.
7. How does Huck escape from the feud between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons?
Answer:
Huck escapes the feud between the Grangerfords and Shepherdsons by leaving their hospitality and reuniting with Jim on the raft.
8. Why does Huck write the letter to Miss Watson informing her of Jim’s whereabouts?
Answer:
Huck writes the letter to Miss Watson about Jim's whereabouts as a moral dilemma but ultimately tears it up, choosing not to betray Jim.
9. Why doesn’t Huck want to be adopted by Aunt Sally?
Answer:
Huck doesn't want to be adopted by Aunt Sally because he values his freedom and fears the constraints of civilized life.
10. How do the duke and king work their Royal Nonesuch scam?
Answer:
The duke and king work their Royal Nonesuch scam by staging a fake play, claiming it's immoral, and collecting money from outraged audiences.
11. How does Huck foil the attempts of the duke and king to rob the Wilks family?
Answer:
Huck foils the attempts of the duke and king to rob the Wilks family by exposing their true identities as frauds.
12. How do Pap Finn, the Widow Douglas, and Judge Thatcher dispute over the custody of Huck?
Answer:
Pap Finn, the Widow Douglas, and Judge Thatcher dispute over Huck's custody, with Pap wanting control, the Widow Douglas aiming for his education, and Judge Thatcher ensuring his welfare.
13. What is the significance of the town of Cairo, Illinois?
Answer:
The town of Cairo, Illinois, is significant as it represents freedom for Jim and Huck, being the gateway to the free states.
14. Who is responsible for Jim’s recapture and how does it happen?
Answer:
Jim's recapture is orchestrated by the Duke and the King, who betray Huck and sell Jim to Silas Phelps for a reward.
15. Why is Jim’s imprisonment on Silas Phelps’s plantation a lucky coincidence for Huck and Jim?
Answer:
Jim's imprisonment on Silas Phelps's plantation is a lucky coincidence as it leads to Huck's reunion with Jim and the eventual revelation of Jim's freedom.
16. What themes do you find in this novel?
Answer:
Themes in the novel include freedom, racism, the conflict between natural and cultural lifestyles, and the examination of institutionalized racism.
17. When was this novel published?
Answer:
The novel was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885.
18. What is this novel about?
Answer:
The novel is about Huck Finn's journey down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave named Jim, exploring themes of freedom, racism, and societal norms.
19. What is the setting of this novel?
Answer:
The setting of the novel is in South America's town of St. Petersburg, situated on the banks of the Mississippi River.
20. What is the role of Tom Sawyer in the novel?
Answer:
The role of Tom Sawyer in the novel is minimal. But he influences Huck's decisions. In the end, he helps Huck try to free Jim, though the plan is quite impractical.
ALL SUMMARY PACK FOR YOU
CLICK HERE 👇 TO READ SUMMARIES
SUMMARIES OF SHORT STORIES, POEMS, AND PLAYS
Post a Comment