American Literature
American Literature
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain[footnoteRef:30867]
[30867: Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in the town of
Florida, Missouri, in 1835. At the age 20 Clemens gave up his
printing career in order to work on riverboats on the Mississippi.
The riverboat life provided him with the pen name Mark Twain,
derived from the riverboat leadsmens signalBy the mark,
twainmeaning "the water was deep enough for safe passage". ]
Major Characters
Huck is a boy who comes from the lowest levels of white society.
His father is a drunkard and a ruffian who sometimes disappears for
months. Huck himself is dirty and frequently homeless. Although the
Widow Douglas attempts to reform Huck, he resists her attempts and
maintains his independent ways. -> The Widow Douglas she took me
for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough
living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular
and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldnt
stand it no longer I lit out. I got into my old rags and my
sugar-hogshead again, and was free and satisfied." Huck possesses
the ability to adapt to almost any situation through trickery. He
is playful but practical, inventive but logical, compassionate but
realistic, and these traits allow him to survive the abuse of Pap,
the violence of a feud, and the dangers of the river. "It was a
close place. I took...up [the letter Id written to Miss Watson],
and held it in my hand. I was a-trembling, because Id got to
decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it. I studied a
minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to myself: All
right then, Ill go to helland tore it up. It was awful thoughts and
awful words, but they was said. And I let them stay said; and never
thought no more about reforming."- Huck composes a letter to Miss
Watson, telling her where Jim is. When he thinks of his friendship
with Jim, however, and realizes that Jim will be sold down the
river anyway, he decides to tear up the letter. The logical
consequences of Hucks action, rather than the lessons society has
taught him, drive Huck. He decides that going to hell, if it means
following his gut and not societys hypocritical and cruel
principles, is a better option than going to everyone elses heaven.
This moment of decision represents Hucks true break with the world
around him.
Jim is one of Miss Watsons household slaves. Jim is
superstitious and occasionally sentimental, but he is also
intelligent, practical, and ultimately more of an adult than anyone
else in the novel. Jims frequent acts of selflessness, his longing
for his family, and his friendship with both Huck and Tom
demonstrate to Huck that humanity has nothing to do with race.
Because Jim is a black man and a runaway slave, he is at the mercy
of almost all the other characters in the novel and is often forced
into ridiculous and degrading situations.
Widow Douglas&Miss Watson - Two wealthy sisters who live
together in a large house in St. Petersburg and who adopt Huck. The
gaunt and severe Miss Watson is the most prominent representative
of the hypocritical religious and ethical values Twain criticizes
in the novel. The Widow Douglas is somewhat gentler in her beliefs
and has more patience with the mischievous Huck. When Huck acts in
a manner contrary to societal expectations, it is the Widow Douglas
whom he fears disappointing. She embodies civilization and
everything respectable but Huck's ideal is to escape the traps of
civilization.
Pap is the father of Huckleberry Finn. He is a middle-aged man
who although briefly appears in the novel, greatly affects Huck.
Pap is a wreck when he appears at the beginning of the novel:a
drunkard with disgusting, ghostlike white skin and tattered
clothes. The illiterate Pap disapproves of Hucks education and
beats him frequently. Pap is so outraged that a black person is
educated, well-dressed, and allowed to participate in the political
process that he just refuses to vote. Pap represents both the
general debasement of white society and the failure of family
structures in the novel.
