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WOLFNOTE SUMMARY OF…
MARK TWAIN’s
HUCKLEBERRY FINN
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
CONTEXT
As you might guess from the title, Huckleberry Finn is the hero and
narrator of this story, which consists of forty-three chapters.
We learn that Huckleberry has a considerable fortune derived from his adventures with Tom Sawyer
covered in the book of the same name.
The Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson, have taken it upon themselves to civilize Huck and
have taken him into their home to teach him proper manners and religion.
Huck immediately sneaks out of the house one night to join Tom Sawyer’s gang who aim to become
robbers of the locality. Unfortunately, these adventures become merely make-believe and the
members of the gang soon become discontented and it breaks up.
Huck’s father Pap Finn who is renowned for his violence and drunkenness returns to the area having
heard about his son’s fortune. He is horrified to find out that Huck has been endeavoring to better
himself at school and he decides to kidnap his son and take him across the Mississippi River to the
Illinois territory.
To some extent, Huck is happy to be away from the civilizing influence of the town and to be akin with
nature again, but the beatings he receives from Pap become too severe, so he decides to fake his own
murder and make an escape downriver on a raft.
He meets up with Jim, the house slave of Miss Watson who was threatening to sell him down the river
to a plantation owner. Jim’s plan is to reach the town of Cairo and then go up the Ohio River to the
Free states.
Huck is in conflict regarding the rights and wrongs of assisting Jim to attain his freedom, but the more
he learns about Jim’s character, the more sympathetic he becomes to his plight.
Huck and Jim meet several colorful characters during the flight including a band of robbers salvaging
booty from a wrecked steamboat, and two feuding Southern families who involve Huck in their dispute.
The only time that the two fugitives feel free is when they are on their raft sailing down the river. This
freedom is soon shattered when their paths cross the Duke and the Dauphin whose titles are totally
fictitious. They take over control of the expedition and force Huck and Jim to stop at various towns
where the two tricksters swindle the gullible townsfolk out of their money and possessions. These
scams are initially quite harmless, but then they decide to pose as English brothers and hatch a plot to
steal a family’s entire inheritance. At the point where they are auctioning off the estate, the two real
brothers appear on the scene. In the ensuing confusion Huck and Jim escape as the crowd threaten to
lynch all of them. However, the Duke and the Dauphin catch them up, and Huck for a moment is in
danger of his life.
Although the Duke and the Dauphin had obtained quite a large sum of money, this has now been lost
and so Jim is sold back into slavery for $40.00.
Huck is now determined to find Jim and help him gain his freedom. He finds out that he is captive in a
hut owned by Silas and Sally Phelps who happen to be Tom Sawyer’s uncle and aunt. Huck easily falls
into the role of Tom as part of his plan to free Jim. However, when Tom arrives on the scene he
pretends to be another relation called Sid. Still trying to be the adventurer, Tom devises an intricate
plan to free Jim. The basis of the plan is based on extracts from several novels, which he has read and
it soon degenerates into a complicated farce.
When the escape finally takes place, one of the pursuing crowds shoots Tom in the calf and Jim will not
leave his injured friend, thus causing his recapture.
At the Phelp’s farm Tom reveals that Miss Watson had freed Jim in her Will, and that there was no need
for this elaborate plan to free Jim.
Jim is finally set free and Huck considers where to have his next adventure away from the white society
full of so many flaws.
The Author
Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in the small town of Florida, Missouri on 30th November 1835.
His birth coincided with Halley’s Comet being at its closest to the Sun and, of course, nobody knew at
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that time that the fifth child of John and Jane Clemens would become the brightest star in American
literary history.
Missouri was a slave state and the Clemens family owned a few slaves, so in his books concerning the
plight of the slave Samuel Clemens was to speak from a position of authority. As a child he only
received a brief education, as the family required him to work due to the premature death of his father
in 1847.
He started as an apprentice in a print shop but later found work on a Mississippi steamboat. He used
the pseudonym Mark Twain from the call used on a steamboat to indicate when the ship had reached
a safe depth of two fathoms.
Twain always had a strong affection for the Mississippi life and this is immortalized in his works Life on
the Mississippi (1883), Huckleberry Finn (1885), and parts of Tom Sawyer (1876).
Twain then went on to work as a journalist in San Francisco and Nevada in the 1860’s.
He had a natural flair for writing humor and wrote many such stories, which attracted national
attention.
In 1870 he married Olivia from New York State and moved to Connecticut, by which time he was able
to buy a large house from the royalties received from his early books.
He then wrote books on a regular basis, The Prince and the Pauper (1882), The Gilded Cage and also
noteworthy poems. Despite the economic crisis during this time, his books were always very popular
and his financial position was secure. Many of his books received international acclaim and today they
are published in at least twenty-seven languages.
Some of his works have always been controversial and have received vigorous criticism over the years,
particularly during the 1950’s when racial bigotry was at its height in America. On various occasions his
books have been banned from U.S. schools and Children’s Libraries, but despite all of this they have
remained popular with the general public at large.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was not published until 1885 although Twain had begun much
earlier. The manuscript was picked up on several occasions by the author and then put aside again;
the writing being done in fits and starts. Some say that it became a burden on Twain causing him
much frustration, which may explain the disappointing end to the adventure.
Huckleberry Finn ensured Twain’s place among the literary greats and this work has proved to be
Twain’s most studied and critically acclaimed novel.
In his later years, his health failed and in 1894 he became bankrupt due to a poor investment in a new
type of automatic typesetter, which drained all of his fortune. His later years were quite sad as he lived
through the deaths of his wife who became a semi-invalid before her death, his oldest daughter who
died of meningitis and another daughter who developed epilepsy. His writings at that time reflected a
darker side of life due to the grief he felt from the loss of his loved ones.
He went on a lecture trip around the world in order to raise money to repay his creditors, during this
time publishing books, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer
Detective, all published in 1896.
On 21st April 1910, Mark Twain died just two days after Halley’s Comet reached its closest point to the
Sun.
Main Characters
Huckleberry Finn
The narrator of the story, a boy aged around fourteen who suffered at the hands of his alcoholic father
in the fictitious town of St. Petersburg, Missouri. He has a series of adventures during which he makes
studies on human nature and of the southern society. As the story develops he slowly lays aside the
values, which have been instilled in him, and adopts a more moral attitude to those around him,
particularly to the slave Jim whom he helps to set free.
Jim
Jim is a house slave of Miss Watson and when he overhears her negotiating his sale to a plantation
down the river, he decides to escape. Jim is upset at having to leaving his wife and two children, but
his aim is to earn enough money in the Free states to buy their freedom. He is perhaps the novel’s
most complex character showing a great deal of common sense and intelligence during the course of
his adventures with Huck. The reader becomes very sympathetic towards Jim and suffers along with
him the pains inflicted by the white dominant society around him. He becomes a father figure to Huck
and helps him to mature morally.
The Duke and the Dauphin
We never find out these two rascals correct identities, but they turn out to be evil and selfish, illustrated
by the fact they callously separate a slave family and sell Jim for $40.00. The Duke claims to be the
Duke of Bridgewater from England and the Dauphin claims to be the long lost son of Louise XVI.
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Tom Sawyer
It is clear that Huckleberry Finn is the sequel to the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which was narrated by
Tom himself. He is a foil to Huck and the two together at the beginning of the book make an excellent
partnership. Tom loves to take part in make-believe adventures reliving chapters he has read from
European Romantic novels. Twain hates this type of literature and uses this novel to criticize such
works.
Pap Finn
Huckleberry’s drunken father, who has a ghastly appearance due mainly to the abuse he has inflicted
on himself over all his adult life, appears at the beginning of the novel. He is illiterate and wishes his
son to be the same, being angry when he finds out that Huck has been attending school. He only uses
his son in order to obtain money so that he can feed his drinking habit. He ends up kidnapping Huck
who has to fake his own murder to make his escape and for which Pap is almost lynched. Jim
eventually finds Pap dead on an abandoned houseboat.
Widow Douglas and Miss Watson
These two sisters live in a large house in St. Petersburg. They take it upon themselves to civilize
Huckleberry Finn. They feel this is their duty. Widow Douglas adopted Huck at the end of the last
novel. Both sisters have strong hypocritical religious views and their only redeeming feature is the fact
that they care what happens to Huckleberry Finn. Miss Watson obviously feels guilty at the way she
treated her slave Jim and frees him in her Will.
Chapter 1
Summary
If you have read the Adventures of Tom Sawyer then the characters of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer
and some of the others will be familiar to you.
If you have not read this very entertaining novel by Mr. Mark Twain, then don’t worry; it will not spoil
Huckleberry Finn for you.
As you find out from the opening sentence of this book, Huckleberry Finn, aged around fourteen is the
narrator of our story, which starts off in the fictional town of St. Petersburg. In the previous book, Tom
and Huck find some robbers gold in a cave and they end up receiving $6,000, each which was invested
for them by Judge Thatcher from which they receive $1 per day, each, interest.
Huck now lives with the Widow Douglas and her sister Miss Watson, and they are endeavoring to
“Civilize him” which does not help Huck settle into the frustratingly clean house, incorporating good
manners as well. Miss Watson is continually reminding Huck that if he does not behave he will end up
in “the bad place”.
Huck quizzes her on this bad place and asks will Tom Sawyer be waiting for him there and she replies
by saying most probably, which makes the thought of going to hell much more attractive.
Another thing, which frustrates Huck, is that he is forbidden to smoke, mainly because Widow Douglas
has not tried it, but she does approve of snuff since she uses it herself.
Miss Watson tries to give Huck spelling lessons without much success.
One night after Miss Watson’s Prayer Session with Huck and the slaves, Huck goes to bed feeling
depressed. He accidentally flicks a spider into a candle and thinks this will be a bad omen. Just after
midnight he hears a noise below his window and a me-yow and he responds with another me-yow.
Climbing out of his window and onto the ground he finds Tom Sawyer waiting for him.
Interpretation
There is a lot of detail in the first pages of the book and Twain fires a lot of information at the reader
through the unconventional narration by Huck.
If you have not read Tom Sawyer, then you are enthralled at Twain’s humor and irony and the colorful
character of Huckleberry Finn.
The clever use of dialect in the narration seems off-putting at first, but the reader will soon get used to
this and it only serves to enhance the humor of the tale.
We are introduced to Widow Douglas and Miss Watson and any concerns, which the reader should have
about the adventures of Tom Sawyer, are allayed.
The only other thing you should realize is to take with a pinch of salt some of the statements made by
Twain. There is a brief notice that introduces the book. In it we are told that the reader must not seek
a plot or motive which means, of course, that both are present in the novel.
Twain uses irony saying one thing, but meaning the opposite of its literal definition. He uses this irony
humorously by poking fun at the seriousness of adult American society that is relevant today, but
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Twain’s humor does not have the sole purpose of entertaining the reader, but also conveying a serious
message.
One of the instances of ironic humor appears in this chapter documenting Huck’s reaction to Widow
Douglas’ attempts at civilization. Huck’s views are all completely natural, free of refinements and
breeding which mark the Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson. In their eyes Huck is rough and
uncivilized and it is their duty to bring about a change in their protégé. However, these two wellmeaning ladies represent everything, which Huck rejects in the society he sees around him.
Miss Watson’s view of heaven is a place where the inhabitants spend their days singing and playing
harps on fluffy white clouds.
Huck is more interested in the other place, as this seems more fun.
Miss Watson’s religion is best demonstrated by her Prayer Meeting with the slaves, but she sees
nothing wrong in owning other people.
The only redeeming quality the sisters have is their concern for Huck.
Huck recognizes the hypocrisy and foolishness of the society represented by the two sisters. This
society stifles freedom and they seem intent on punishing themselves by wearing restrictive clothing
and adopting pernickety manners. In a larger sense, through the institution of slavery, their whole
existence is hypocritical and against the Christian ideal.
Huckleberry is not only the narrator, but also the protagonist of the novel and the book uses firstperson narration.
The word “nigger” is first used in Chapter 1 and is present throughout the whole book. It means all
African Americans and especially those held as slaves. It is important to remember that the word is
used as part of a corrupt language and racist society where slavery was acceptable. These facts are
fully described in the novel and it is important to remember that the author utterly condemns both
slavery and racism.
Chapters 2 and 3
Summary
Huck was already tempted to run away from the civilizing sisters, but Tom had told him that he was
forming a gang and that if he ran away he would not be able to join.
Now Huck and Tom creep through the garden, but they have to pass the kitchen window and Big Jim
the house slave hears them from inside. Jim says aloud that he will stay put until he discovers the
source of the sound, but after several minutes he falls asleep under a tree. Instead of making their
getaway Tom decides to play a trick on Jim by putting his hat on a tree branch over his head and
taking candles from the kitchen. At a later date Jim will say some witches flew him around the state
and put the hat above his head as a calling card. He becomes a local celebrity among the slaves as a
result.
Meanwhile, Tom and Huck meet with some other boys and they take a boat to a large cavern. Tom
declares that the Band of Robbers will be called “Tom Sawyer’s Gang” and all must sign an oath in
blood that if any of them betray the gang, the rest will kill the family of that member. The boys think
this is a great oath and Tom admits he had read about such oaths from books. However, some of the
boys want to disqualify Huck because he has no family but a drunken father, but he offers up Miss
Watson as someone they can kill if he betrays them. One of the other boys also gets cold feet, but
Tom bribes him with 5c and he decides to stay in the gang. They decide they will meet again, but not
on a Sunday as this would be a bad omen.
Huckleberry makes it back to bed just before dawn.
Huck finds out that the two sisters have different ideas about what God is like. Widow Douglas
describes God as wonderful and benevolent, whilst Miss Watson’s God is terrible and vengeful. Huck
decides that there must be two Gods and he will keep allegiance to the Widow Douglas’ God.
A rumor circulates that Huck’s pap that has not been seen for over a year is dead as a corpse was
found in the river covered in ragged clothes, but the face was unrecognizable. Huck is quite pleased at
the news as his father was a drunk who beat him when he was sober and Huck used to hide from him
most of the time.
After a month in Tom’s gang, Huck decides to quit with the rest of the boys as there has been no
robbery or killing and all their activities are make-believe. Most of these are based on the books, which
Tom has read and one adventure organized by Tom was to raid a caravan of Arabs and Spaniards
camped nearby. The Spaniards were enchanted like Don Quixote. Huck judged that Tom’s stories
were all lies, especially when he started rubbing old lamps and rings trying to produce a genie with no
result.
Interpretation
We obtain some insight into the characters of Huckleberry and Tom and realize that in many respects
they contrast each other.
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Tom tends to be insensitive to others, in particular slaves. He wanted to tie Jim up just for the fun of it
and it was Huck who restricted him to placing his hat above him in the tree. This will become more
evident later on in the book. Tom also seems to possess a tendency to be hypocritical, for instance, he
makes his gang sign an oath in blood not to divulge any of the gang’s secrets but when a boy threatens
to do this, and Tom merely bribes him.
In contrast, Huckleberry is much more considerate of others, although he lets himself be drawn into
Tom’s make-believe world derived from passages he has read from books.
Twain detested the type of literature, which was popular at this time most of which was imported from
Europe. However, it is ironic that the one quoted Cervantes Don Quixote, was itself a book, which
satirized the romantic adventure stories, much as Twain does here in Huckleberry Finn.
Huck is very unsure about religion. He has tried praying without any effect just as rubbing lamps
produced no genies, so he treats both with the same amount of seriousness.
To sum up the two main characters, Tom’s tendency towards hypocrisy contrasts sharply with Huck’s
sincerity. These differences, however, do not spoil the friendship between the two because they share
the trait of being immature embodied in the phrase “boys will be boys”.
Twain is trying to bring to life the child which is in everyone, lying dormant, this and the Adventures of
Tom Sawyer are Twain’s attempts to rekindle the childhood feelings and memories.
Chapters 4, 5 and 6
Summary
The month’s pass and Huckleberry is slowly adjusting to his new civilized life, even making some
progress at school.
One day he notices some tracks in the snow near his house and these are distinctive boot tracks, and
he suspects that they belong to Pap, his father. Huck goes to Judge Thatcher and decides to sell his
fortune to the surprised Judge for $1. Huck is superstitious and decides to go to Jim who has a flair for
the supernatural to see if he can tell him what lies in store. Jim has a magical giant hairball from an
ox’s stomach and he listens to it and tells Huck that he will need money before he can tell him what the
future holds. Huck gives him a counterfeit quarter, which does not seem to affect the information
derived from the hairball. Jim tells him that his father has two angels, one black and one white, one
bad and one good, and he does not know which one is going to win, but for the time being Huck is
safe. Jim then tells Huck what the future holds which could apply to anybody i.e. there will be
happiness, there will be sorrow, he may marry a poor or a rich woman, but he should stay clear of
water since that is where he will die.
When Huck goes home he finds Pap waiting for him in his bedroom. He is nearly fifty and is a wreck of
a man with long black hair over his face, which is disgustingly white. Pap is angry that Huck has
become the first person in his family to learn how to read and warns Huck not to go near the school
again. Pap has heard about Huck’s fortune and accuses him of lying when he says he has no money
left. He takes the $1, which he has and goes and buys some whisky. The Judge and Widow Douglas
try to get custody of Huck, but there is a new Judge in town that refuses to separate a father from his
son.
Pap goes on his usual drunken binge and ends up in jail.
The new Judge is determined to reform Pap who tearfully repents the evil of his ways and goes home
with the new Judge. However, he soon gets drunk again and the new Judge decides that the best way
to reform Pap is with a shotgun. Pap threatens to sue Judge Thatcher for Huck’s fortune and continues
to threaten Huck about attending school, which Huck does just to spite his father.
Pap continues on his drunken spree and then one day decides to kidnap Huck and take him deep into
the woods to a secluded cabin on the Illinois shore. Huck is locked inside all day, but he finds a hidden
saw and decides to make a hole in the wall and escape. He decides that he is not just going to escape
from Pap, but also from Widow Douglas and civilization. Pap returns before he has had a chance to
make good his escape. Pap complains about the Government saying that Judge Thatcher is delaying
the trial so that he can keep Huck’s wealth. He has heard that his chances are good for getting the
money, but he will probably lose the fight for custody of Huck, but the latter does not seem to concern
him.
Pap also saw in town a well-dressed bi-racial black visitor, university educated, which brings out Pap’s
bigotry and prejudice saying that he should be sold back into slavery.
Interpretation
Here we learn something about Pap, who is a horrible wreck of a man with a disheveled exterior hiding
an even uglier interior. He uses his son as a means of getting drink and is totally opposed to Huck
trying to better himself.
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He is deeply selfish and he is desperate to try and separate Huck from any chance to become literate
and successful. It is clear that he is an alcoholic for after a few days without drink in the care of the
new Judge, he has a fit and relapses into a drunker stupor.
Twain does not try to encourage any sympathy for this man and uses him to poke fun at the new Judge
for trying to help him. Indirectly Twain may be trying to criticize the temperance movement much
prevalent in the nineteenth century.
Twain makes an interesting use of Pap’s character in order to make statements about racial
discrimination. You will note that Pap speaks angrily against a bi-racial black visitor and he possesses a
completely irrational hatred of the man. Twain seems to be showing just what he thinks of this race
hatred by having it voiced by the revolting character of Pap.
The author also makes another profound statement when Jim sees that Pap has two angels either side
of him, one good and one evil, one white and one black, interestingly, the inspiration for many a
cartoon scene. The inference of course is that evil is black and good is white. This convention is used
in everyday references, for instance, a person’s dark side, the most important exception of course in
the literary world is Melville’s Moby Dick where the evil whale is white. However, Twain is clearly
identifying white with badness by reference to the color of Pap’s skin. Pap’s evil manifests itself later in
the book.
Chapters 7, 8, 9 and 10
Summary
Next day, Pap sends Huck out to check for any fish and he finds a canoe drifting in the river retrieves it
and hides it in the woods. When Pap has left, Huck finishes sawing the hole in the wall. He catches a
pig and after bashing the cabin door down, covers the inside with the pig’s blood to make it look as if
he has been murdered. He takes everything of value out of the cabin to his canoe and he sets off
down the river.
He goes to Jackson’s Island being careful not to be seen. Next morning, he sees a boat passing with
Pap, Judge and Becky Thatcher, Tom Sawyer and Aunt Polly, and some of Huck’s young friends. They
shoot a cannon ball over the water and float loaves of bread with mercury inside in an attempt to
locate Huck’s corpse. Huck, careful not to be seen catches one of the loaves and eats it.
He explores the island and is delighted to find Jim who at first thinks Huck is a ghost. Jim says that he
heard Miss Watson negotiating his sale with a slave trader from New Orleans for $800 and decided to
leave before she made her decision. Jim is quite pleased that he now owns all $800 of himself. Huck
and Jim share the provisions in the canoe and they move into a large cave in the middle of the island,
which will be a good hiding place in case there are any visitors.
Jim predicts it is going to rain, and right enough there is a downpour shortly afterwards, but the two
are safe and dry inside the cave.
The river floods severely and a washed-out houseboat floats down the river past the island, and Jim
and Huck decide to explore it. Inside they find the body of a man who has been shot in the back.
They make off with some bits and pieces and return to the cave.
Huck wonders about the dead man, but Jim warns him that this is bad luck, so when Jim is sleeping,
Huck decides to play a joke on him and puts a dead rattlesnake near Jim’s sleeping place.
Unfortunately the dead rattlesnake’s mate comes looking and bites Jim. Jim’s leg swells, but after four
days, it returns to normal.
Huck decides to go ashore to find out what is happening and he disguises himself as a girl using one of
the dresses he found on the houseboat. He reaches the Illinois shore and finds a woman who looked
forty and appears to be a newcomer to the area, so she won’t be able to recognize Huck.
Interpretation
The character of Jim and his rapport with Huck are covered in depth in these chapters.
Jim is an unusual character, intelligent, but superstitious and he becomes both a friend and father
figure to Huck. Huck is quite immature at times, carrying on in a boyish manner, and he tends to be
inconsiderate. Jim is much more mature and is a foil to Huck’s immaturity, but the two share some
important similarities. Both are skeptical of civilization and prefer the lure and adventure of the natural
world. The pair are also lonely and that coupled with their sensitivity, they become good companions.
Jim shows his wisdom by predicting that there will be a storm and they are able to shelter themselves
and their goods in a cave.
The reader also learns that Jim has a wife and two children who live around St. Petersburg and if he
were sold to a slaver from New Orleans this would mean permanent separation from his family.
Currently, Jim is a house slave, but transfer to New Orleans would mean plantation labor and this is
crushing work. Masters often used shipment down south as a real threat when they wanted to keep
their slaves under control.
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Jim and Huck’s relationship is one of the most important parts of the book, and it is interesting how
Huck treats Jim as a peer during the telling of this story.
It is funny how superstition was so important in society as a whole where people still thought that
cannonballs and loaves of bread filled with mercury could find drowned corpses.
However, there are important ways in which the two characters differ.
Whilst Jim always seems to be caring about Huck and his feelings, Huck does behave badly towards
Jim. The clear example here is the incident with the rattlesnake.
Just as Huck and Tom acted as foils for one another, so do Jim and Huck where we have a blend of
maturity and consideration from Jim in contrast to the thoughtlessness and immaturity of Huck.
Chapters 11, 12 and 13
Summary
The woman is suspicious of Huck who calls himself Sarah Williams from Hookerville. Huck learns that
his murder nearly got Pap lynched, but then suspicion fell on Jim who ran away on the same day. This
results in a reward of $300 on Jim’s head. However, when Pap receives the money from the Judge to
help him find Jim and he gets blind drunk again, the Judge suspects that he had the motive to kill Huck
and decides to put a reward on his head of $200. Pap has disappeared.
The woman says that she has seen smoke on the island and suspects that Jim is hiding there. Her
husband and another man are going to investigate that night. She asks Huck what her name is again,
and he says Mary Williams and the woman quizzes him about the change and he says that her full
name is Sarah Mary Williams. The woman realizes that this is a man she is talking to and asks him to
reveal his male identity. He says his name is George Peters and is escaping from a mean farmer.
Satisfied by this story, she asks no further questions and Huck leaves.
He returns to the island and Jim and Huck decide to leave on a raft they have found. They spend
another few days drifting downriver passing the lights of St. Louis. They have a good time borrowing
or hunting food, as they need it.
One night they come across a wrecked steamship and despite Jim’s objections Huck decides to go onto
the wreck to have some adventure. He realizes that he is not alone, as he overhears two robbers
threatening to kill their third partner who intends to betray them. The wreck, which is sinking, would
make a good tomb for the third robber and they decide to leave him and make their escape. Huck
finds Jim to say that they need to cut the robbers’ boat loose so that they are all trapped on the sinking
boat, but Jim says that their own raft has broken loose and drifted away.
The robbers are loading booty onto their boat and Huck and Jim take the opportunity to escape on the
robbers’ boat. As they draw away from the sinking boat, the catch up with their own raft, but Huck has
a twinge of conscience about leaving the robbers to drown so he goes ashore for help. He finds a ferry
watchman and tells him that his own family is stranded on the steamboat wreck. Huck invents an
elaborate story as to how his family got on the wreck in the first place and the man seems more than
happy to take his ferry to rescue them.
Huck, feeling pleased with himself about his good deed, is sure that Widow Douglas would have been
proud of him.
Jim and Huck go to an island and sink the robbers’ boat before going to sleep.
Interpretation
Huck again shows his immaturity by putting them both at risk by boarding the sinking steamboat,
especially when he discovers there are robbers on board. He shows no consideration at all for Jim who
has much more to lose by being captured. He would certainly lose his freedom, and possibly even his
life.
Huck’s behavior is similar to that of Tom Sawyer. In Tom’s gang they had no adventures, just makebelieve, but Huck sees an opportunity to have a real adventure.
However, Huck does show some improved morals feeling guilty at the possible death of the criminals
on the sinking wreck if he stands by and does nothing. His solution to send innocent people on the
ferry to rescue a group of known criminals is certainly questionable. Still it is a first step in Huck’s
development and he is losing some of his self-centeredness.
Chapters 14, 15 and 16
Summary
The two adventurers, one more adventurous than the other, find a number of valuables among the
robbers’ booty, some trinkets, cigars and other valuables. Huck recognizes that Jim is intelligent for a
black person and Huck can never fail to astonish Jim by his tales of heroes and kings. He tells him
about King Louis XVI of France who had a Dolphin for a son, and he is rumored to be wandering
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America. He goes on to amaze Jim by saying that he does not speak English, but French, but Jim says
that that is impossible. Huck tries to reason with Jim but to no avail.
The two are aiming for the town of Cairo, which is at the mouth the Ohio River, which runs into the
Free States. Huck is worried about helping Jim escape from his rightful owner, Miss Watson, but Jim is
so enthusiastic about reaching the Free States and his plan about earning money in order to buy his
family’s freedom that any thoughts he has of surrendering Jim are extinguished.
Jim says that Huck is the only friend he has, the only one to keep a promise to him.
They come across a boat filled with men who are searching for escaped slaves. Huck tells them not to
get too close, as his family has smallpox. The men back away and leave $40 in gold out of pity.
Huck resolves to change his morality after his debate over Jim’s future whether he should be free or
owned by Miss Watson. He decides to do whatever is “handiest” whenever he is required to make a
major decision.
Fog descends on the river and the raft and the canoe become separated in the confusion. They are
both relieved to find each other soon afterwards.
They still have not found Cairo and worry that they may have passed it in the fog. They decide to stop
for the night and canoe upriver in the morning. However, when they wake up they find the canoe has
gone, more bad luck from the rattlesnake and later that day a steamboat drives right into the raft
breaking it apart. Jim and Huck dive off just in time, but are separated. Huck makes it ashore, but is
caught by a pack of dogs.
Interpretation
We see a change in Huck’s attitude towards black people during the course of these chapters. He
shows an increased sense of morality and respects Jim for his intelligence, which has been firmly
established through humor.
It is not surprising that Huck shows prejudice towards black people, bearing in mind the society he is
being brought up in which allows whites to rule over blacks. Huck does apologize to Jim for his
thoughtless pranks and this signals a major change in his attitudes towards black people. Just as Huck
has broken away from the civilized world, he is also breaking away from what he has been taught, in
particular his attitude to Jim. He is developing his own sense of right and wrong, and the fact he did
not surrender Jim was due to the fact that he realizes Miss Watson is a hypocrite believing jointly in her
form of Christianity and owning slaves.
Twain illustrates clearly here that the society, which Huck has escaped from, is horribly wrong.
We also get further insight into Jim’s complex character. Even Huckleberry himself concedes that Jim is
intelligent. Jim actually successfully argues against Huck’s assertion that other languages exist. Jim
says that although cows and hens speak differently, they are different species whereas Americans and
Frenchmen are the same species and therefore speak the same language. Huck gives up, conceding to
Jim’s stubbornness, but really Jim has outwitted him, although in the end Huck is correct Jim has
shown his reasoning to be stronger. Of course, this shows that Jim is ignorant in that he has never
heard of other languages. This is because nineteenth century slaves were forbidden to even read and
write. Unfortunately, this flaw in Jim’s outlook will have painful consequences later on in the novel.
Twain is here trying to make a distinction between intelligence and knowledge.
Chapters 17, 18 and 19
Summary
George Jackson, alias Huck, is rescued from the dogs by a man who is relieved to find that Huck is not
a Sheperdson. There is a local feud between the Grangerfords and the Sheperdsons and Huck finds
himself in the middle of this conflict. He is taken back to Colonel Grangerford’s house out of hospitality
and there they provide clean dry clothes for the bedraggled Huckleberry. They have a son the same
age called Buck.
The Grangerford house is large, full of paintings and ornate decorations. It is humorously tacky
bedecked in strange finery. Some of the paintings are by their deceased daughter Emmeline, who had
created maudlin pictures concerning people who had died.
The family offers Huck a home for as long as he likes and Huck is impressed with Colonel Grangerford,
as he owns a very large estate with over one hundred slaves. Huck tells them an elaborate story in
support of his claim to be an orphan and the Grangerford family takes pity on their guest.
Besides Buck the son, there is Bob the elder son, then Tom and finally two daughters Charlotte, aged
twenty five and Sophie, twenty, both of them beautiful. Three sons have already been killed
concerning the feud with the Sheperdson family who are an equally grand family with a large
neighboring estate. No one is quite sure how the feud started, but in the last year two people have
been killed. The two families attend church together with their rifles between their knees as the
preacher makes sermons about brotherly love.
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One day after church, Sophie asks Huck to return to the church to get her Bible, which she had left, in
the pew. She is delighted to find a note inside the Bible saying “Half-past two”. When Huck gets back
to the house, his slave valet asks him to go into the woods, as he wants to show him some water
moccasins. There he finds Jim. Jim had followed Huck to the shore on the night they were wrecked,
but did not call out for fear of being captured. He has been busy in the meantime repairing the raft
and gathering together supplies. Huck says that they will leave shortly once he has made his farewells
to the Grangerfords.
The next day Huck learns that Sophie has run off with a Sheperdson boy. Huck finds Buck and a
nineteen-year old Grangerford in a gunfight with Shepherdsons. Later two are killed. Huck is upset by
all of this violence and he finds Jim and the two set off downstream on the raft.
Huck muses, “You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft”.
Soon after this, they see two men fleeing from a crowd and they beg to be let onto the raft. The two
agree and the two men, one aged about seventy, bald with whiskers and the other aged thirty, are
both dressed in tattered clothes. Apparently the two men do not know each other, but they are in a
similar predicament. The younger man has been selling toothpaste with a special formula for removing
tartar. Unfortunately, it also removes the enamel causing annoyance to the locals. The older man has
been running a Temperance Revival Meeting but had to flee after he was found drunk. The two men
are confidence tricksters making their living from obtaining money from the gullible.
The old man reveals that he is in fact the long lost son of Louis XVI, the Dauphin, not Dolphin, and the
younger man says that he is a destitute English Duke. Huck soon realizes that the two are liars, but to
prevent any quarrels, he goes along with their story.
Interpretation
Twain is joking at the expense of the Southern Aristocracy depicted by the Grangerfords and
Shepherdsons showing how their society is a mix of fine grand houses and bloodthirsty violence in the
woods. The gaudy Grangerford house with its walls festooned with ugly pictures and decorative
fineries shows the lavish lifestyle that they can lead borne on the back of slavery.
These Southern Aristocracy families are portrayed as the equivalent of the European Royal families.
The Grangerford’s prize possession is a clock ornamented with painted parrots, dogs and cats that
squeak. They award themselves meaningless titles e.g. Colonel. Twain is here satirizing not only the
plantation aristocracy, but also the nineteenth century art, which made a cult out of mourning and
producing ludicrous poems and pictures. Beneath this façade of genteelness, there is the bloody feud
with the rival clan, the Shepherdsons. No one knows how the feud started or can name any reason
why it should continue. Perhaps it is a source of relieving the boredom, but the result is the senseless
death of two boys not much more than fourteen years old. Twain illustrates this deeply disturbing side
of southern civilization, which is in stark contrast to the unprecedented hospitality shown to Huck when
he first arrived at the Grangerfords.
We are first introduced to the characters of Duke and Dauphin who have been employed in tricking the
locals out of their hard-earned money. They will have an important part to play in the future plot.
Chapters 20, 21 and 22
Summary
The Duke and Dauphin enquire whether Jim is a runaway, so again Huck invents an elaborate story
that he is orphaned and that they are forced to travel at night because they are fed up with people
asking whether Jim is a runaway. Jim and Huck give up their beds to the “Royals” and they stand
watch while the other two sleep. Duke and Dauphin agree that it is time to perform some Shakespeare
when they arrive at the next town, but the town is strangely deserted and they learn that there is a
Revival Meeting in the woods. Dauphin goes to investigate and goes onto the stage saying that he has
been converted by the meeting and he will give up being a pirate and will return to the Indian Ocean as
a missionary. The crowd is overjoyed at this conversion and organizes a collection to help him in his
missionary work and he received $87.75 and many kisses from pretty young women. In the meantime,
the Duke in the town gains access to the local print office and earns $9.50 selling advertisements for
the local paper. He also prints a handbill offering a reward for Jim to enable them to travel freely
saying that they have caught Jim and are returning him into slavery.
The Duke and the Dauphin rehearse a scene from Romeo and Juliet and also the swordfight from
Richard III on the raft. The Duke also recites a speech from Hamlet, which strangely also includes lines
from Macbeth, but to Huck these two appear to have great talent.
At the next town, Duke posts handbills for the Shakespearean performance. Huck witnesses the
shooting of a drunken man by a man called Sherburn. The victim had insulted his daughter. A crowd
gathers around the dying man and they decide to go and lynch Sherburn. The mob charges down the
street after Sherburn. When they arrive at his house he confronts them with a rifle in hand. Sherburn
makes a haughty speech hurling abuse at them, saying that they are all cowards and wouldn’t have the
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nerve to face him man-to-man. Sherburn declares no one will lynch him in the daylight. It is the
southern way to wait until dark and come wearing masks. The mob disperses.
There is a circus in town and Huck decides to have a look. He is amazed at one of the clowns telling
one-line jokes, one after the other. He is also shocked to see a drunk run from the audience and ride a
horse around the ring hanging on for dear life, much to the amusement of the whole crowd except
Huck, who can’t bear to watch.
Interpretation
Twain explores four interesting topics in these chapters.
One : the gullibility of people.
Two : the violence of the southern society.
Three : the cowardice of the mob, and
Four : the innocence of Huckleberry.
One : the pirate’s conversion to a missionary raises a large sum of money from the crowd, which
suggests that in a mob, people do strange things and can be swept along with the tide of hysteria. If
the Dauphin had claimed conversion and asked for money to an individual, then he would likely receive
nothing, but be told to go away. However, the audacity of the Dauphin to claim conversion in front of
so many is taken at face value.
Two : it seems an almost everyday occurrence that minor disputes and insults are resolved by the gun.
Sherburn’s cold killing of the drunk seems an over-reaction and naturally causes the local people to
organize a lynching. Their reaction is to meet violence with violence without any recourse to the
process of law.
Three : we have seen in ‘One’ above the hysteria that the mob can generate. In the lynch mob,
cowardice is present. They pursue Sherburn like a pack of dogs, but when confronted by an armed
man, they scatter after receiving a few harsh words.
Four : we see another interesting aspect of Huck’s character on his visit to the circus. He thinks that
the clown has made the jokes up on the spot where in fact the routine would have been well
rehearsed. He is also amazed at the drunk trying to ride the horse failing to realize that this is stagemanaged and part of the act.
Chapters 23, 24 and 25
Summary
Only twelve people came to the Duke’s performance and these laughed all the way through instead of
taking it seriously. The two decide to put on a different show and they distribute handbills advertising
the performance of The King’s Cameleopard (Giraffe) or The Royal Nonesuch with bold letters across
the bottom reading ‘women and children not admitted’. The Dauphin starts the performance by
appearing on stage naked except for body paint and some wild accoutrements. The capacity audience
howls with laughter, but the Duke and Dauphin are attacked when the show has ended after this brief
performance. The crowd do not want to be seen to have been duped, so to avoid embarrassment they
convince the rest of the town that the show is a smash. On the second night of the show there is
another capacity crowd who see the same show. On the third night, again a capacity crowd is there,
but it consists of the two previous audiences coming to get their revenge. Duke and Huck made a
getaway to the raft before the show starts. From the three night run, they took in $465, but Jim is
shocked that their “Royal” guests are just rascals.
Huck explains to Jim that history is full of such rascals, for instance, how Henry VIII started the Boston
Tea party and wrote the Declaration of Independence.
Jim starts to feel lonesome for his family and Huck realizes that Jim loves his family as much as white
folks love theirs. Jim also starts complaining about having to remain on the boat, tied up to avoid
suspicion whilst the others are away.
Duke decides to dress Jim up in a robe and colors his face blue with a sign around his neck saying “Sick
Arab, but harmless when not out of his head”.
The Dauphin decides to make a grand entrance by steamboat into the next town.
They meet a talkative young man who tells them about the town they are about to enter. He gives
them all the local gossip including the details of a recently deceased Peter Wilks. He had sent for his
two brothers from Sheffield, England, Harvey who he had not seen since he was five, and William who
is a deaf-mute. All Peter Wilks’ property has been left to these two brothers, but there seems to be
some doubt as to whether they will ever arrive. The Dauphin gets this talkative young man to tell him
everything about the Wilks family before he departs for Rio de Janeiro.
When they arrive in the town, they make enquiries about Peter Wilks and when they learn about his
death, they are distraught with grief. The Dauphin, now Harvey Wilks, makes strange hand-signs to the
Duke, who is playing the part of deaf-mute William Wilks. Huck is ashamed to be part of this scam. A
crowd has gathered outside the Wilks’ house to witness the tearful meeting between the English
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brothers and the three Wilks’ daughters. The entire town joins in with this outward show of grief,
which Huck finds very distasteful.
Wilks had left a letter instead of a Will which leaves the house and $3,000 to his daughters, and to his
brothers $3,000 plus a Tan-yard and $7,000 in real estate.
When the Duke and Dauphin are alone they count the money and find that it is short of the stated
amount by the sum of $415. Then, in a great show before the townspeople, having made up the
amount from their own funds to the sum of $6,000, they hand this over to the Wilks’ women.
An old family friend, Dr. Robinson, interrupts the proceedings stating that these two are frauds,
speaking in stupid accents. He asks the oldest daughter, Mary Jane, to turn these tricksters out, but
instead she hands back the $6,000 telling the Dauphin to invest it as he sees fit.
Interpretation
So far, Huck has been in turmoil concerning the understood behavior towards blacks that they are
inferior, and they were designed to be slaves for the white community against which is his own
observations to the character and behavior in Jim. It is clear that Jim misses his family and loves them
just as much as white people love their families. Jim also demonstrates real humanity and is becoming
the most sympathetic character in the story.
Huck is slowly breaking away from society’s unwritten rules and more and more making up his own
rules of right and wrong.
Twain again illustrates how easy the rural southerners can be duped and it seems effortless for Duke
and the Dauphin to perpetrate a fraud on the Wilks sisters. They, of course, want to have caring and
honest uncles who will take them to England and provide for them a secure life.
Most of the town, therefore, goes along with this farce because there is no strong proof against them.
Although Huck knows that the Duke and Dauphin are not real royalty, he seems content to go along
with the scheme, placating Jim with the fact that throughout history royalty were always carrying out
dubious acts. Huck’s knowledge of history is humorous, especially his story about Henry VIII. Again
this is Twain’s way of having a go at the upper class aristocracy and royalty.
Chapters 26, 27 and 28
Summary
Huck has supper with one of the Wilks sisters, Joanna who has an unfortunate hair-lip. She starts to
quiz Huckleberry on his knowledge of England and he makes several mistakes, but the other two sisters
interrupt her questioning, saying that she is being discourteous to their guest. Huck has a real twinge
of conscience about swindling these sweet ladies, and resolves to return their money. He goes to the
Duke and Dauphin’s room to search for it, but hides when they enter. They are debating whether to
leave that night, but the Dauphin wants to stay until they have stolen all the property.
Huck takes the gold and hides it in Wilks’ coffin. Unfortunately, he does not have the opportunity to
remove it from the coffin to a better hiding place and the undertaker seals the coffin without checking
the contents. The Dauphin decides to auction off the estate and with the money will take the Wilks
family back to England. The slaves are also sold, which involves the separation of a mother who is to
go to New Orleans and her two sons who are to go to Memphis. This causes great grief amongst the
slave family, causing Huck more distress.
The Duke and the Dauphin discover the money has gone and Huck blames this on the slaves that they
have just sold.
Huck finds Mary Jane stricken with grief, saying that her trip to England is now tarnished due to the
fact that their house slaves have been separated from each other.
Huck lets slip that the family will be reunited in a few weeks (when the scam is discovered). Mary Jane
is gladdened by this news and asks Huck to explain. He, therefore, decides to tell her the truth, but
asks her to wait until 11.00 p.m. that night in order to give him time to get away. He tells her about
the incident in the previous town concerning the play, saying that this town will provide witnesses
against the tricksters. She promises to remember him forever and thanks him for his honesty.
During the auction, a mob interrupts bringing in the real Harvey and William Wilks.
Interpretation
Twain continues his attack on the institution of slavery. Having shown that black people have as strong
feelings for family as whites, he illustrates the far-too common practice of breaking up black families
and selling them off to different masters.
Basically, there were to types of slave. The vast majority worked on plantations. They were workers in
the fields and had no direct contact with their owners. They received their orders from an overseer and
they were treated like machinery.
The other type of slaves was domestic. They worked in the white households and did have personal
contact with their masters. Those who had been with a family for a long time became almost like pets,
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but there was always the threat hanging over them that if they misbehaved, they would be separated
from their family and sold to a plantation.
The slaves whom we have come across in this story have been domestic slaves and that is why the
separation of the Wilks family slaves caused such grief.
Surprisingly, Twain portrays these white masters in a fairly sympathetic light and one wonders if they
would have been as grief-stricken in reality.
Chapters 29, 30 and 31
Summary
A test is arranged to see who are the real Wilks, and as the $6,000 is missing, the Duke and Dauphin
are viewed with the most suspicion. Papers are signed so that the handwriting can be compared, but
the Duke and Dauphin will not give up their claim easily.
The real Harvey says that his brother had a tattoo on his chest and arranges with the undertaker to
confirm this; in fact there is no tattoo. When the Dauphin confirms that there was a tattoo on the
brother’s chest, Harvey and the undertaker reveal the actual truth.
The townsfolk cry out for the lynching of the four men, but the lawyer says that the body should be
exhumed to discover the truth. They are all shocked to find the gold in the coffin and during the
excitement Huck escapes, steals a canoe and makes his way to the raft, but his heart sinks when he is
followed closely by the Duke and Dauphin approaching in another boat.
The Dauphin tries to strangle Huck because of his betrayal, but Duke separates them.
They explain that after the gold was found, there was confusion and they were able to make their
escape.
After a few days of floating downstream they arrive at another town and in a local bar, the Duke and
Dauphin get involved in a fight and Huck decides to escape from them. When he goes back to the raft,
he finds Jim has gone. He finds a boy who tells him that a man has taken Jim away after they had
found the handbill offering $200 reward, this being the handbill, which Duke, had printed.
Huck decides that he will try and find Jim and if necessary, steal him out of slavery. He finds out that
the man holding Jim is Phelps (Tom Sawyer’s uncle). He finds Duke who is putting up posters for his
show The Royal Nonesuch, and Huck makes up a story about how he wandered the town, but didn’t
find Jim or the raft. Duke says he sold Jim to Phelps for $40.00.
Interpretation
The conflict, which Huckleberry has had between his own conscience and the white society’s values,
reaches a climax. He decides to do all that he can to help Jim. The struggle which Huck has had in
how to deal with Jim, who is the property of Miss Watson, is finally resolved when he decides that Jim
would be better off free.
Huck’s decision to forsake society’s instructions and help Jim is the climax of the novel.
Many critics have argued that the book deteriorates from this point onwards and loses its interest and
purpose.
Twain again gives instances of the southerner’s tendency to embark on irrational violence. Again
another lynching is threatened when the scam is revealed concerning Duke and Dauphin and their
accomplices Huck and Jim. The test, which the four claimants to the Wilks’ estate undergo, takes place
in a tavern rather than in a courtroom and it is clear that those who fail the test will be lynched.
However, this is no sort of justice at all because the frauds are able to escape from the chaos, which
ensues when the gold is found.
The true evil of Duke and Dauphin is revealed. Not content to swindle the Wilks sisters and split up a
slave family, they sell Jim, their traveling companion for $40.00.
Chapters 32, 33, 34 and 35
Summary
Huck decides to go to the Phelps’ house with a view to rescuing Jim. He will have to pose as Tom
Sawyer in order to gain access to the house. The mistress of the house, Sally, comes out to see the
boy she is certain is her nephew Tom. He explains his delay is due to an explosion on the steamboat
and she asks if anyone was hurt. He says no, but it killed a black person. Huck hears a steamboat
passing up the river and on the pretence of collecting his luggage; he leaves the house in order to head
off Tom in case he should arrive.
He meets Tom who is startled by the ghost of Huck and he agrees to help Huck free Jim.
Tom arrives at the Phelps’ house half-an-hour later and introduces himself as another relative Sid
Sawyer. Huck goes into town and discovers that Duke and Dauphin have been tarred and feathered
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and lynched. Apparently Jim had revealed the truth about the two in revenge for having been sold for
$40.00.
Huck finds out that Jim is being held in a shed and he discusses with Tom the best way to secure Jim’s
release. He proposes that they should steal the key, release Him and make their escape.
Tom totally disagrees with this saying that there is no adventure in this plan and proposed that they dig
a tunnel in order to secure Jim’s release. They will use large kitchen knives in order to dig the tunnel
and they should also take a saw in order to cut through the chains or even saw Jim’s leg off if
necessary.
Tom says that the escape must be done in accordance with what he has read in books, so they will also
need a rope ladder, a moat whatever that is, and a shirt on which to keep a journal, presumably in his
own blood.
Interpretation
The character of Tom Sawyer comes back into our storyline and he is even larger than life than before.
The double act is back together again, Tom bringing his flamboyant flair to proceedings. Tom hatches
an intricate plot in order to free Jim, which initially impresses Huck.
At last a lynching does take place involving the evil pair Duke and Dauphin and by all accounts this was
a most cruel and violent end to these wicked rascals.
Though Huck and Jim have been coldly abused by these two criminals Huck still shows humanity by
feeling sorry for their fate.
Twain again demonstrates the evil side of southern life.
Chapters 36, 37, 38 and 39
Summary
After much hacking at the ground with their kitchen knives, the boys resort to using pick-axes in order
to free Jim. They are not able to finish the job before daybreak and so they will return the next night
to finish the job. They gather together sheets for a rope ladder, spoons, a tin plate, candlesticks and
candles so that Jim can scrawl a message on the plate which can then be thrown out of the window to
be read by passers-by, just like in the romantic novels.
The next night the boys dig their way through to Jim who is delighted to see them. He tells them that
Sally and Silas Phelps visited him and they had a prayer meeting.
The boys explain their scheme to him, which he does not comprehend, but thinks will be enormous fun
and goes along with it.
Sally goes mad at everyone in the household over the missing candles, sheets, spoons etc.
The boys then replace the sheets and spoons and by returning these they further confuse Sally, so
much so she loses track of how many she originally had.
To add further confusion to the situation Tom and Huck capture rats and snakes and infest the Phelps
house with them.
Aunt Sally becomes wildly upset when snakes begin to fall from the rafters onto her bed.
Interpretation
These last chapters are spent in a long narration concerning Huck and Tom’s final adventure before the
end of the novel. Tom is intent on making his plan an elaborate parody of what he has read in
romantic novels of the time.
Again, Twain is making fun of the romantic adventure stories, which he hated. The most basic
criticism, which has been voiced regarding this section of the book, is that it is just pointless. Huck’s
internal moral conflict over slavery was resolved when he decided that he would free Jim at all costs.
Huck’s sense of morality has slowly developed throughout the book and he has decided to reject the
values, which he has been taught as a child. There still exists the outside conflict between Huck and
Jim and their societies to acquire Jim’s freedom. This may have been an interesting topic for Twain to
cover rather than this meaningless adventure to bring about Jim’s release from the hut. The reader
would have perhaps derived more satisfaction if Jim had obtained his freedom from white society.
Although Huck now treats Jim with affection and kindness, Tom gives Jim no thought at all. He is
merely the reason for having an adventure and whether it brings about his release or not is secondary
to the fun he is achieving from carrying out his cunning plan.
Tom is completely selfish in his treatment of Jim.
Chapters 40, 41, 42 and 43
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Summary
Fifteen armed men come to the Phelps’ house so Huck goes to the shed to warn Tom and Jim. Tom is
excited to hear about the fifteen-armed men. They rush into the shed as Tom, Huck and Jim escape
through the hole. As they jump the fence, Tom makes a noise and the men shoot at the escaping
three. They make it to their hidden raft and set off downstream, delighted at their success until Tom
reveals that he has been shot in the leg, but treats this as a souvenir of his campaign.
Jim says that they should get a doctor, as this is what Tom would do if the situation were reversed.
This is confirmation to Huck that Jim is white inside. Huck goes and finds a doctor and sends him to
Tom. He then runs into Silas who takes him back home. The house is filled with farmers and their
wives discussing the weird contents of the shed. Silas has been unable to find Tom, and Sally is
worried about his welfare and refuses to allow Huck to go and search.
Then Tom is brought in on a mattress in a semi-conscious state with the doctor. Also with them is Jim
who is in chains. He is badly treated and locked once more inside the shed. The doctor advises that
Jim is not all bad, as he could have escaped to freedom, but stayed with Tom to look after him. When
Tom awakes he tells them to set Jim free because in Miss Watson’s Will she stated that Jim should be
given his freedom. She had regretted ever having considered selling him down the river.
The true identities of Huck and Tom are revealed to Sally and Silas who yell at the boys for their
mischievous behavior.
Tom is sorry for his treatment of Jim and says he will send him back home as a hero, and gives him
$40 for his troubles.
Tom makes a full recovery and inserts the bullet into a watch, which he wears around his neck.
Tom also reveals that the body they found on the houseboat was Pap, so Huck will be able to return
home with his money waiting for him.
Huck hopes to go out to the Indian Territory for some more adventures. He is fed up with writing
about what has happened and he certainly does not want to go back to be civilized, as he has had
enough of that.
Interpretation
This tale has rather fizzled out, but it does have a happy ending in that Jim is free, Huck has his fortune
and Tom is well.
It is revealed that Jim has had his freedom all along which in a way is a cop-out for Twain, although
masters did free their slaves, this was rare, but perhaps Twain had had enough of this novel and
wished to end it without too much effort.
Tom’s foolishness is clear in that he was prepared to risk the lives of Huck and Jim in his adventure,
which was totally unnecessary.
The thoughtful reader will find the end of this story unsatisfying. Although the goal of obtaining Jim’s
freedom has been achieved, it has proved too easy. It has been handed to him on a plate, unlike the
struggle of countless slaves in real life to achieve their freedom.
One must also question the historical accuracy of the way in which slavery has been depicted in this
book. Slavery was only ended after a bloody civil war when the rights of the white masterclass to rule
the black people were wrenched from their grip.
Jim’s slavery, which should have depicted the enslavement of the black race, was relinquished by his
master’s repentance on her deathbed unlike the fate of the millions of African American slaves brought
to work on the plantations.
Although Twain was totally against discrimination and slavery, he in the end fudges the situation and
ends up showing the white slave masters in a favorable light.
Questions for Study with ideas for answers
Q:
Huckleberry Finn was published in 1885 and one of the main characters is Jim, the slave. Why
was this a brave subject for Twain to cover in this book?
Ideas : At that time this book would have been read by mostly white people and Twain intends that
the reader becomes deeply sympathetic to Jim’s plight. The reader is expected to relate to this black
character and obtain some understanding as to what it was like to be a black person at that time.
It would be natural to assume that the book would not be popular amongst its white audience, but
interestingly the reverse is true and it has been well read across the whole spectrum of America from
when it was first published until the present day.
Q:
How has Twain depicted slavery in Huckleberry Finn?
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Ideas : Twain’s portrayal of slavery solely relates to domestic slaves like Jim who were by and large
better treated than the slaves who worked on large plantations. He has perhaps dealt with these types
of slaves as he had first hand experience of their lives and situation.
However, if he wished to make a fuller condemnation of slavery, he should have perhaps given the
reader an insight as to what it was like being a slave on a large plantation. Although you do get a
flavor of how difficult it is for a slave to escape to the Free states at the time, he has not seen this
struggle through to its end as he announces that Jim has obtained his freedom in the Will of his owner.
One can only surmise why Twain opted to portray slavery in this milder form.
Q:
Tom and Huck are clearly close friends, yet on the surface they appear to be in stark contrast
to one another. Why do they remain close?
Ideas : At the start of the novel, Tom forms a gang and Huck is quite happy to be Tom’s follower and
take part in his made up adventures. However, Huck soon becomes disillusioned, as there is no
substance to the gang’s escapades.
During the middle part of the novel, Huck has experienced real adventures and he has successfully
negotiated these showing great wit and skill. He has a more down-to-earth attitude as opposed to
Tom’s wild scheming, thus Tom and Huck are foils for one another, their differing qualities serving to
highlight, yet balance each other.
Huck remains to be impressed by his friend Tom even though he shows little regard for the slave Jim.
Although there are clear contrasts between the two characters they share some important traits such as
their affinity to the natural world and the fact they share the same state of boyishness.
Q:
How did Twain make Jim a sympathetic character to the white reader of the late nineteenth
century?
Ideas : One : He illustrates that Jim has as strong feelings for his family as white people do for theirs.
When he is threatened with being separated from his family by his owner he shows real grief, and
during his escape down the river with Huck he makes reference to missing his family and longing to see
them again.
Two : When Jim discovers the body of Huck’s father he does not immediately inform Huck of his
father’s death trying to protect him from unnecessary grief.
Three : When their raft is wrecked on the river and Huck is taken away by the Grangerfords, Jim stays
in the locality to ensure that Huck is safe and make preparations for their continued escape rather than
abandoning him to his fate.
Four : Although Tom is not exactly considerate towards Jim, when Tom is shot Jim stays behind to care
for him knowing that he will be recaptured as a runaway slave.
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