Synopsis, Production Information and Resources
Table of Contents
Short Synopsis……………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
Complete Synopsis……………………………………………………………………………………….. 2
Characters………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8
Songs……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 9
Production History………………………………………………………………………………………. 10
About the Authors……………………………………………………………………………………….. 11
Glossary…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 12
Themes…………………………………………………………………………………………………... 15
Discussion Questions……………………………………………………………………………………. 17
Resources and Links…………………………………………………………………………………….. 18
Short Synopsis
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In 1840s Missouri, before the Civil War and when slavery was legal, young Huckleberry Finn escapes
his abusive father and travels down the Mississippi River with Jim, a runaway slave. Along the way,
they encounter a variety of characters, including two con men known as the Duke and the King, who
dupe a town out of their money with a bad play and try to defraud a family mourning the recent death of
their father. Jim is recaptured, but Huck and Tom Sawyer work to free him again. After failing to free
Jim, Tom reveals that Jim was emancipated by his previous owner months ago. Huck learns that his
father died, also months ago. Both of them have been free the whole time.
Complete Synopsis
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Act 1
o In St. Petersburg, Missouri
 Huck opens the play referring to his previous adventures with Tom Sawyer and how they
each have $6,000 from finding stolen gold. He is living with two sisters in a respectable
house and going to school. The Widow Douglas and her sister Miss Watson admonish
Huck to learn how to read and write so that he can read the Bible and get into heaven.
The rest of the town joins in pressuring Huck to conform to society’s expectations of
education. Even his friend Tom Sawyer expects him to learn to read so he can understand
the adventure novels that so inspire Tom. (“Do Ya Wanna Go to Heaven?”)
 After being sent to his room, Huck escapes and joins Tom and the other boys at Injun
Joe’s cave, where they plan to become a band of bloodthirsty outlaws, the way boys do.
(“The Boys”) They swear a blood oath of secrecy. The punishment for revealing the
existence of the gang is the death of the gang member’s family, but because Huck has no
family to kill, he almost cannot join the gang. He happily remembers Miss Watson, and
everyone accepts that it would be alright to kill her if Huck breaks the oath. When Joe
flinches at pricking his finger for blood, Tom calls him a crybaby and Joe threatens to tell
everybody about the secret gang. Tom gives Joe a nickel to keep him quiet and the boys
go back home.
 Tom and Huck commiserate at the difficulties of living a civilized life, how they’d rather
not go to heaven if that means they can’t be friends, and what they might do with their
money. Huck wants to head to the Western Territories. Tom will go with him, but only
after he finishes that year of school. They both head back home.
 Huck knows Tom doesn’t really mean it about going West with him, and sings about his
longing to live in the light. (“Waitin’ For the Light to Shine”)
 When Huck arrives home, his delinquent and frequently drunk father is there in his
bedroom. Pap Finn is upset with the improvement in Huck’s situation and is quite
disturbed and jealous that Huck can read and write. Pap declares that he wants Huck’s
money. Widow Douglas and Miss Watson enter and confront Pap, and Pap finds out that
Judge Thatcher is holding the money in trust.
 They all go to see Judge Thatcher. When Pap finds out that Huck gets approximately a
dollar a day from the trust, he changes his tactic and decides that it would be best for
Huck to live with him, declaring that courts have no right to separate families. Widow
Douglas objects, and asks Huck where he’d like to stay. Huck can’t decide on the spot,
and Judge Thatcher says Huck can go with his father, but that if Pap hurts Huck, there
will be consequences.
 Pap takes Huck to a hovel in the woods on the Illinois shore and rants against the evils of
the government. (“Guv’ment”)
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Huck tries to help his father recover from his drunken rant. Pap, in a hallucination,
attacks Huck, thinking that he is the Angel of Death. Huck escapes from the cabin and
fakes his own murder using the blood of a hog.
 Tom Sawyer sings a song in praise of the hog. (“Hand for the Hog”)
Jackson’s Island
 Huck sets out for Jackson’s Island, in the middle of the Mississippi River and reports on
what he can see of the efforts of the townspeople to find his body.
 He sings of the freedom and self-determination he now feels. (“I, Huckleberry, Me”)
 On the island he runs into Jim, a Negro slave. They go to Jim’s camp, where Jim has
collected various items that came floating down the river, including a raft. They cut open
an old, large catfish and find odd items inside it, including what looks like old Spanish
money from over 100 years ago. Jim comments on how, like the river, the fish could be
older than the country of America.
 Jim admits that he ran away from Miss Watson because he overheard that she was
thinking of selling him for $800. Jim wants to head south to the city of Cairo where the
Ohio River meets the Mississippi, and then head up the Ohio to the free states.
 Huck promises to come along to help him, even though he might get in trouble for
helping a runaway slave. Huck can tell people that Jim belongs to him and then those
people won’t think Jim is a runaway slave.
Just outside of St. Petersburg
 Before they leave, Huck decides to go back into town to see what’s going on. He goes in
disguise, dressed as a girl using clothes washed up by the river.
 He runs into a Strange Woman, relatively new to the town, and introduces himself as
Sarah Williams. He asks the Strange Woman what she knows of the murder of Huck
Finn. She sees through his disguise and knows that he’s not a girl. Being new to the town,
she doesn’t know who he is, but assumes he’s an apprentice running away from a harsh
master. She reveals that because Jim ran away the same night Huck was killed the town
thinks Jim killed Huck, and that there’s a posse going out to Jackson’s Island to find Jim.
 Huck makes a hasty exit, returning to Jackson’s Island and tells Jim, “They’re after us.”
They quickly load the raft and escape on the river, singing of their hope and expectations
for that river. (“Muddy Water”)
On the Mississippi River
 Passing time on the river, Jim reads Huck’s palm, saying that there’s “considerable
trouble and considerable joy” in Huck’s future. They discuss various superstitions for bad
luck.
 A dead body floats by. Jim sees it up close, but makes sure Huck does not get near it,
even though Huck is so intrigued by a dead body. Jim said it would be bad luck.
 They discuss the kings Huck learned about in school and how everything belongs to a
king and he does nothing to get it. Jim remarks that he’s rich because now he belongs to
himself and he’s worth $800.
On the Mississippi River, south of St. Louis
 They float past St. Louis in the night and hear the singing of runaway slaves being taken
back in chains. (“The Crossing”)
 Huck asks Jim what he’s going to do with his freedom, and Jim says he’s going to work
and save so that he can buy his wife and children, and if he can’t do that, then he’ll steal
them.
 Huck begins thinking to himself that he’s doing something wrong by helping to free Jim,
because it could lead to the theft of someone’s property.
 Jim exclaims his gratitude for Huck helping him to freedom.
On the River, near Cairo, Illinois
 A fog comes up making it impossible to see the banks of the river.
 The raft comes upon some men looking for runaway slaves.
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Huck lies to the men to protect Jim. Part of the lie was that they had small pox on the raft.
Instead of coming on board, the men give Huck $40 because they feel badly for him but
don’t want to get small pox.
 Once again Huck thinks to himself that helping Jim is wrong, but that he would have felt
worse if he had turned Jim over. And they each got $20 for Huck’s lie. So why try to do
right?
 Jim is grateful to Huck again for saving him. They sing of their friendship by singing
about the river. (“River in the Rain”)
o On the Riverbank in Kentucky
 They discuss the stars and how they came to be and how nice life is on the raft.
 Two desperate men intrude upon the raft. It’s clear they’ve been running from something,
but they refuse to say why they’re being chased.
 After the raft escapes the chase, the men reveal that the group is now south of Cairo and
are in Kentucky. In the fog, Jim missed his chance of going north, and is now heading
further into slave territory.
 Huck tells the men Jim is his slave, the only inheritance he has from a dead father. He
allows the men to keep riding the raft with them. One complains of the roughness of it,
but the other says it’s better than the jail they just busted out of. One says he is an actor
and the other says he’s an itinerant preacher. Each recognizing a kindred con man in the
other, they decide to team up.
 The actor practices a mash up of Shakespearean quotes from Macbeth and Hamlet.
 Jim complains about sharing food with them, but Huck says he’d expect people to do the
same for him.
 The actor begins to complain again about the degraded position of living on the raft. He
claims to be a Duke. The preacher claims to be the lost Dauphin of France, who should
be King.
 Jim is initially impressed to have royalty on their raft and no longer begrudges them food.
Huck knows they’re charlatans.
 The King and the Duke decide to put on a show to drum up money. The Duke will play
‘Romeo’ and the King will be ‘Juliet’. They’ll be sure to pull one over on the “country
jakes.” (“When the Sun Goes Down in the South”) Huck joins in with the King and
Duke, while Jim sings of his desires for the future.
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Intermission
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Act 2
o In Bricktown, Arkansas
 The Duke and King rehearse Shakespeare. The Duke, along with Huck, goes into town to
drum up an audience. They leave Jim chained up on the raft.
 They promise the townspeople a performance of the poetry of William Shakespeare
followed by the display of a human oddity called the “Nonesuch.” (“The Royal
Nonesuch”)
 The audience that comes is treated to a nonsensical amalgamation of speeches from
Hamlet and Macbeth followed by the King dressed up as the ridiculous Nonesuch. The
audience is so mad they want to tar and feather the performers. But rather than having the
rest of the town think them fools for going to such a poor production, they decide to tell
everyone it’s a great show, so that the entire town will be in the same foolish position.
The Duke wants to go ahead with the show the next night, but leave directly after taking
the audience’s money without actually doing the performance. But the last thing the King
wants to do is dress like the Nonesuch again. They go off to celebrate with their
“earnings,” while Huck admires their ability to take money from fools.
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Huck decides to tease Jim by making Jim think he’s about to be caught and taken back to
slavery. Jim is truly hurt and angry. Huck eventually apologizes, even though, from
society’s point of view, Jim is barely human and undeserving of an apology. Huck is not
sorry for apologizing. Jim forgives Huck and wants to leave the Duke and King behind.
Jim and Huck sing of their friendship and of how similar and how different they are.
(“Worlds Apart”)
 Jim tells Huck of the time his daughter had just gotten over scarlet fever, and he got
angry at her for not responding to him when he told her to shut the door. When the wind
blew the door shut with a slam, and she didn’t flinch at all, he realized the fever made her
deaf and he felt so badly for the way he treated her. Huck realizes Jim’s people love each
other the same way white folk love each other.
 Huck confronts the Duke and King about keeping Jim chained all the time, and they
refuse to change, threatening to expose both Jim and Huck as a runaway slave and a slave
stealer.
o In Hillsboro, Arkansas
 Wearing new clothes purchased from the proceeds of the Nonesuch, the King takes Huck
into town to see what “project” they could get going. They meet a Young Fool who sings
of his love for Arkansas. (“Arkansas”) The Young Fool thinks the King is Harvey
Wilkes, the English brother of a local man who just died, and that the Duke is William
Wilkes, another brother, who is deaf and dumb. The Young Fool is heading out of town,
and so won’t be around to recognize these strangers again. The King decides to pretend to
be the long lost brother of the deceased man.
 The mourning family and friends enter, singing of how blessed they are to be the children
of a loving God. (“How Blest We Are”)
 The King, Duke, and Huck meet the grieving daughters, Mary Jane, Susan and Joanna,
who immediately believe that the King and Duke are their uncles.
 A letter from their father leaves the house and $3,000 in gold to the daughters, and
$6,000 in gold to Harvey and William. Pretending to be generous, the King gives the
$6,000 back to Mary Jane. A local lawyer doesn’t believe the King and Duke are the
daughters’ uncles and advises caution. Mary Jane strongly disagrees and gives ALL of
the money and the house back to the King, asking him to invest it for her and her sisters.
 Huck feels so badly at taking advantage of people so vulnerable that he steals the money
from the King and Duke during the night. While he looks for place to hide it, he hears
someone coming, and the fastest place he can find to hide the money is in the coffin with
Peter Wilkes body.
 Mary Jane and her sisters come in singing and mourning the death of their father (“You
Ought To Be Here With Me”)
 Huck wants to tell them the truth, but is still too afraid that if the truth got out, the Duke
and King would betray Jim and Huck, turning them in as a runaway slave and a slave
stealer.
 The next morning at the funeral service, the King gives a horrible speech,
mispronouncing “elegy” or “obsequies” as “orgy,” which error the Duke tries to correct
without speaking (because he is supposed to be deaf and dumb.)
 The sincere singing of the mourners is a relief after the falsity of the King’s speech.
(“How Blest We Are” (Reprise))
 The coffin with the money in it is buried and Huck thinks he’s just made a mess of
things.
 Alice, a slave woman, comes in to tell Mary Jane that the King has sold her and her
daughter. Alice will be in New Orleans, and her daughter will be in Memphis.
 The King announces that he is selling all of the property and leaving to go back to
England, and that the daughters will come with them.

Mary Jane is upset at the King for splitting up Alice’s family and for uprooting her own
family.
 Huck finally reveals to Mary Jane the truth about the King and the Duke. Mary Jane
wants to go to the sheriff immediately, but Huck convinces her to wait so that he and Jim
and can get away without getting in trouble. He tells her he’ll leave a note as to where the
money is. Mary Jane is so grateful and kisses Huck as he goes to leave. Huck, Mary Jane
and Jim sing of the unexpected goodbyes in life. (“Leavin’s Not the Only Way to Go”)
 The Duke and the King ask Huck if he was in their room that night. Huck, knowing
they’re after the money he stole, says that he wasn’t but that he saw slaves going in and
out, implying they stole the money. The King knows that the money bag is gone, but still
intends to make money from selling the house and its contents. The Duke thinks they
should leave while they still can. The King tells him to go sell Jim during the auction.
 The Sheriff and the real Harvey Wilkes show up before the auction starts. The King tries
to prove he’s the real Harvey Wilkes by describing a tattoo on the dead body, and Harvey
Wilkes describes a different tattoo. The townspeople think both of the men are imposters
so they decide to dig up the body to see what the tattoo really is. They plan to tar and
feather whoever of the two men is lying. When they dig up the body, they find the bag of
gold with it, and Huck makes a hasty exit.
 Huck can’t find Jim at the raft so he waits for him. The Duke, who has been tarred and
feathered by the townspeople, shows up at the raft looking for help. The Duke tells Huck
he sold Jim to Silas Phelps.
 Feeling sorry for the Duke, Huck debates his own actions. He tries to pray, but realizes
you can’t pray a lie. He thinks he’s done wrong to help free Jim, and decides to send a
letter to Miss Watson telling her where Jim is. At first he feels good about this decision.
But then he remembers his friendship with Jim and chooses to obey his own conscience
rather than follow what society tells him is right. He decides he’d rather go to hell than
leave Jim in slavery. Huck, Alice, her daughter and the other slaves sing of their longing
for freedom and light. (“Waitin’ For the Light to Shine” (Reprise))
o On a Farm near Hillsboro
 Huck heads to the Phelps farm, where he is welcomed by Sally Phelps, who thinks he is
her nephew Tom Sawyer. Huck is relieved because he can impersonate a person he
knows. Silas Phelps has Jim locked up in a shed on the farm.
 The real Tom Sawyer shows up. Huck convinces Tom to help him free Jim. Huck’s plan
is simple and straightforward, but Tom wants to make it more stylish and adventuresome.
Tom comes up with an elaborate plan, involving spoons and taming a rattlesnake. He
decides it would be too much to chop Jim’s leg off.
 Jim sings of his longing for freedom. (“Free at Last”)
 That night, Huck and Tom break Jim out of the shed. Tom had left an anonymous note
informing his uncle that someone was going to try to free Jim that night. When Silas
shows up to protect his property, he shoots Tom in the leg.
 Jim, Huck and Tom make it to the raft. Tom says to go on without him, but Huck goes for
a doctor. Jim tries to stop the bleeding.
 At the Doctor’s place, Huck asks for help for his brother who has been shot. Silas is also
at the Doctor’s place, thinking that the person he shot who stole his slave would need a
doctor. Huck doesn’t want to give Jim’s location away, so doesn’t talk much. The Doctor
leaves immediately to help the person who has been shot. Silas is angry with Huck for
helping to steal Jim.
 The Doctor finds Tom by the river, but Tom refuses treatment and struggles against the
Doctor. Risking his own freedom, Jim comes out of hiding to hold Tom so the Doctor can
treat him.
 At the Phelps home, Silas threatens Huck for helping to steal Jim. Sally asks more kindly
for what happened, and Huck tells the truth. The Doctor comes in with a few men

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carrying Tom. Jim is also with them, in shackles. Tom will be alright, but the other men
are angry with Jim. The Doctor defends Jim, mentioning that Jim helped save the boy’s
life. Tom finally reveals that Miss Watson freed Jim two months ago. The shackles are
taken off Jim.
Jim and Huck sing of their love for the river (“River in the Rain” (Reprise)) and Jim tells
Huck that the dead body they saw earlier was Huck’s dad. Huck is free and plans to head
west.
Jim, Huck and the entire company sing of the river and what it means to them (“Muddy
Water” (Reprise)).
Characters
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Mark Twain – The pen name of Samuel Clemens, author of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” on
which Big River is based.
Huckleberry Finn – a poor young teenaged boy, with no mother. His father is a violent drunk who is
rarely around. Huck had been homeless, living in a large barrel. Through a series of adventures told in
the story of “Tom Sawyer,” Huck had gained a small fortune of $6000. At the beginning of the play, he
had been taken in and cared for by two sisters.
Widow Douglas and Miss Watson – the two sisters taking care of Huck and his education. The both
care very much about religion. Miss Watson is a slave owner.
Jim – a slave belonging to Miss Watson. Very superstitious. Knows Huck and cares for him as they
journey down the river.
Tom Sawyer – a young teenaged boy who loves adventure novels. Huck’s friend.
The gang of boys: Ben Rogers, Jo Harper, Simon – young teenaged boys living in St. Petersburg,
Illinois.
Pap Finn – Huck’s father. A vagabond drunkard who loves whiskey and hates the government. Tries
to get at Huck’s money.
Judge Thatcher – the trustee managing Huck’s money for him.
Strange Woman – a woman new to the town of St. Petersburg. She knows enough to know what’s
going on with the search for Huck’s body and his murderer, but not enough to know that the person she
is talking to is Huck.
Slaves – Illinois and states south of there are slave states at this time. When run-away slaves are
captured, they are sent back into slavery.
The King and the Duke – charlatans and con men who tell Huck and Jim they are fallen royalty. Their
real names are never known. They are known in the story only as the King and the Duke. Their goal is
to make money any fast way they can, favoring methods that include lying.
Mary Jane, Susan, Joanna Wilkes – Daughters in a well-off family. Their father recently died.
Trusting women who are almost taken in by the machinations of the King and the Duke.
Counselor Robinson – a lawyer who cautions the Wilkes daughters against trusting the King and Duke.
Alice and her daughter – slaves belonging to the Wilkes family.
Sheriff Bell – The local sheriff
Harvey Wilkes – the real uncle of the Wilkes daughters.
Sally Phelps – Tom Sawyer’s aunt. She mistakes Huck for Tom.
Silas Phelps – Tom Sawyer’s uncle.
Doctor – The doctor who helps save Tom from a gunshot wound and who defends Jim.
General American Townspeople
The Mississippi River – 2,320 miles long, it is one of the largest watersheds in the world, and a major
route for commerce and travel. There is evidence of human habitation around the Mississippi dating
back 5,000 years. The Ojibway Indians called it “Misi-ziibi” meaning “Great River,” or “gichi-ziibi”
meaning “Big River.”
Songs
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Act I
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"Overture" — Big River Orchestra
"Do You Wanna Go to Heaven?" — Company
"The Boys" — Tom Sawyer and the Boys
"Waitin' for the Light to Shine" — Huck
"Guv'ment" — Pap
"Hand for the Hog" — Tom Sawyer (this number was cut for the revival)
"I, Huckleberry, Me" — Huck
"Muddy Water" — Jim and Huck
"The Crossing" — Slaves
"River in the Rain" — Huck and Jim
"When the Sun Goes Down in the South" — Duke, King, Huck and Jim
Act II
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"Ent'racte" — Big River Orchestra
"The Royal Nonesuch" — Duke and the Company
"Worlds Apart" — Jim and Huck
"Arkansas/How Blest We Are" — Fool, Alice's Daughter and the Company
"You Oughta Be Here With Me" — Mary Jane Wilkes, Susan Wilkes and Joanna Wilkes
"How Blest We Are (Reprise)" — Company
"Leavin's Not the Only Way to Go" — Mary Jane Wilkes, Jim and Huck
"Waitin' for the Light to Shine (Reprise)" — Huck
"Free At Last" — Jim and the Slaves
"River in the Rain (Reprise)" — Huck and Jim
"Muddy Water (Reprise)" — Company
Production History
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A musical dramatization of the novel was attempted during Mark Twain’s lifetime, but it closed after
less than 40 performances in Baltimore. It was billed as “Mark Twain’s ‘Huckleberry Finn’ adapted for
the Stage by Mark Twain and Lee Arthur.”
Another attempt to adapt the story for stage in the 1950s was cut short by the death of the composer Kurt
Weill. The last song he composed was for Jim to sing: “This Time Next Year.”
The story has been adapted for TV and film many times. Notable versions include the 1939 version with
Mickey Rooney as ‘Huck’ and 1993 with Elijah Wood as ‘Huck’.
Big River first played in February 1984, at the American Repertory Theater, Cambridge, Massachusetts
and then June-July 1984 at the La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego, California.
The Broadway debut was 25 April 1985. It ran for 1,005 performances at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre,
Broadway, New York, New York.
o It featured John Goodman as ‘Pap Finn’, René Auberjonois as ‘the Duke’,
Daniel H. Jenkins as ‘Huck Finn’, Ron Richardson as ‘Jim’ and Patti
Cohenour as ‘Mary Jane’.
o It won seven Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best
Original Score, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Ron
Richardson) (René Auberjonois and Daniel H. Jenkins were also nominated),
Best Direction of a Musical, Best Scenic Design and Best Lighting Design. It
was nominated for Best Costume Design as well.
o It won seven Drama Desk Awards: Outstanding Actor in a Musical (Ron Richardson) (Daniel H.
Jenkins was also nominated), Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical (René Auberjonois)
(Three other actors from Big River were also nominated), Outstanding Orchestrations,
Outstanding Lyrics, Outstanding Music, Outstanding Set Design, and Outstanding Lighting
Design. It was also nominated for Outstanding Costume Design and Patti Cohenour was
nominated for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical.
o Patti Cohenour also won a Theatre World Award for her performance in Big River.
The Broadway revival opened 24 July 2003 and ran for 67 performances at the American Airlines
Theatre, Broadway, New York, New York.
o This production was performed in two languages simultaneously: English and American Sign
Language.
o Daniel H. Jenkins, who played ‘Huck’ in the original Broadway
cast, played again in this production, this time as Mark Twain
and as the actor who provided the voice of ‘Huck’. ‘Huck’ was
portrayed by Tyrone Giordano, a deaf actor.
o It won one Tony Award: Tony Honors Excellence in Theatre,
and was nominated for two other Tony Awards: Best Revival of
a Musical and Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a
Musical.
o It was nominated for four Drama Desk Awards.
The U.S. National tour ran from June 2004-May 2005.
About the Authors
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Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain –1835-1910. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain Born Samuel
Clemens, he adopted the pen name of Mark Twain, a phrase used while navigating
river boats on the Mississippi that means the water is two fathoms (12 feet) deep,
or safe for navigation.
o His young childhood was in Hannibal, Missouri. He left school at age 11
and worked as a printer’s apprentice.
o In 1857 he started work as a river boat pilot.
o After the Civil War broke out, he served two weeks with the Confederate
Army then moved to Nevada in 1861, trying his hand at silver prospecting. He became a
journalist instead. It was here that he first used the pen name Mark Twain.
o He moved to San Francisco in 1864 where he gained success and notoriety as a journalist.
o Married Olivia Langdon in 1870, and settled with his young family in Connecticut, where he
started writing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn shortly after finishing The Adventures of
Tom Sawyer. However, he stopped writing it for a time. There was a several year hiatus before
he picked up the story again and finished it.
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Roger Miller – Music and Lyrics – 1936-1992. http://www.rogermiller.com/bio1.html A well-known
country singer/songwriter famous for “King of the Road”, “Dang Me” and
“Invitation to the Blues”. He won 11 Grammy Awards and was posthumously
elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. He had not read Huckleberry Finn at the
time he was asked to write the music. Big River won Tony Awards for Best Score
and Musical.
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William Hauptman – Book – born 1942. http://williamhauptman.net/ He has written plays fiction and
non-fiction, including Heat, Domino Courts/Comanche Café, and Good Rockin’
Tonight. He is best known for Big River, which won the Tony Award for Best Book of
a Musical and Best Musical.
Glossary
Word
abolitionist
apprentice
barlow-knife
Bilgewater
Cairo, Ohio
Definition and Notes
One who favors the abolition of some law or custom, specifically in our context, one
who favors the abolition of slavery.
From Webster's 1828 Dictionary: n. One who is bound by covenant to serve a mechanic,
or other person, for a certain time, with a view to learn his art, mystery, or occupation,
in which his master is bound to instruct him. Apprentices are regularly bound by
indentures (a writing containing a contract). An apprentice was not a slave, but was not
free to leave his master until the term of service was complete.
A one or two bladed pocket knife: http://barlow-knives.com/history.htm
From Webster's 1828 Dictionary: n. Water which enters a ship and lies upon her bilge or
bottom.
The city at the confluence of the muddy Mississippi River and the clearer Ohio River.
Missouri, at the time of the story, was a slave state and Illinois a free state. Jim can't
simply cross the river into Illinois to be free though, for at least two reasons. One is the
murder charge against him. He needs to get farther from St. Petersburg than just across
the river. The second is that as a fugitive slave, he could be repcatured. The Fugitive
Slave laws meant that just being in a free state did not make a slave free. He had to get
as far north as Canada before actually being free.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugitive_slave_laws So the plan was to get to Cairo and
then travel up the Ohio River as far as possible. By missing that point, Huck and Jim
were travelling further and further into slave territory.
clean hands
There is actually a legal doctrine called "clean-hands." The idea is that a party can only
seek equitable relief if that party has not violated an equitable principle, such as good
faith.
cold chisel
A cold chisel is a tool made of tempered steel used for cutting 'cold' metals, meaning
that they are not used in conjunction with heating torches, forges, etc.
cottonmouth
A large pit viper in the south eastern US. The bite is very painful and potentially deadly.
country jakes
From Webster's 1828 Dictionary: Jakes, n. A house of office or back-house; a privy.
(a.k.a. An outhouse. A pit-pot. The toilet.)
A phrase that came from the composer's father.
dead panned, shoe
http://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/23/theater/the-country-boy-who-put-mark-twain-intofittin's firestarters
song.html?pagewanted=all
delirium tremens
the Dolphin
forty-rod whiskey
gay
A rapid onset of confusion usually caused by withdrawal from alcohol.
The heir to the French throne was called the Dauphin, which means Dolphin. There is a
dolphin on the crest of the heir to the French throne. Louis XVII, the Dolphin that
Twain's "King" claims to be would be, died at 10 years old, but would have been 50 or
60 at the time of the play, if he had escaped from the revolutionaries who held him
prisoner.
Whiskey so strong it reputedly has the power to knock a man out at the distance of 40
rods, or about 220 yards.
From Webster's 1828 Dictionary: adj. 1. Merry; airy; jovial; sportive; frolicsome. It
denotes more life and animation than "cheerful." 2. Fine; showy; as a gay dress.
3. Inflamed or merry with liquor; intoxicated; a vulgar use of the word in America.
hayseeds
hog's head
An awkward, unsophisticated person regarded as typical of rural areas; yokel; a
somewhat contemptuous term.
From Webster's 1828 Dictionary: Hogs-head, n. 1. A measure of capacity, containing 63
gallons. 2. In America, this name is often given to a butt, a cask containing from 110 to
120 gallons; as a hogshead of spirit or molasses. 3. A large cask, of indefinite contents.
(In our case, a sugar hog's head would have been a barrel that held sugar.)
honest Injun
Honestly. Uses an informal, nonstandard spelling of Indian. Probably first used by Mark
Twain, this expression is now dated and often perceived as insulting to or by American
Indians. Though it came to mean “honestly or truly,” it may have had its origin in the
contrary perception that Indians on the American frontier were not considered honest or
trustworthy until they had proven themselves, for example, as scouts.
lay - as in "I'll lay
for you", "lay into
that pole", "I lay I
make you mind",
"I lay he'd wait
…."
From Webster's 1828 Dictionary: 1. Literally, to throw down. 2. To beat down; to
prostrate. 11. To place at hazard; to wage; to stake. 14. To put, to apply. 16. To charge,
to impute. 20. To prostrate, to slay. 23. To contrive, to scheme, to plan. (As a note: in a
1986 Webster’s dictionary the definition for "lay” takes up two thirds of a column. In
the older 1828 Webster's dictionary it takes a full page - and there is not much
difference in the size of the type. In other words, "lay" was a word used far more often
and variously back then than it is now, though it is still a word with a variety of
meanings.)
nation sorry
nickle
Nonesuch
Very sorry
An anachronism. Nickels weren't in circulation until 1866.
http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/circulatingcoins/?action=circnickel
From Webster's 1828 Dictionary: n. An extraordinary thing; a thing that has not its
equal.
phrenology
From Webster's 1828 Dictionary: n. The science of the human mind and its various
properties. Phrenology is now applied to the science of the mind as connected with the
supposed organs of thought and passion in the brain, broached by Gall. From a 1986
Webster's dictionary: a system, now rejected, by which an analysis of character could
allegedly be made by studying the shape and protuberances of the skull. An
Americanism.
preambulatory
bone frame
A walking skeleton with meat on it (a living person)
From Webster's 1828 Dictionary: n. [that is, living silver, so called from its fluidity]
Mercury… It is used in various arts and in medicine. There was a belief at the time that
putting quicksilver in a bread loaf and floating it on the water would help to find a
drowned body. https://www.hsp.org/blogs/hidden-histories/looking-for-the-drownedquicksilver
dead-with-a-loaf-of-bread-and-mercury
There was a similar superstition that firing a cannon over water would cause a body to
rise to the surface. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2092/will-shooting-acannon-cause-a-drowned-body-to-rise-to-the-surface
A punishment most prevalent in the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries in
which an offender was made to straddle a fence rail held on the shoulders of two or
more bearers. The victim was then paraded around town or taken to the city limits and
ride them on a rail dumped by the roadside. Being ridden on a rail was typically a form of extrajudicial
punishment administered by a mob, sometimes in connection with tarring and
feathering, intended to show community displeasure with the offender so they either
conformed their behavior to the mob's demands or left the community.
saphead
A stupid person
smallpox
tar and feather
thunderation
From Webster's 1828 Dictionary: n. A very contagious disease, characterized by an
eruption of pustules on the skin. From a 1986 Webster's dictionary: An acute, highly
contagious virus disease. (So this is one nastily contagious disease.)
A largely American form of public shaming. Hot tar was dabbed or poured onto skin or
over clothing followed by feathers. The solvents used to take the tar off could be just as
painful as the tar itself. It was not usually lethal. http://www.u-shistory.com/pages/h569.html
An exclamation of surprise or petulance. An Americanism developed in the 1830s and
1840s.
tow-path
From Webster's 1828 Dictionary: towing-path, n. A path used by men or horses that tow
boats. (So it would run by the river.)
trotline
A trotline is a heavy fishing line with baited hooks attached at intervals. Here's a great
video for accents and trotlines. https://youtu.be/hMTtC5q0y1I
unities
From Webster's 1828 Dictionary: In the drama, there are three unities – the unity of
action, that of time, and that of place. (This dictionary also refers to unities in Christian
theology [oneness of sentiment, affection or behavior], mathematics, poetry, epic
poetry, music and law.)
Themes
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Freedom
o The River is a symbol of freedom.
 Huck and Jim are free while they live on the raft. The river carries Jim toward freedom
from slavery and Huck toward freedom from his abusive father. It is the place they
always escape to when they need to get out of trouble.
 Life on the raft gets complicated by missing the confluence with the Ohio River and the
intrusion of the “civilized” con men, the King and the Duke, whose artificial hierarchy
destroys the equality Huck and Jim share on the raft.
 Because the raft can only go with the flow of the water, as things get more complicated,
the river becomes only a short term escape that continues to push them further into
danger.
o Periodically throughout their journey Huck and Jim run into slaves – human beings sold and
moved around as if they were chattel.
o Huck feels oppressed by the efforts of the Widow and Miss Watson to education and civilize
him, but he is more frightened of his own father – who is a slave to alcohol.
Friendship
o Huck and Jim’s friendship, including the times Huck violates it, is the beating heart of the story.
It’s an uncommon friendship: a young, white teenager and an older black man should not be
friends. But on the raft they are equals who care for each other without reservation or
qualification.
Equality and Social Responsibility; Conformity and Civilization
o Even though he’s a child, because he’s white, Huck has power over Jim in the wider society of
America. But in the small society of the raft, Huck and Jim are equals. Huck doesn’t even think
twice about sharing fifty-fifty the $40 given him by the men looking for runaway slaves.
o The Widow and Miss Watson try to impose proper education and behavior on Huck. Pap Finn, in
contrast, doesn’t care for such, but also doesn’t behave correctly towards Huck (to put it mildly).
o The Duke and King impose a false hierarchy on the simple society on the raft, which ultimately
leads to their own destruction, and to the re-enslavement of Jim.
o Huck decides to buck what society teaches him is right (that Jim is property) and decides to
follow his own conscience. In doing so, he truly helps a fellow human, showing us what
American society should be.
Coming of Age/Intellectual and Moral Education
o Only a child is open minded enough to come to the conclusion that Huck does: that Jim is a
person not property. Through the course of the play, Huck decides what kind of adult he’ll be:
one who cares more for people than for what people think of him.
o Huck rebels against civilization. He lacks the guidance that proper society requires for a child.
He has no parents (practically speaking) and very little school – but he comes to the right
decision about how to treat Jim. In contrast, Tom, an energetic, imaginative child, ultimately
conforms to society’s expectations of him. When we meet Tom at the end of the play, he is still
very childish, determined to have a fun game for his own amusement at the expense of Jim, who
he knows is no longer a slave.
Understanding differences
o Huck gains insight into Jim’s life and loves and realizes that despite all of their differences, they
are both very much the same on the inside.
o On the surface, there are many similarities between Huck and the con men the King and the
Duke. It isn’t hard to imagine Huck growing into something like them, with his facility for lying.
But Huck is very different on the inside from those two in that he has compassion for the hurts of
other people. He even feels compassion for the Duke after he’s tarred a feathered.

Lying, Hypocrisy, Superstition
o The lines between a con, entertainment, superstition and religion are not clear cut.
o Huck lies to protect Jim. The King and the Duke lie to take advantage.
o The Nonesuch is a lie. But it’s entertainment.
o Jim’s superstitions turn out to be true sometimes. Perhaps his unconventional ideas that are both
wrong and right serve as a foil to more generally accepted social teachings that are both wrong
and right.
o Slavery in a “free” country is hypocrisy.
Discussion Questions

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



What are the advantages and disadvantages of adapting a novel for the stage and more specifically for a
musical?
If you’ve read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, what parts of the story would you choose to set to
music and song? Are there any that Big River missed?
How does the Mississippi River represent freedom and equality?
Do the issues Jim and Huck face still exist today?
How do you relate to Jim and Huck’s struggle for freedom? Do you share any of their struggles?
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as well as Big River, use a highly offensive racial slur. At the time
the novel was written, such language was common. Some schools ban the book because of its use of that
word. On the other hand, a recent publication of the novel by New South Books replaced each instance
of the N-word with “slave” in order to avoid the racism of the language and allow for focus on the other
themes of the novel. Other reasons the novel has been banned include the vulgarity of the characters’
actions and language. At the time it was written, young Huck’s defiance of authority and propriety, even
using the word “scratch,” was considered inappropriate for children to read. Can censorship be useful?
What should be censored? Who should decide what and how to censor? Would you censor language? Or
content? Or both? What are the similarities and differences between censorship and adapting the novel
into a musical?
What stereotypes are presented in Big River? How are they accurate? How are they inaccurate?
Resources and Links
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Map of the journey:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xlDEiY6TL9X_izJjPiAMV7mFFWo&usp=sharing
60 Minutes clip about the “N” word in Huckleberry Finn: https://youtu.be/nW9-qee1m9oBig River at the 1985 Tonys: https://youtu.be/tTTG8beemxQ
Big River at the 2004 Tonys, showing how it was performed in two languages simultaneously, English
and Sign Language, using both hearing and deaf performers: https://youtu.be/-_N1dDwrRKg
Samuel Clemens filmed by Thomas Edison: https://youtu.be/wJ3Vr0wUh8g
Fast Facts about Samuel Clemens/Twain: https://youtu.be/cMtBPa7hpsA
An audio recording of the text of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL678C730D30AF0816
Full text of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/76/76-h/76-h.htm
Mark Twain’s response to a 1905 banning of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/05/i-am-greatly-troubled-by-what-you-say.html
What is a dollar from the mid-1840s worth in today’s money? About 25 times what it is today. It’s
actually a fairly complex process to determine the changing value of money over time. There are
numbers ranging from a 1840s dollar being 21 to 30 times what its value is today. So 25 times is just the
median, and good enough of a guess to give an idea of the difference.
1840s Dollar
$0.10
$0.50
$1
$20
$300
$800
$1,000
$3,000
$6,000
$8,000
$9,000


2016 Dollar
$2.50
$12.50
$25
$500
$7,500
$20,000
$25,000
$75,000
$150,000
$200,000
$225,000
Spirituals relating to slavery:
o “Deep River”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_River_(song)
o “Follow the Drinking Gourd”:
http://www.followthedrinkinggourd.org/What_The_Lyrics_Mean.htm
o “Michael Row the Boat Ashore”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Row_the_Boat_Ashore
o “Wade in the Water”: http://www.negrospirituals.com/songs/wade_in_the_water.htm
o “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child”:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sometimes_I_Feel_Like_a_Motherless_Child (Huck is a
motherless child.)
An excerpt from “Life on the Mississippi” by Mark Twain, concerning river boats, from Project
Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/245/245-h/245-h.htm :
“WHEN I was a boy, there was but one permanent ambition among my comrades in our village
{footnote [1. Hannibal, Missouri]} on the west bank of the Mississippi River. That was, to be a
steamboatman. We had transient ambitions of other sorts, but they were only transient. When a circus came
and went, it left us all burning to become clowns; the first negro minstrel show that came to our section left
us all suffering to try that kind of life; now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God
would permit us to be pirates. These ambitions faded out, each in its turn; but the ambition to be a
steamboatman always remained.
Once a day a cheap, gaudy packet arrived upward from St. Louis, and another downward from Keokuk.
Before these events, the day was glorious with expectancy; after them, the day was a dead and empty thing.
Not only the boys, but the whole village, felt this. After all these years I can picture that old time to myself
now, just as it was then: the white town drowsing in the sunshine of a summer's morning; the streets empty,
or pretty nearly so; one or two clerks sitting in front of the Water Street stores, with their splint-bottomed
chairs tilted back against the wall, chins on breasts, hats slouched over their faces, asleep—with shingleshavings enough around to show what broke them down; a sow and a litter of pigs loafing along the
sidewalk, doing a good business in watermelon rinds and seeds; two or three lonely little freight piles
scattered about the 'levee;' a pile of 'skids' on the slope of the stone-paved wharf, and the fragrant town
drunkard asleep in the shadow of them; two or three wood flats at the head of the wharf, but nobody to listen
to the peaceful lapping of the wavelets against them; the great Mississippi, the majestic, the magnificent
Mississippi, rolling its mile-wide tide along, shining in the sun; the dense forest away on the other side; the
'point' above the town, and the 'point' below, bounding the river-glimpse and turning it into a sort of sea, and
withal a very still and brilliant and lonely one. Presently a film of dark smoke appears above one of those
remote 'points;' instantly a negro drayman, famous for his quick eye and prodigious voice, lifts up the cry,
'S-t-e-a-m-boat a-comin'!' and the scene changes! The town drunkard stirs, the clerks wake up, a furious
clatter of drays follows, every house and store pours out a human contribution, and all in a twinkling the
dead town is alive and moving.
Drays, carts, men, boys, all go hurrying from many quarters to a common center, the wharf. Assembled
there, the people fasten their eyes upon the coming boat as upon a wonder they are seeing for the first time.
And the boat is rather a handsome sight, too. She is long and sharp and trim and pretty; she has two tall,
fancy-topped chimneys, with a gilded device of some kind swung between them; a fanciful pilot-house, a
glass and 'gingerbread', perched on top of the 'texas' deck behind them; the paddle-boxes are gorgeous with
a picture or with gilded rays above the boat's name; the boiler deck, the hurricane deck, and the texas deck
are fenced and ornamented with clean white railings; there is a flag gallantly flying from the jack-staff; the
furnace doors are open and the fires glaring bravely; the upper decks are black with passengers; the captain
stands by the big bell, calm, imposing, the envy of all; great volumes of the blackest smoke are rolling and
tumbling out of the chimneys—a husbanded grandeur created with a bit of pitch pine just before arriving at
a town; the crew are grouped on the forecastle; the broad stage is run far out over the port bow, and an
envied deckhand stands picturesquely on the end of it with a coil of rope in his hand; the pent steam is
screaming through the gauge-cocks, the captain lifts his hand, a bell rings, the wheels stop; then they turn
back, churning the water to foam, and the steamer is at rest. Then such a scramble as there is to get aboard,
and to get ashore, and to take in freight and to discharge freight, all at one and the same time; and such a
yelling and cursing as the mates facilitate it all with! Ten minutes later the steamer is under way again, with
no flag on the jack-staff and no black smoke issuing from the chimneys. After ten more minutes the town is
dead again, and the town drunkard asleep by the skids once more.”