HUCKLEBERRY FINN

Huckleberry Finn

Satire

Chapters 1-5

Timeline:

Chapter 1

Huck Finn moves in with the Widow
He hears Tom Sawyer meowing out his window

Chapter 2

Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer tiptoed around the widow's garden to sneak out
They meet up with a bunch of other kids and make a band of robbers named "Tom Sawyer's Gang"

Chapter 3

The Widow punishes Huck Finn for getting his clothes dirty
There's a rumor that Huck Finn's dad is dead and that his corpse was found in the river.
After a month of starting the gang, all the boys, including Huck Finn, ended the gang

Chapter 4

Huck Finn finds foot prints in the snow that look like the devil's footprints.
Huck tells Judge Thatcher about the foot prints
Jim claims he has a magical hair ball and Huck Finn uses it
Huck finds out his father has two angels, a good one and a bad one.

Chapter 5

Huck Finn's dad shows up to the Judge and tries to steal Huck and Tom's money
The Widow and Judge Thatcher try to separate Huck and his dad but the new judge is keeping them together.

Questions:

Huckleberry Finn is based off of the 1830s-40s. We know this because of their language and because there was slaver.

The point of view of the narrator influences the story because the narrator is a young boy and sees things differently from adults and older kids.

Chapters 6-11

1. Huck Finn was locked up by Pap because Pap wanted to win custody over Huck Finn so that he can get his money.

2. VISUAL

3. An Abolitionist means you want to Abolish slavery. Huck Finn didn't want to be called an Abolitionist because everyone around him wanted there to be slavery.

4. One of the ways the woman knew that Huck Finn wasn't a girl is because he didn't know how to thread a needle. Also, Huck Finn was able to almost hit the rat with a piece of lead and most girls miss by 6 or 7 feet.

They three ways you could tell if a girl was dressed as a boy or vice versa is if they have a higher pitched or a lower pitched voice, the way they walk and they way their hair is.

Chapters 12-16

1. The story about King Solomon and his child was about two women who had babies and one mother took great care of the child and the other mother didn't. When one of the babies died the mother stole the other baby. They both went to King Solomon with the baby and he said that he could cut the baby in half and each mother can have one half. The mother that stole the baby agreed and the true mother said to let the baby live. Jim interprets the story differently because he thinks that it was more important that the king respected the child.

2. When Jim wakes up from the separation with Huck the night before, he was extremely excited to Huck. This tells us that he really cares for Huck. I think Jim is very kind and is just trying to help most of the time.

3. I think Jim is superstitious because at that time black people were not treated equally at all so he never went to school and wouldn't know any differently.

4. This quote is about Huck apologizes to Jim about a joke he made. This tells us that Huck care about what people think therefore he will apologize if he does something wrong.

5. Jim and Huck have grown closer throughout the book so when Huck has to make the decision of giving Jim as an escaped slave. He decides to lie and keep Jim.

Chapters 17-21

1.Describe the Grangerford family (Chapter 17 &18).

The Grangerford family is a family that Huck meets in the book. This family is known for being in an ongoing feud with the Shepherdsons. Nobody can remember why these families are in a fued or how it started, but they both still hate each other. The members in the Grangerford family are Bob, Tom, Charlotte, Sophia, Buck, and Emmeline who passed away. The head of the house is Colonel Grangerford. Because of the fued, Buck, who is nineteen, got into a gun fight with the Shepherdsons and both people involved passed away.

2.Mark Twain alludes that the feud between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons is about traditional feuds between farmer (“granger”) and rancher (“shepherd”). Why would he write this into the novel? What does it say about these two occupations at this time (Chapter 18)?

I believe the author would mention this in the novel because he wants us to understand why it was not abnormal for a farmer family, the Grangerfords, and a racher family, the Shepherdsons, to get into a feud. Back in the 1800s it was very common for these two types of families to get into a fued.
The author says that these two type of work occupations would get into feuds very often because there was conflicts about who would own the land, the ranchers or the farmers. Once both were able to own land, the two types of families would still get into very large feuds. They would take it so far that family members would die.

3. Toward the end of chapter 18 Huck says “I don’t want to talk much about the next day. I reckon I’ll cut it pretty short.” Huck says this prior to telling us about the big battle. How does our narrator’s perspective play a role in what we think and feel reading this section (Chapter 18)?

I believe that Huck has grown close with Buck, therefore when Buck got into the gun fight and passed away Huck was very upset and didn't want to talk about it. I think that Huck just started to find a friend and then he died a few days later.

4.Explain who the King and the Duke are. Why does Huck go along with their story (Chapter 19)?

The King and the Duke are river con men who took Jim and Huck's raft. The Duke says that he is the Duke of Bridge water and the King says he is the heir to the French throne. The King and the Duke make up a story that the King is a British preacher and the Duke pretends to be the King's deaf brother. Huck decides to pretend with them.

5.What problems do you anticipate with the Duke’s solution to how they can all run the raft during the day (Chapter 20)?

I anticipate that Jim might eventually be caught as a run away slave. To avoid this problem they decide that they will pretend that they captured Jim and they will also try to only travel at night. Although they tried their hardest to hide Jim someone eventually finds out that they are not returning Jim.

6.Illustrate the town that the play will be held in (Chapter 21)

Chapters 21-26

1.At the very end of chapter 22 we see the handbill that the king and the duke will pass out.The duke says “if that line don’t fetch them, I don’t know Arkansaw!” Why would the line at the bottom of the handbill work to get people into the play?

The end of the handbill says "Ladies and children are not admitted." This would work to get people into the play because men would be more willing to go to something without their wives and children.

2.Towards the end of chapter 23 we see this line: “What was the use to tell Jim these warn’t real kings and dukes? It wouldn’t a done no good; and besides, it was just as I said; you couldn’t tell them from the real kind.”
a.Why doesn’t Huck see the use in telling Jim?

Because Huck doesn't think Jim will understand what he means. Most slaves did not have an proper education therefore didn't know much about Kings and Dukes in the first place. So Huck not telling Jim was probably the best thing.
b.What does Huck mean by “you couldn’t tell them from the real kind.”?

When Huck said "you couldn't tell them from the real kind." he is comparing the King and the Duke to real Kings and Dukes. He is saying that they act like they are real royalty.

3.The final line in chapter 24 reads: “It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race.” What is Huck talking about? What does it tell us (the reader) about Huck that he feels this way?

When Huck says this he is talking about when the King and Duke came up with a plan for when the found out a man named Peter Wilks has died and left a fortune to his brothers to get the money. The King and Duke acted like the brothers and Huck and Jim acted like the servants. Huck felt very guilty about this because he stole a lot of money.

4.In chapter 25 we meet the doctor. How does the doctor know that the king and the duke are a fraud?

The doctor knew that they were frauds because their British accent was very bad and unbelievable.The doctor also discovered that the King and Duke knew nothing about Peter, who they took money from.

5.The king and the duke consider leaving in the middle of the night with the money (chapter 26). Why don’t they?

The King and Duke decide not to leave with the money because they wanted to wait until Peter Wilks sells the land and the slaves.

Chapters 27-30

1.Why did people stay up with the dead during this time period? (Chapter 27)

People stayed up with the dead as a tradition and so that animals wouldn't eat the body as it rots.

2.What do we learn (or reaffirm) about Huck when he tells Miss Mary Jane the slaves will see their family again in inside of two weeks? (Chapter 28)

In the beginning of this chapter it reaffirms that Huck really cares about people and how they feel. When Miss Mary Jane is crying he comforts her and tells her that he also can't stand to see people in trouble.

3.What were the two methods the townspeople used to try to identify who the brothers were and who the frauds were? (Chapter 29)

They first thing they do is have the King and the Duke sign their name to see if their signature is right. The King gets out of this by saying that his real name is William and he broke his arm so that he couldn't sign his name. The second thing the townspeople do to see if people are frauds is they asked him if they had a tattoo.

Chapters 31-35

1.Huck says “You can’t pray a lie.” What lie is he trying to pray about? What does he mean? (Chapter 31)

In this part of the book Jim has been captured and turned in as a runaway slave. Huck finds out about this and gets very upset and sad. Huck starts to cry over this situation because he didn't tell anyone about Jim and how he is a runaway slave and he is scared.

2.Why does Huck tear up the letter he writes? (Chapter 31)

The letter that Huck writes is to Miss Watson, Jim’s owner, and he says to her where Jim is. Huck decided to tear up the letter because Miss Watson would then know that Jim was lying and hiding.

3.Huck is disappointed that Tom would help him steal Jim. He says “Tom Sawyer fell, considerable, in my estimation. Only I couldn’t believe it. Tom Sawyer a nigger stealer!” What do you think of this? (Chapter 33)

I think that Tom Sawyer is just trying to help a friend. Huck wanted to get Jim back so he can escape and Tom Sawyer has experience with this so he helped Huck.

4.Huck says two things at the end of chapter 33:
1.“Human beings can be awful cruel to one another.”
2.“But that’s always the way: it don’t make no difference whether you do right or wrong, a person’s conscience ain’t got no sense, and just goes for him anyway.”
What does Huck mean by these two statements?

Huck sees townspeople covering the duke in tar and feathers and the townspeople run him out of town. Huck then states “Human beings can be awful cruel to one another.” and “But that’s always the way: it don’t make no difference whether you do right or wrong, a person’s conscience ain’t got no sense, and just goes for him anyway.” He says this because even if the duke wasn't a fraud he would probably be treated the same.

5.Why are Tom and Huck looking for a more difficult way to break Jim free? (Chapter 34)

They are looking for a more difficult way because Tom is very adventurous and always wants a challenge. Even though Huck isn't like Tom in that way, he trusts Tom to help him.

Chapters 36-40

1. In the process of breaking Jim free, what is Tom’s motivation? What is Huck’s motivation? (Why are they doing it?)

Tom and Huck's motivations are very different. Tom loves adventure and adrenaline rushes so his motivation is to have fun. Huck's best friend is Jim, so his motivation is to help Jim escape and give him a better life.

2. What do Huck and Tom mean when they say they “let on” about something? Why do they do this? (Begins on chapter 37)

In the book Huck and Tom use the phrase "let on" as saying to pretend.

3. Why is Tom writing the letters and posting warnings? Why did he give instructions to his aunt and uncle’s slave? What are his motivations for this? (Chapter 39)

Tom's Uncle Silas and Aunt Sally are panicking because Jim ran away. Uncle Silas wants to advertise that Jim has runaway so Tom decided to write letters to them under a different name so they wouldn't know. Tom writes letters to distract them from advertising Jim.

4. We’ve worked a great deal on this novel’s satirical elements. How is the planning and plotting of Jim’s escape by Tom and Huck satire?

Planning Jim's escape was satirical because Tom make Jim's escape harder than it actually was. Tom wanted to take the harder route with helping Jim escape so it would be more fun.

5. Towards the end of the chapter Huck says “I knowed he was white inside” about Jim. Why does he say this and what does he mean?

Hucks says this because they are trying to save Tom on the boat and Jim says they should get a doctor. Huck is saying that Jim is starting to think like a white man.

Chapters 40-End

1. Towards the end of chapter 41: “And then when I went up to bed, she come up with me, and fetched her candle, and tucked me in, and mothered me so good I felt mean and like I couldn’t look her in the face”. Why does Huck feel this way?

Hucks feels this way because his friend, Tom, is still waiting for him in the boat with a hole in his leg from a gunshot and he is warm in a bed.

2. In chapter 42 we hear the doctor’s account of his experience treating Tom: “so I says, I got have help, somehow; and the minute I says it, out crawls this nigger from somewheres, and says he’ll help; and he done it too, and done it very well.” Can we come to an understanding about Jim from this? What do we learn about him?

From this chapter we see that Jim has not only become friends with Huck, but with Tom too. If Jim wasn't there when Tom got shot, nobody would have gotten a doctor and Tom could've died.

3. What do we learn about Tom from what he says when he wakes up after being treated for the gunshot wound (Chapter 42)?

Tom was happy that he now has good story to tell about how he got shot in the calf helping a slave escape.

4. You’ve finished the novel: Tell me, in three to four sentences, what you think of Huck.

Huck has shown many thing about him throughout this novel. From the beginning we see that Huck realizes that his father is a bad influence therefore he should escape. Then later he meets Jim and doesn't see the color of his skin like everybody else, he sees a great friend. Overall, Huck has shown that he really does care about his friends and the people around him.