By Mark Twain

Written in 1884 as a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Originally called Huck Finn’s Autobiography. A novel that has been given much accolade but has also been very controversial. In 1885, it was banned from the Public Library in Concord, Massachusetts. Has come to be seen by many readers as a great American novel, a classic.

Huckleberry Finn Narrates the story. 13 yr old boy living in St. Petersburg, Missouri. On the very first page of the novel, Huck discusses the events that have occurred since the end of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Has an abusive and alcoholic father whom he calls “Pap.” Has a limited knowledge of the outside world because his Pap has kept him illiterate and away from the Church. Living with Widow Douglas, who attempts to reform his rebellious ways. Under her care, he attends school and learns how to read and write. Escapes the wrath of his Pap and paddles away on a canoe to Jackson Island where he meets up with Jim.

Jim One of Miss Watson’s slaves. Separated from his wife and children. Runs away after eavesdropping on a conversation in which Miss Watson confesses her plan to send him to New Orleans. Becomes Huck’s companion as he travels down the Mississippi River. Very superstitious.

Huck wants to help Jim run away. Huck has been taught that slavery is “right” but something in his conscience tells him it is morally wrong. He struggles with the preconceived notions about blacks that society has embedded in him.

Huck acts childish when he places a rattlesnake on Jim’s blanket, causing him to get injured. Huck’s childishness gets him and Jim into trouble-nearly having a run-in with the robbers on the wrecked steamboat. Jim is an intelligent and caring adult who wants to protect Huck. Huck is still a child and frequently acts like one while Jim is more of a parental figure. Although Huck makes fun of Jim’s superstitions, he learns to appreciate them. Despite his initial immaturity, Huck is learning from his mistakes. He saves Jim from being captured by keeping his promise in not outing him as a runaway slave. By being the only white person to keep his word, Huck is treating Jim as a man and not a slave.

Huck and Jim have something in common—they are both running away. Huck is on the run from his father and his guardian, the Widow Douglas while Jim is running away from his owner, Miss Watson. Quote from an article on the JSTOR database : “A Tramp at Home: "Huckleberry Finn", Romantic Friendship, and the Homeless Man” by Axel Nissen. Nineteenth-Century Literature, Vol. 60, No. 1 (Jun., 2005), pp Nineteenth-Century Literature “Huck and Jim’s relationship is unlike any other they engage in throughout the course of the novel. Indeed, it is unlike any other relationship between an African American and a white American that we know of in any other story of the period.” Their relationship can be viewed as one between a father and his son or of two friends, or even of two brothers.

1. In your opinion, how does Jim compare with the white male characters we have encountered thus far(Huck’s father, Tom Sawyer, etc)? 2. How would you describe the relationship between Huck and Jim—do they constitute a family?