Donovan Dicks

English 11 AP
Huckleberry Finn Prep Guide

Plot:
Enter Huck, the protagonist, the owner of a $6000 sum
He lives with the Widow Douglas, who does her work to civilize the boy
Begin shenanigans with Tom; Introduce Jim, Miss Watsons slave
Start the Tom Sawyer gang
Rumors of Hucks alcoholic father being dead frighten Huck
Disband the gang
Huck discovers shoe prints at his home, recognizes a specific marking
Goes to Jim for something of a magic 8-ball reading
Jim gives him his life fortune, Huck sells his money to Judge Thatcher for a dollar
Huck discovers his father at home, who takes money from Huck to buy alcohol
Pap resorts to kidnapping Huck and taking him to his cabin on the river
Huck cleverly makes his escape on his canoe and lands on Jackson Island
The townspeople come searching for Huck; Huck discovers Jim on the island
They discover a dead man in a floating house boat; Huck disguises himself as a girl to go
to shore
They leave on the raft upon Hucks return; later discover robbers on a shipwreck
Steal the robbers boat, later reclaim their raft and tip a watchman of the wreck
Huck lies to some strangers to protect Jim
The raft breaks apart and Jim and Huck are separated
Huck is saved by the Grangerfords, enemies of the Shepherdsons; meet Hucks foil, Buck
Violence pushes Huck to leave with Jim
They run into a couple of men, one who claims to be an English Duke and the other the
French Dauphin
The group travels the river on the raft, visiting many towns on the river and exploiting the
folk
They enter a town where a drunk man is shot by a Colonel Sherburn; Huck is disgusted
by the violence
Wilks Family manipulation
Huck disgusted by the Duke and Dauphin, decides to help the actual family
Runs away when town discovers tricks; Duke and Dauphin manage to catch up
Continue travels, go aboard land, Dauphin sells Jim
Huck goes to save Jim, arrives at the Phelpss, Tom Sawyers Aunts family
Huck pretends to be Tom, Tom shows up as Sid
Save Jim; find out Jim was already free since Miss Watsons death

Characters:
- Huckleberry Finn protagonist, young, dynamic, clever, intelligent, unrefined
- The Widow and Miss Watson women that take care of Huck and attempt to civilize him
- Jim Miss Watsons slave, superstitious, practical, Hucks drive for internal change
- Pap Hucks absentee father, unintelligent, drunk, aggressive, unpredictable
 - Duke and Dauphin phony criminals, clever, ambitious, cocky
- Grangerfords false class, nice, caring
- Phelps Family Tom Sawyers aunt and uncle, holders of Jim after the Dauphin sells him
- Tom Sawyer romantic, Hucks friend, well-read

Themes:
All men are created equal; racism can be overcome
Societal expectations sometimes do not coincide with morals; morals should always rule
Friendship can be more important than the laws of society
Southern society is hypocritical
Religion is similar to superstition

Symbols:
The River Water: safety, purity, freedom
The Raft : the vehicle for transformation, place of peace and isolation
Huck: the people of the South (or the whole country), the potential for change in racial
disposition

Quotations:
All right, then, Ill go to hell (214)
- Huck is willing to sacrifice is physical and spiritual being to defy the rules of society and
save his friend, Jim

That warnt romantical enough for Tom Sawyer

- Twain uses Tom to criticize romanticism in literature and in practical use; Huck is the
juxtaposition of realism

Open Essay:

- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, is the story of a young boy,
Huckleberry Huck Finn, who runs away from his alcoholic father. He takes a raft down
the Mississippi River, coming across a slave who would become his closest friend. The
raft and the river are the symbols of transformation and freedom, and are necessary
vehicles for the deliverance of the message of the novel.