The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Program Introduction Tom Sawyer = smart kid Huckleberry Finn = street kid living

ng by wits Huckleberry Finn is a story about a kid brought up in a bigoted part of country before slavery ended. He is exposed to the bigotry and is able to transcend through knowing one black guy. It is a satire and adventure storyabout growing up, freedom and conscience, and a part of history which still hurts. Huck and Jim Escape By Raft Down the Mississippi River Huck is son of town drunkard, Pap. Pap returns after hearing Huck has come into some money. Pap is an outcast; he hates blacks, society and civilization. Pap takes Huck from Widow Douglas and Ms. Watson. Pap locks Huck in a remote cabin. Huck escapes while Pap is away by faking his own murder. He escapes to Jackson Island using a canoe he found. Meanwhile, Jim has overheard Ms. Watsons plan to sell him to a plantation farther south and into a much more miserable way of life and away from his family. He is being sold literally down the river. Huck finds Jim, promises not to tell on him, and they join forces. They find an abandoned raft. The story is told in the language of the slave days before the Civil War. The novel was published in 1885, but the setting is 40 years earlier. Huck is a product of a slave owning society, and he speaks the language of this society. Author Profile: Mark Twain Twain was born in Florida, Missouri in 1835. Missouri was a slave state then. Twains exposure to the treatment of slaves and the slave trade would stay with him and scar him for life. He had guilt, depression, and manic periods because of this exposure. Twain wove brightness and darkness together in this story, reliving his boyhood. Huck and Jim's Journey: A Friendship Blooms They are hiding during the day and floating down the river by night bound for Cairo. Mississippi = frontier, heartland of America. This is a story abut a young man coming into adulthood. It examines the issues of freedom and slavery. Huck is helping a slave escape. This is illegal. Huck and Jim become friends. Huck feels guilty because hes helping Ms. Watsons property escape. Huck was going to turn Jim in, but he cant because of his friendship with Jim.

Huck is developing a conscience, but he thinks hes bad (because of what his society has taught him), but we think hes good because of his true feelings about what is right. Huck's Apology to Jim The critical point of Hucks transformation and the heart of book is Hucks apology to Jim. Jim is on the raft. Huck is in the canoe. They are separated all night. In the morning Jim is asleep. Huck climbs back on the raft while Jim is sleeping and plays a trick on him. Huck tells Jim he dreamed they were separated last night and that he was on the raft the whole time. Jim teaches Huck about friendship. Jim forces Huck to realize he is human and has feelings when he explains how much he worried about Huck last night while they were apart. Jim shows Huck that playing with a mans feelings isnt something you do when you care about someone. This is a movement into maturity forcing Huck to acknowledge Jims humanity. A Steamboat Hits the Raft They realize at some point that they have been swept by the Ohio River and their way to freedom. They were going the wrong wayfarther down the Mississippi and deeper into slavery instead of out of it. Its ironic that they are going deeper and deeper into slavery. A steamboat hits the raft. Huck resurfaces and Jim and raft are gone. At this point, Twain quits writing for 2 years. Huck Takes Refuge with the Grangerfords Twain returns to the novel. When he does, it takes on a sharper edge and darker tone. The river has carried Huck to the center of the frontier. He takes refuge with a family named Grangerford. They are in a feud with another family, and Huck eventually witnesses his new friend, Buck Grangerford, being killed in this feud. Now, it is a journey into the dark sides of American civilization. Twain captured a lot of American culture through the adventures Huck has. He exposes the moral rottenness of American culture. The King and the Duke: Huck Is Joined By Two Con Men Jim has gone into hiding with some local slaves. They tell him where Huck is. Jim recovers the raft, and the two run towards it to escape the feuding and killing. As they escape to the raft, they are followed by two thieving con-men. They claim they are an exiled duke and the French Dauphin (king). We now see the underside of life from the perspective of a conman. They reveal a harsh reality of people of this time. The King and the Duke sell Jim. They become icons of evil. The King and the Duke are found by some of their victims. When Huck sees this, he has compassion for them. They are tarred and feathered by

their victims. Seeing this, he knows the cruelty humans can have towards one another. The Appearance of Tom Sawyer Huck learns where Jim is being kept. Sally Phelps is expecting Tom Sawyer, a nephew she hasnt seemed in some time. Huck begins to impersonate Tom. Tom helps to free Jim. It doesnt work very well. Tom is shot in the leg, and Jim is nearly lynched. Tom reveals a secret. His secret is Ms. Watson having repented on her deathbed has set Jim free in her will. Jim has been legally free for weeks. Jims freedom has become a play thing to young boys. They have been toying with another mans life. Reconstruction: Racial Relations in America After the Civil War The idea of freeing a free man is an interesting idea. Racial subordination is still a reality of life today. The 1880s were a time when we were moving backwards in integrating black persons into society. The point of the book is the two races together win out by solving problems and helping each other out to do so. They do this far better than any of the others in the book. It shows the need we have today to join together, accept others and work together in harmony. The Popularity of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" Issued in 65 languages and over 850 editions. Hemingway: All American literature comes from one book, Huckleberry Finn. All American writing comes from it. There was nothing before and nothing as good since.