Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn

The novel is set in the 1930's in St. Petersburg, a fictitious place supposedly reminiscent of the town of Hannibal, Missouri the place where Mark Twain grew up. It follows the events in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, also of the same author.

CHARACTERS

Huck Finn. Huckleberry Finn or Huck Fin is the protagonist of the story. A dynamic character, he is a liar and sometimes a thief. In Tom Sawyer's book, he is a vagabond with a drunkard father. In this book, he starts as a ward to Miss Watson and Widow Douglas. He is afraid of responsibilities and being civilized. Everything that he is changed, when his father kidnapped him and he ran away. He became responsible and loyal to the slave Jim whom he freed from slavery.

Jim. Nigger Jim is a slave of Miss Watson and the Widow Douglas. He overhears that the sisters are planning to sell him, to he tried to escape and believing that he has the chance to be free. While in hiding, Huck sees him and let him join to his journey to the Mississippi river. He is the antagonist to Huck's character. Although they became true friends, through him Huck felt guilt and shame but later realized the value of friendship.

Tom Sawyer. He is Huck's best friend and comrade to their adventures. He is smart and witty but sometimes nasty. He betrayed Jim just to play along with the scheme that Huck put up just to be adventurous even if he don't have to. He is both static and a flat character.

Pap Finn is the drunkard father of Huck. He is a miserable human being capable of hurting his son just to fulfill his drunkard lifestyle. He is the epitome of evil in the novel. Just before the novel closes, Tom told Huck that his father died, and he died drunk.

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...ion. Twain ends his novel by setting Huck up for a new experience and personal growth. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn taught an important lesson, one that showed the importance of the self in the maturing process. We saw Huck grow up by having the river as a place of solitude and thought, where he was able to participate in society at times, and also sit back and observe society. Through the child's eye we see how ignorant and mob-like we can all be. Then nature, peace, and logic are presented in the form of the river where Huck goes to think. Though no concise answer is given, the literature forces the reader to examine their surroundings, and question their leaders.