Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain

IntroductionBackgroundDiscussion Starters

Adventures of Huckleberry FinnMark Twain

What do you do when you’re torn between what people want for you—or from you—and what you want for yourself?

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Introduction

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Introduction

Huckleberry Finn lives in Missouri before the Civil War, near the Mississippi River.

Huck is young and uneducated.

With an alcoholic and unreliable father, he has grown up mostly on his own.

Not long before the novel begins, however, Huck has been taken to live with the Widow Douglas and her sister.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Introduction

But Huck thinks life with the two sisters is too civilized.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Introduction

He prefers living in the open and having adventures with his friend Tom Sawyer.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Introduction

On one of their adventures, the two boys found a lot of money in a cave (described in the novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer).

Huck and Tom like to plan great adventures and play pranks on people.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Introduction

Pap wants Huck’s money—and kidnaps him to get it.

One day, Huck’s father, Pap, returns to town.

After a miserable time with his father, Huck escapes.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Introduction

While he is running away, he meets Jim—a slave of Widow Douglas’s sister—who has escaped too.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: IntroductionThe two set off together on a raft on the Mississippi River—and on one of the most famous journeys in American literature.

• Will Huck be able to find freedom—or will civilization catch up to him?

• Should Huck help Jim or send him back to slavery?

• What adventures will they find on the river?

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Background

Mark Twain, the pen name of Samuel Clemens, is one of the United States’ best-known authors.

In novels such as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain vividly depicts the lives and dialects of southern people from long ago.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Background

Twain also uses humor and satire both to entertain and to comment on society.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Background

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn takes place in the years before the Civil War.

Stealing a hunted slave was seen as a great crime—and morally wrong.

In the South at that time, a slave was considered property.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Background

When Twain wrote the novel, in the 1880s, the Civil War had been fought and the slaves had been freed.

However, conditions for African Americans were still very difficult in many parts of the United States.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Background

When Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published, critics hated the novel, accusing it of “coarse fun” and “gutter realism.”

Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, wrote “If Mr. Clemens cannot think of something better to tell our pure-minded lads and lasses, he had best stop writing for them.”

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Background

Twain welcomed the controversy, however, hoping that it would bring more sales.

The book sold fifty thousand copies in the first few months.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Background

Today, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remains controversial.

Although it’s accepted as a classic of American literature, some critics still accuse it of being racist, and its use in schools has been challenged.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Background

Twain does use terms now considered racist.

However, he creates a powerful argument against slavery as well.

Also, in a way perhaps surprising for the time, he allows Jim to speak for himself, revealing truths that even Twain may have found uncomfortable.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Discussion Starters

Discuss (1)• What other stories are based on a great journey

or adventure across a great ocean or land?• How do characters react to events on such a

journey? How does the natural world play a part in these stories?

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Discussion Starters

Discuss (2)Many books that were written in the past contain ideas about race, gender, or class that we now view as outdated or offensive.• How can we approach these books?• What can we learn from them?• Do you think there are some audiences for which they would be inappropriate? Why?