November 5, 2012
B Hour
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Genre: Fiction, Adventure Novel
Historical Context: First published in England in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Naturalism (c.1865-1900) A literary movement that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had unavoidable force in shaping human character.
Protagonist: Huckleberry Finn was young boy in the late nineteenth century coming of age. He viewed is surroundings practically and logically without judgments. His socially simple-minded self gives the novel a satirical humor.
Antagonist: The rules and laws of Society in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn makes Huck think it’s ways of life are the right way and when he doesn’t follow them he is doing wrong. By doing so Huck declares himself a traitor and villain, and says if this is wrong then I will go to hell for it because I think it is right. Huck follows his conscience and what he thinks is right by lying, cheating, and stealing throughout the novel.
Plot Summary: Huck Finn has been adopted by the Widow Douglas, who lives with her sister, Miss Watson. Both of the women try to “sivilize” him by sending him to church and school and teaching him cleanliness and manners. Huck’s drunken father Pap returns to town demanding Huck’s money. Judge Thatcher and the Widow try to get legal custody of Huck. Pap kidnaps Huck and keeps him in a cabin across the Mississippi River form St. Petersburg, Missouri.
When Pap leaves the cabin he locks Huck in and beats him when he returns drunk. Huck escapes Pap and the cabin by faking his own death. He hides on Jackson’s Island in the middle of the Mississippi River. Huck runs into Jim, Miss Watson’s slave in the woods and they stay together. Huck and Jim find a raft and house floating down the river. A dead body is in the house but Jim refuses to let Huck see the man’s face. They start downriver in the raft and run into con