Chapter I-IV1. Tom Sawyer tells Huck that he may join his band of robbers if her becomes “respectable.” Why does Tom think

Huck is not respectable?

2. Looking down upon the village at night, Huck sees “three or four lights twinkling, where there was sick folks, maybe….” What does Huck’s reference to “sick folks” suggest to you about the way his mind works?

3. What are your first impressions of Jim?

4. Most of Tom Sawyer’s ideas come from pirate books, robber books, and other highly romantic literature. What does the conversation between Tom and Ben Rogers tell us about Tom’s attitude toward the authority of other people’s ideas?

5. What would you say is Huck’s attitude toward the authority of other people’s ideas? List two examples to support your answer.

6. Tom Sawyer is fond of playing boyish pranks on adults.a. What trick does Tom want to play on Jim?

b. What trick does Tom actually play on Jim?

c. How does Huck seem to feel about these practical jokes of Tom?

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7. Like most of the people in the novel, Huck and Jim believe in superstition, or the practice of magic to ward off evil and bring good luck.

a. What two accidents does Huck interpret superstitiously?

b. What does Huck believe will be the outcome of these accidents?

c. What event do these two accidents foreshadow in the story?

8. Huck habitually refers to a black person by using the insulting racial slur, nigger.a. What evidence do we have in the Notice and Explanatory that this is Huck’s term and not the author’s?

b. Why does the author have his narrator, Huck, use the word nigger?

9. Huck describes Miss Watson as “a tolerable slim old maid, with goggles on…” Why is the word goggles more comical than glasses or spectacles? What does it reveal about Huck as a character?

10. Despite Huck’s improper English, his language is capable of subtle and complex effects. “The stars were shining, and the leaves rustled in the woods ever so mournful; and I heard an owl, away off, who-whooing about somebody that was dead, and a whippowill and a dog crying about somebody that was going to die; and the wind was trying to whisper something to me, and I couldn’t make out what it was, and so it made the cold shivers run over me” (Chapter I).

a. What three physical senses are evoked in this sentence?

b. What does the sentence show you about Huck?

11. Irony accounts for some of the humorous touches in these early chapters.a. When Huck wants to smoke, the widow forbids him, saying that it is a mean and unclean practice. Huck

says, “And she took snuff, too; of course that was all right, because she done it herself.” What does Huck mean by his comment?

b. How do you think Huck feels about the glaring inconsistency between the gang’s oath and Tom Sawyer paying Tommy Barnes five cents to keep quiet? Why?

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Chapter V-XI12. What change in Huck most upsets and angers pap?

13. What facts do we learn about the rest of Huck’s family?

14. How does the new judge try to reform pap? What success does he have?

15. Why does pap lock Huck in the cabin? What time of year is it? Why is the season important for the action of the story?

16. A father usually serves as a model for his son.a. What sort of father is pap?

b. Does Huck seem to accept or reject his father as a model for himself? Why do think so?

17. Pap’s drunken speech combines outrageous lies with some revealing truths.a. Mention several obvious lies in pap’s speech.

b. What signs of self-pity do you find in pap?

c. Which traits of the free Negro from Ohio does pap single out to attack?

d. Recall pap’s reaction to the change in Huck; also consider the contrast between pap and the free Negro from Ohio. What truths about “white superiority” and racial hatred do you think Mark Twain is suggesting through pap?

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18. While Huck is setting the stage for his own pretended murder, he wishes that Tom Sawyer could be there to “throw in the fancy touches.” How does Huck’s make-believe differ from that of Tom?

19. Record three similes from Chapter VII. How does each simile help you to visualize the thing being described? Why is it natural for Huck to use the comparisons that occur in these similes?

a.

b.

c.

20. What do the following comments suggest to you about Huck’s response to the Mississippi River?a. “…Down by the village was the river, a whole mile broad, and awful still and grand.”

b. “The river looked miles and miles across.”

c. “The sky looks ever so deep when you lay on your back in the moonshine; I never knowed it before. And how far a body can hear on the water such nights!”

21. How are Huck and Jim an unlikely team? Is it an equal partnership? How do you know?

22. How does the river help Jim and Huck survive? What does this add to the significance of the river in the story?

23. What superstitious practice involving bread do the townspeople in the ferryboat follow? In an ironic and amusing sense, how does this superstitious practice seem to succeed?

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24. Jim proves to be a living encyclopedia of superstitious lore. Mention two of his predictions that actually come true. What does this reveal about Jim’s character?

25. Explain the significance of the rattlesnake scene in our understanding of Huck, Jim, and their relationship.a. Huck

b. Jim

c. Relationship

26. How does Huck use lying as a survival technique? Is it successful?

27. In the beginning of Chapter IX, Huck reveals how responsive he is to the beauty of the natural world about him. Reread his description of the summer storm.

a. What is unusual about Huck’s reaction to the storm?

b. Mention a few specific details that Huck provides to help you see the scene graphically.

c. Huck makes you hear the storm too. What four words does he choose to suggest the actual sounds of the thunder?

d. What simile does Huck employ to convey even more vividly the sound of the thunder?

28. Reread what Jim says to Huck as they sit eating dinner in their cavern and watching the storm.a. What two names does Jim call Huck?

b. Compare Jim’s speech to Huck with the way pap normally speaks to Huck.

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29. Huck’s visit to Mrs. Loftus confirms the fact that the townspeople think he is dead. Yet when Huck returns to warn Jim, he says, “They’re after us!” How do explain Huck’s use of the word us?

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Chapter XII-XVI30. Explain the difference between Huck’s reaction to the wreck and Jim’s. What accounts for the difference?

31. Jim and Huck both understand that, as they drift down the river, they are traveling deeper into the slave states of the South each day. What plans do they make to get them out of this trouble?

32. When the two men hunting runaway slaves appear, Huck doesn’t tell on Jim. How does Huck console himself for his failure to turn him in? What dramatic irony is at play here?

33. To what do Huck and Jim attribute all their bad luck? What final stroke of bad luck overtakes Huck and Jim on their raft at night? What happens to Huck?

34. Compare the way Tom Sawyer treated little Tommy Barnes to the way Bill and Jake deal with Jim Turner for the same offense.

35. What item does Huck pick up from the captain’s comments and weave into his lie? How does the trick work?

36. How does Huck make a game out of the fog incident? What does this reveal about Huck? About Jim?

37. What amusing solution do Huck and Jim come up with to solve the moral problem of stealing food?

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38. What do you think Jim is trying to tell Huck about parents and children in his tirade against King Solomon?

39. Huck uses logic to prove to Jim that it is “natural and right” for a Frenchman to talk a different language. When Jim hoists Huck on his own logic, how does Huck avoid admitting to himself that Jim has beaten him in the argument?

40. Reread the passage in which Huck wrestles with his “conscience” over the moral issue of helping Jim to escape in Chapter XVI.

a. What is the voice of Huck’s “conscience”?

b. How does Huck feel about what Jim says he will do when he becomes free?

c. Comment on the irony in the following statement by Huck: “Here was this nigger, which I had as good as helped to run away, coming right out flat-footed and saying he would steal his children – children that belonged to a man I didn’t even know; a man that hadn’t ever done me no harm.”

d. What does Jim say that makes Huck unable to betray his friend?

e. What irony do you see in Huck’s attitude when he is “feeling bad and low, because I knowed very well I had done wrong…”

41. As you follow Huck and Jim on their journey down the river, you may begin to realize that the river itself is a richly complex symbol.

a. How does the river serve as a natural force that helps Huck and Jim?

b. The river is also a source of dangers. Mention several of these dangers that you have seen in Chapters XII – XVI

c. What aspect of nature do you think the Mississippi River symbolizes in the novel?

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Chapters XVII-XVIII42. What are your first impressions of Buck Grangerford? How does he seem to feel about his unexpected visitor?

43. According to Huck, what kind of man is Colonel Grangerford? Do you agree?

44. Who are the Sheperdsons? Why do the Sheperdsons and the Grangerfords not get along?

45. What do you think is the real reason Harney spared Buck’s life?

46. Of all the deaths in the feud, which one distresses Huck the most? Why?

47. How do Huck and Jim feel about being back on the raft and out in the middle of the Mississippi again? Find evidence in the text.

48. Huck is far from home, without Jim and doesn’t need to hide his identity. Why do you think he tells the Grangerfords his name is George Jackson?

49. With the Grangerfords gathered around him, Huck launches into another one of his autobiographical lies.a. What is the dominant theme of Huck’s story?

b. In what ways does his lie express the truth about himself?

c. How do the Grangerfords respond to Huck’s story?

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50. The Grangerfords treat the feud as if it were a harmless game; they do not even regard the resulting deaths seriously. What evidence of this casual attitude toward death can you find?

51. In Chapter XVII Huck indirectly reveals his age. About how old is he? How do you know? Does he act his age?

52. Huck’s account of the Grangerford house is richly ironic.a. What is Huck’s opinion of the Grangerford home?

b. Huck’s judgment of the house is naïve. Because Huck’s words produce an effect that is the opposite of what he intends, the result is irony. What is the ironic effect of each of the following details:

i. The performance of the pendulum clock on the mantel piece

ii. The appearance of the artificial fruit

iii. The “beautiful” oilcloth that covers the table

iv. The kinds of pictures on the walls.

v. Huck’s description of the piano.

53. How does Huck’s language contribute to the humor and irony in the description of Emmeline’s cheerless pictures?

54. What is ironic about the topic of the sermon?

55. Mark Twain stresses the attractive qualities of the Grangerfords. How does he do this? How does it add to the irony of their involvement in the feud?

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Chapters XIX-XXIII56. Explain the lies of the duke and king. Why do they tell these stories? Does Huck believe them? Does Jim?

57. What familiar elements to you recognize in Huck’s autobiographical lie to the duke and king.

58. Review the six autobiographical lies Huck has told so far in the story. What dinner truth about Huck does this aspect of his lies suggest?1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

59. Chapter XIX opens with another description of nature, this time in a calm and tranquil mood. Reread the passage.

a. Huck’s descriptive passage is organized in terms of a period of time. What is this period of time?

b. The second half of the passage describes the river at night. How does Huck use lights to help us imagine and organize the scene?

c. Huck says, “It’s lovely to live on a raft.” Does this passage help make such a life attractive? How?

d. Mention two touches that help keep the passage from becoming sentimental

e. How does point out the more sordid or dangerous aspects of reality?

60. Like Emmeline Grangerford’s poetry, the duke’s mangled version of Hamlet’s soliloquy is sheer comedy. What does Huck think of the duke’s acting in his delivery of the speech? What is your impression?

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61. Huck’s perception of the circus, like his judgment of the Grangerford household, reveals his lack of sophistication.

a. What are some details he reports naively? In each case, what do you understand that Huck fails to understand?

b. What does Huck fail to realize about the joke the bareback rider, disguised as a drunk, played on the ringmaster?

c. Huck says, “Wherever I run across it, it can have all of my custom every time.” What is amusing about Huck’s remark that the circus can have his patronage?

62. In Chapters XX-XXIII, Mark Twain broadens the range of social criticism in his novel. Explain the implication of the following:

a. Pokeville camp-meeting

b. Small town in Arkansas

c. Colonel Sherburn’s scornful speech

d. Huck’s talk with Jim about kings

63. If the river chiefly symbolizes the benevolent life force of nature, what does the land seem to symbolize in the story?

64. Throughout the story, Huck repeatedly leaves the peace and security of the river to risk the problems and dangers of the land. What symbolic truth might Huck’s movement between water and land suggest?

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Chapters XXIV-XXIX65. Explain how the king is not only an utter scoundrel, but also an impressively bold and nimble liar.

66. Why does Huck resolve to steal the gold back from the king? Where does he hide it?

67. Much of the king’s success as a confidence man depends on the fact that his victims are sentimental and foolish enough to be taken in by him.

a. What evidence of sentimentalism do you find among the townsfolk in Chapter XXV?

b. How does the response of Mary Jane and the crowd to the doctor’s warning give evidence of their foolishness?

c. The king, in his cynical wisdom, says to the duke, “’Hain’t we got all the fools intown on our side? And ain’t that a big enough majority in any town?’” Does this observation seem to be true of most of the townspeople you have seen so far in the novel? Why?

68. Throughout the Wilks episode, Huck comments with disapproval and even disgust on the king’s lies and poses. Yet you have seen that Huck is an inveterate liar himself, and that he often pretends to be somebody else. Is Huck justified in his disapproval? What difference do you see – if any – between Huck’s lies and disguises and those of the king?

69. How does Huck feel about telling Mary Jane the truth? Do you find anything amusing about Huck’s point of view here?

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70. When Huck tells the crowd about life in England, Levi Bell, the lawyer, interrupts with a comment on Huck’s talents as a liar. What is ironic about the lawyer’s remark?

71. In the beginning of Chapter XXV, how does Huck’s language makes us view the crowd of townspeople unfavorably?

72. Huck’s description of the funeral of Peter Wilks sparkles with comic touches.a. At the sound of the melodeon playing, Huck comments that “Peter was the only one that had a good

thing, according to my notion.” Explain.

b. Note Huck’s choice of words to describe the undertaker.i. What striking adjectives does Huck use?

ii. What verb does Huck use most often to suggest the undertaker’s way of walking?

73. Huck says admiringly of Mary Jane that “she had more sand in her than any girl I ever see; in my opinion she was just full of sand.” What does Huck mean by sand.

74. Greed proves to be the downfall of the king and the duke. Explain how this is true. Mention at least one other instance in the story when greed caused one or more characters to lose everything.

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Chapters XXX-XXXI75. How did the gold save the duke and the king?

76. Why does neither the duke nor the king suspect Huck of having stolen the gold?

77. Alone on the raft, Huck suffers agonies of guilt and misery.a. Of what does Huck feel guilty?

b. What letter does he think he should write?

c. What does he do with the letter?

d. What does Huck finally resolve to do about Jim?

e. What does this say about Huck as a person?

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78. Huck says, “You can’t pray a lie – I found that out.” What is the lie that keeps Huck from praying?

79. After writing the letter to Miss Watson, Huck is racked with indecision. “I was a-trembling… because I’d got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it.” What do you think these two things are?

80. Why does Huck tear up the letter he has written?

81. As a result of this moral crisis in his life, does Huck realize that the institution of slavery is wrong? Give evidence to support your answer.

82. Many readers of Huckleberry Finn regard Huck’s struggle with his conscience in Chapter XXXI as the climax of the novel. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

83. What earlier episode, in which Huck experiences a similar moral conflict regarding Jim, foreshadows this final struggle?

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Chapters XXXIII-XXXIX84. What are your first impressions of Aunt Sally? Use evidence from the story to support your answer.

85. Throughout the novel, Huck refers admiringly to Tom Sawyer’s “style.” What does he mean?

86. What kind of man is Uncle Silas? How do you know?

87. Why would Huck be especially glad to be taken for Tom Sawyer?

88. How is Huck’s relationship with Tom at the end of the novel similar to that in the early chapters? How is it different?

89. In what respects is Jim back where he was at the beginning of the novel?

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90. In this final episode of the novel, Tom Sawyer acts out the most elaborate of his boyish games of make-believe.a. In Tom’s fantasy, what sort of prisoner is Jim? How is it different than Jim’s reality?

b. How does Huck react to each new move in Tom’s game of romantic rescue?

c. How does Jim react to each new move in Tom’s game?

d. Why do you think Jim submits to Tom’s extravagant demands as he does?

91. Mark Twain took pains to depict Huck and Aunt Sally as kind, gentle, and compassionate characters. Yet when Huck makes up a steamboat accident for Aunt Sally, the following dialog ensues:

“Good gracious! Anybody hurt?”“No’m. Killed a nigger.”“Well, it’s luck; because sometimes people do get hurt.”

Why do you think Twain had Huck and Aunt Sally make these callous comments?

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Chapters XL-XLII and Chapter the Last92. What does Tom reveal to Aunt Sally regarding Jim? If Huck had known this all along, do you think he would have

gone along with Tom’s long, complicated rescue plan? Use the story to explain your answer.

93. As comical and entertaining as the gossipy neighbors who appear in Chapter XLI may be, Mark Twain never lets you forget what lurks just below the surface of their amusing dialogue. What does their dialogue suggest underneath the surface?

94. The doctor puts in a good word for Jim, recounting how Jim helped nurse Tom and never tried to escape. a. What reward do the men agree to give Jim?

b. What is ironic about this reward?

c. How does Huck feel about the doctor’s words?

95. After he is released, what does Jim tell Huck about his pap? Do you agree with Jim’s decision? Why or why not?

96. No other relationship in the novel affects Huck as profoundly as his friendship with Jim.a. Would you argue that Jim is more of a brother or a father to Huck? Why?

b. Almost every person in the novel who meets Huck wants to change him in some way. Yet only Jim actually causes significant change in Huck. How would you explain this?

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97. Overall, does the novel portray Jim and Huck as equals? Remember that one is a grown man the other a young boy. In what ways are Jim and Huck on the same level, and in what ways are they not?

98. At the end of a bildungsroman, we expect the main character to have grown or changed in some significant way. In what ways has Huck grown or changed as a result of his experiences?

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99. Now that you have read the whole book, who is the most foolish character? Why?

100. Does anything seem distinctively "American" about this book? (Besides the slavery issue, of course.) Does it seem to draw from or help create any mythology about American individualism that you might be familiar with from contemporary debates?

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