Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

by

Mark Twain

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Adventures of Huck Finn makes teaching easy.

Huckleberry Finn Character Analysis

The boy-narrator of the novel, Huck is the son of a vicious town drunk who has been adopted into normal society by the Widow Douglass after the events of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In his love for freedom, Huck rebels both against his father Pap’s debauchery and its seeming opposite, a sternly straight-laced but hypocritical society. Wise beyond his years, cleverly practical but nonetheless supremely humane, Huck defies societal conventions by befriending the black slave Jim while travelling with him on their raft and whom, as Huck matures, he comes to see as his equal. Huck’s maturation is impeded, though, by his respectable and bright but boyishly self-indulgent friend, Tom Sawyer.

Huckleberry Finn Quotes in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn quotes below are all either spoken by Huckleberry Finn or refer to Huckleberry Finn. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

You don’t know about me, without you have read a book by the name of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” but that ain’t no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth.

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker), Tom Sawyer
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 1
Explanation and Analysis:

The Widow Douglas, she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn’t stand it no longer, I lit out.

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker), The Widow Douglas and Miss Watson
Page Number: 1
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

I went and told the Widow about it, and she said the thing a body could get by praying for it was “spiritual gifts.” This was too much for me, but she told me what she means—I must help others, and do everything I could for other people, and look out for them all the time, and never think about myself…but I couldn’t see no advantage about it—except for the other people—so at last I reckoned I wouldn’t worry about it any more, but just let it go.

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker), The Widow Douglas and Miss Watson
Page Number: 8
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

“And looky here—you drop that school, you hear? I’ll learn people to bring up a boy to put on airs over his own father and let on to be better’n what he is.”

Related Characters: Pap (speaker), Huckleberry Finn
Page Number: 15
Explanation and Analysis:

The judge he felt kind of sore. He said he reckoned a body could reform the ole man [Pap] with a shot-gun maybe, but he didn’t know no other way.

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker), Pap, The new judge
Page Number: 17
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

“People will call me a low down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum—but that don’t make no difference. I ain’t agoing to tell, and I ain’t agoing back there anyways.”

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker), Jim
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 32
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

I begun to think how dreadful it was, even for murderers, to be in such a fix. I says to myself, there ain’t no telling but I might come to be a murderer myself, yet, and then how would I like it?

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker)
Related Symbols: The Mississippi River
Page Number: 54
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

Well, he [Jim] was right; he was most always right; he had an uncommon level head, for a nigger.

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker), Jim
Page Number: 57
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

“My heart wuz mos’ broke bekase you wuz los’, en I didn’t k’yer no mo’ what become er me en de raf’. En when I wake up en fine you back agin’, all safe en soun’, de tears come en I could a got down on my knees en kiss’ yo’ foot I’s so thankful. En all you wuz thinkin ‘bout wuz how you could make a fool uv ole Jim wid a lie.”

Related Characters: Jim (speaker), Huckleberry Finn
Related Symbols: The Raft
Page Number: 65
Explanation and Analysis:

It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger—but I done it, and I warn’t ever sorry for it afterwards, neither.

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker), Jim
Page Number: 65
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

Jim said it made him all over trembly and feverish to be so close to freedom. Well, I can tell you it made me all over trembly and feverish, too, to hear him, because I begun to get it through my head that he was most free—and who was to blame for it? Why, me.

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker), Jim
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 66
Explanation and Analysis:

So I reckoned I wouldn’t bother no more about [right and wrong], but after this always do whichever comes handiest at the time.

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker)
Page Number: 69
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18 Quotes

“Did you want to kill [the Shepherdson], Buck?”
“Well, I bet I did.”
“What did he do to you?”
“Him? He never done nothing to me.”
“Well, then, what did you want to kill him for?”
“Why nothing—only it’s on account of the feud.”

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker), The Grangerfords and Shepherdsons (speaker)
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 81
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19 Quotes

For what you want, above all things, on a raft, is for everybody to be satisfied, and feel right and kind towards others.

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker)
Related Symbols: The Raft
Page Number: 94
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 23 Quotes

I do believe [Jim] cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their’n. It don’t seem natural, but I reckon it’s so.

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker), Jim
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 117
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 31 Quotes

“All right, then, I’ll go to hell”—and [I] tore [my note to Miss Watson] up.

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker)
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 162
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 33 Quotes

I’m bound to say Tom Sawyer fell, considerable, in my estimation. Only I couldn’t believe it. Tom Sawyer a nigger stealer!

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker), Tom Sawyer
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 171
Explanation and Analysis:

I was sorry for them poor pitiful rascals, it seems like I couldn’t ever feel any hardness against them any more in the world. It was a dreadful thing to see. Human beings can be awful cruel to one another.

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker), The duke and king
Page Number: 174
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 43 Quotes

But I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me and I can’t stand it. I been there before.

Related Characters: Huckleberry Finn (speaker), Sally and Silas Phelps
Page Number: 220
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Adventures of Huck Finn LitChart as a printable PDF.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn PDF

Huckleberry Finn Character Timeline in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The timeline below shows where the character Huckleberry Finn appears in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck introduces himself as a character from Mark Twain’s earlier novel, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
After Huck returned to the Widow Douglas, she wept, dressed Huck in new clothes that made him... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
The Widow Douglas forbade Huck from smoking in the house as well. Huck points out that the Widow condones useless... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Meanwhile, the Widow Douglas’s sister, Miss Watson, teaches Huck how to spell, critiques his posture, and tells him about Heaven and Hell. Wanting a... (full context)
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
After Huck’s talk with Miss Watson, Huck goes up to his bedroom. He sits, tries to think... (full context)
Chapter 2
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
As Huck and Tom Sawyer sneak away from the Widow Douglas’s house, Huck trips and makes a... (full context)
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Despite Huck’s protests, Tom takes some candles from the Widow Douglas’s kitchen, leaving five cents in payment,... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Tom and Huck meet up with some other boys, and, after a short excursion, end up in a... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
...but can’t do it on Sunday because that would be wicked. The Gang disperses, and Huck returns home. (full context)
Chapter 3
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
After Huck returns home, Miss Watson scolds him for having dirtied his clothes. The Widow Douglas does... (full context)
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Huck recounts how he sat down, one time, in the back of the woods and thought... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
Huck thinks about his father Pap, who hadn’t been seen for more than a year, which... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
Huck turns to thinking about Tom Sawyer’s Gang. They played robber for about a month, before... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
One time, Huck goes on to recount, Tom summoned the Gang and told them about a large group... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
After calling Huck a “numskull” for thinking that the Sunday school picnic was just that, Tom explains to... (full context)
Chapter 4
Growing Up Theme Icon
Three or four months pass since the Gang’s raid on the Sunday school. Huck has been going to school and learning reading, writing, and arithmetic, though he “don’t take... (full context)
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
One morning, Huck overturns a saltcellar at breakfast. To ward off bad luck, he reaches for the spilt... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Huck nervously makes his way to Judge Thatcher’s house. The judge tells Huck that the six... (full context)
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Huck goes on to tell how Jim has a hairball, taken from the belly of an... (full context)
Chapter 5
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck is scared at first to see the old, greasy, pale Pap sitting in his room... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Pap tells Huck that he hears that Huck is rich now, but Huck says that he doesn’t have... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
The next day, Pap is drunk and tries to coerce Judge Thatcher into giving him Huck’s fortune, but the Judge refuses. Afterward, Judge Thatcher and the Widow go to a court... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Pap is pleased with the court’s custody ruling. He threatens to beat Huck “black and blue” unless Huck raises money for him. Huck borrows three dollars from Judge... (full context)
Chapter 6
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Pap continues to harass Judge Thatcher for Huck’s money, and he harasses Huck for not stopping school. Huck goes to school nevertheless, with... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
...the Widow’s estate too much, the Widow reprimands him. Pap vows to show her who Huck’s boss is, so one day he kidnaps Huck and takes him to an isolated log... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Huck comes to like the “lazy and jolly” life he leads with Pap, the smoking and... (full context)
Freedom Theme Icon
However, Pap eventually begins to beat Huck so often and so severely that Huck, covered with welts, can no longer stand the... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
...in a bad mood when he comes in. He rants that his lawsuit to get Huck’s money is proceeding too slowly, and that it looks as though the Widow and Judge... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
After Huck loads the skiff, he and Pap sit down to dinner, during which Pap becomes drunk.... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
...up rolling around in the dirt. After supper, Pap gets his jug of whiskey, and Huck predicts that he will be very drunk by the end of the night, at which... (full context)
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
After some time passes, Pap jumps up “looking wild,” and he goes after Huck with a knife, calling him the Angel of Death. Huck tells Pap that he’s not... (full context)
Chapter 7
Freedom Theme Icon
Pap wakes Huck, who fell asleep in the night, and asks him what he’s doing with the gun.... (full context)
Freedom Theme Icon
After Huck returns to shore, Pap berates him for taking so long with the fish. Huck lies... (full context)
Freedom Theme Icon
Pap and Huck collect nine logs from the river to sell and then eat dinner. Pap is content... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck takes Pap’s gun into the nearby woods, kills a hog, and takes the hog back... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
As Huck waits for the moon to come out so that he can travel by its light,... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck hears a sound. It is Pap paddling back to the cabin. Huck loses no time... (full context)
Chapter 8
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck wakes and takes in his surroundings, like a couple squirrels, Huck says, that “jabbered at... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Huck thinks that the Widow or parson must have prayed for a loaf of bread to... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck hides behind a long near the island’s shore to observe the ferry as it passes.... (full context)
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck makes a tent, catches a catfish to eat, and puts in more fishing lines to... (full context)
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Suddenly, Huck hears the sound of horses and human voices. He shoves out in his canoe and... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck learns that Jim came to Jackson’s Island the night after Huck was allegedly killed, and... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
If it wasn’t Huck killed in the cabin, Jim asks Huck, who was killed? Huck then explains his escape... (full context)
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Some young birds fly by Jim and Huck. Jim says that this is a sign that it is going to rain, for chickens... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck asks if there are any good-luck signs. Jim says there are very few, and that... (full context)
Chapter 9
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
In the morning, Huck wants to find the middle of the island, so he and Jim set out and... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Outside, it begins to rain fiercely. Huck is very content, however, and Jim points out that Huck wouldn’t be in the cavern... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
One night a two-story cabin floats by. Though Huck and Jim board the cabin through a window, it is too dark to see anything,... (full context)
Chapter 10
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Huck wonders who shot the dead man he and Jim discovered, and why, but Jim doesn’t... (full context)
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
In response, Huck reminds Jim of how, a few days earlier, Huck had fetched a snakeskin with his... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
The next morning, bored, Huck wants to go exploring, which Jim thinks is a good idea, but he reminds Huck... (full context)
Chapter 11
Freedom Theme Icon
Judith answers the door and asks Huck his name and where’s he’s from. Huck lies to the woman, giving a girl’s name.... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Judith then tells Huck how hard times are for her and her family, how poor they are and how... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Judith gives Huck a snack and some advice. She tells him to remember his name next time, that... (full context)
Chapter 12
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck and Jim drift away from Jackson’s Island, undiscovered by the men looking for them. At... (full context)
Freedom Theme Icon
At nights, Huck goes into town to buy provisions and supplies. In the mornings, he slips into cornfields... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
One night during a storm, Huck and Jim see a wrecked steamboat. Huck wants to board it and have an “adventure,”... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Once onboard the steamboat, Huck and Jim realize that they’re not alone. They hear voices, one of a man pleading... (full context)
Chapter 13
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Terrified, Huck and Jim search for the skiff the men used to reach the wreck, at long... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck realizes it must be dreadful to be in the position the robber-murderers are in, trapped... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
In the darkness, Huck and Jim spot their unmanned raft and paddle towards it. Upon reaching it, Jim boards,... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck feels good about going to so much trouble to save the gang in the steamboat.... (full context)
Chapter 14
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
The next day, Huck and Jim enjoy the things they found in the robbers’ skiff, and Huck describes the... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Huck reads to Jim about kings and noblemen. Huck explains that kings get whatever they want... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck tells Jim about Louis XVI and his young son, who was jailed after his father’s... (full context)
Chapter 15
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck and Jim judge that they are three days out of Cairo, near the Ohio River.... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Huck asks Jim if he fell asleep and why Jim didn’t think to wake him. Jim... (full context)
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Huck requests that Jim tell him all about his dream, which Jim proceeds to do. Jim... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Huck then asks what the leaves and rubbish on the raft mean, along with its broken... (full context)
Chapter 16
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck and Jim continue their journey to Cairo, and, as they approach it, Jim trembles and... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Restless and fidgety like Huck, Jim talks about what he will do when he is free, how he will work... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Jim spots in the distance what he thinks is Cairo. Huck volunteers to paddle over and see if it is, with the intent of turning Jim... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck feels bad and low when he returns to the raft, but reasons that he would... (full context)
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Huck and Jim resume their journey, passing two towns, only to find out that neither are... (full context)
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Huck and Jim learn they have reached the muddy Missouri River, and figure that Cairo is... (full context)
Chapter 17
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
...of a window into the darkness, commands the dogs to hush and asks, “Who’s there?” Huck says that he’s George Jackson, only a boy. The man asks if Huck knows the... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
The Grangerfords are welcoming and friendly and provide Huck with a meal, clothes, and a place to stay. The boy who lends Huck clothes,... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Huck admires the Grangerford’s home, many of the features of which, like the brass doorknob and... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
...and color. Her masterpiece is of a woman preparing to jump from a bridge, but Huck thinks the woman looks too “spidery.” Emmeline also wrote poetry about the deaths of men,... (full context)
Chapter 18
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Huck regards Mr. Grangerford, who is the least frivolous of men, as being a gentleman, well-bred,... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Huck observes that many slaves serve the Grangerford family, each Grangerford being tended to by one... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Huck learns that there is another aristocratic family living nearby: the Shepherdsons, as proud and grand... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Huck asks Buck why he wanted to kill Harney. Buck says he doesn’t have a reason,... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Huck goes to church with the Grangerfords and listens to a sermon about brotherly love, which... (full context)
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
After retrieving Miss Sophia’s Testament, Huck shakes it and out falls a note, on which is written: “Half-past two.” Huck gives... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck heads down to the river, only to notice that the slave tending to him, Jack,... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
The next day, Huck notices he is alone in the Grangerford’s house. He goes outside, where Jack tells him... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
...at Buck and the other Grangerford boy. Wounded, the two boys jump into the river. Huck feels so sick he almost falls out of his tree. He regrets, he says, ever... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck goes to where Jim is hiding. Jim is so glad to see Huck that he... (full context)
Chapter 19
Freedom Theme Icon
One morning, while canoeing through a creek in search of berries, Huck encounters two men running, pleading with Huck to let them on his canoe, begging for... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
After meeting up with the two men, Huck learns that the older one got into trouble for selling “an article to take tartar... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
...having once been “so high.” He claims to have been born the Duke of Bridgewater. Huck and Jim pity the man after he begins to cry, and the duke tells the... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
...ease. The king asks for the duke’s hand, and the duke gives it to him. Huck and Jim immediately feel more comfortable after the unfriendliness on the raft dissipates; for, as... (full context)
Chapter 20
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
The duke and king ask Huck and Jim if Jim is a runaway slave. Huck says that Jim’s not and tells... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
With Jim still on the raft and the duke at the printing office, Huck and the king go to the meeting in the woods and find thousands of people... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
...He also printed a wanted poster describing Jim, so that he and the king and Huck and Jim can travel by day; for if anyone were to stop them concerning Jim,... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
That night, as Huck comes up to replace Jim as the lookout, Jim asks Huck if he expects them... (full context)
Chapter 21
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
...a small town, where the duke posts a bill advertising his and the king’s performance. Huck notices that the town is dilapidated: the houses aren’t painted, weeds grow in the gardens,... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
By noon, many townspeople are drinking. Huck witnesses three fights. One townsperson cries out that “old Boggs” is riding into town, drunk,... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
...no avail. A man runs to fetch Boggs’ daughter. About five or ten minutes later, Huck, having walked down the street, sees Boggs, no longer on his horse, nervous-looking. Sherburn calls... (full context)
Chapter 22
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Huck goes to the circus, which he thinks splendid. A drunk man approaches the ringmaster of... (full context)
Chapter 23
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
...audience before. As they eat later that night, the duke and king tell Jim and Huck to float the boat two miles below town and to hide it. On the third... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Back at the raft, Huck and the duke meet up with Jim and the king, who didn’t even go to... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Huck knows that the duke and king are really just con men, but he doesn’t think... (full context)
Chapter 24
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
...black clothes that make him look “swell and starchy,” rafts to a nearby town with Huck. As they drift in, the two run across a young country boy. The king says... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
After dropping the boy off, the king tells Huck to fetch the duke. Huck knows what the king is up to (conning the Wilks... (full context)
Chapter 25
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
...and William Wilks, are received by Peter Wilks’s family, including his niece Mary Jane, whom Huck thinks is very beautiful. When the duke and king approach Peter’s coffin, all the people... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
The duke and king, along with Huck, go to the cellar and find the hidden bag full of gold, and, even though... (full context)
Chapter 26
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
The duke and king and Huck are all given rooms in the Wilks home to sleep in. Later that night, the... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
One of the Wilks girls, Joanna, whom Huck calls “the hare-lip” because she is afflicted with that condition, asks Huck about England. Huck... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Joanna accuses Huck of telling her lies. Huck denies the accusation, swearing on a dictionary that he has... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck searches the king’s room for the money but doesn’t find it. Just then the duke... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
...up Mary Jane’s belongings might find the gold and steal some of it. Almost discovering Huck, the king takes the money from behind the curtain and hides it in a straw... (full context)
Chapter 27
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Huck tries to take the money outside. He makes it as far as the parlor, where... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck creeps back up to his room, and night turns to day. In the afternoon, Peter... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
...off some of his usual rubbage” by giving another speech, the undertaker seals the coffin. Huck can’t be sure whether the bag of gold is still in there or if somebody... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
...separates a mother from her children. The Wilks girls are distraught at this, and, if Huck hadn’t known that “the sale was of no account” and that the family of slaves... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Later, the duke and king also question Huck about whether he’s been in their room. Huck lies and says that he hasn’t, but... (full context)
Chapter 28
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Huck comes upon Mary Jane, who is packing for her trip to England. She is also... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
Huck reveals that the duke and king are not Mary Jane’s uncles but rather a couple... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck tells Mary Jane to go away, because he is afraid that she will express in... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
After Mary Jane lights out, Huck runs into her sisters. Huck lies that Mary Jane has gone to visit a sick... (full context)
Chapter 29
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
...then tells his story, followed by the old man claiming to be Harvey Wilks, and Huck thinks it’s obvious that the king’s is a liar and the old man a truth-teller.... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
After disinterring Peter’s corpse, the townspeople discover the bag of gold that Huck hid in Peter’s coffin. The man who is holding Huck by the arm to prevent... (full context)
Chapter 30
Freedom Theme Icon
After the duke and king board the raft, the king shakes Huck by the collar and asks if he was trying to give the con men the... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
...thick as thieves again, and literally sleeping in one another’s arms. As the two sleep, Huck tells Jim everything that’s happened. (full context)
Chapter 31
Growing Up Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck, Jim, and the con men drift downriver for four days, at which point the duke... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
...to see if the people there have caught wind of The Royal Nonesuch. At noon, Huck and the duke, who’s been in a sour mood, set out to join the king,... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
As Huck runs to the raft, he shouts with joy to Jim that they are free. But... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Huck considers writing a letter to Tom Sawyer asking him to tell Miss Watson that Jim... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
As Huck makes his way to save Jim, he runs into the duke. Over the course of... (full context)
Chapter 32
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck arrives at the Phelps’ and feels lonesome, because the droning of bugs and quivering of... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Dogs swarm around Huck, but soon a slave comes out and yells at the dogs to scram. The slave... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
The woman who welcomes Huck is called Aunt Sally. She takes Huck inside where she questions him about his trip,... (full context)
Freedom Theme Icon
Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas question Huck, thinking him Tom, about their relatives, and Huck answers their questions with ease. As they’re... (full context)
Chapter 33
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
As Huck walks to town, he sees a wagon coming toward him, riding in which is Tom... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck returns to the Phelps’ too quickly after meeting Tom, but Uncle Silas, whom Huck considers... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
...says that, according to the runaway slave (Jim) and another man, the show is scandalous. Huck, realizing that the show must be the duke and king’s, sneaks out of the house... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
As he and Tom walk back to the farm, Huck feels humble and somehow to blame for the duke and king’s fate, even though he... (full context)
Chapter 34
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
...the fact that a slave (Nat) goes to that hut with human food every day. Huck is impressed with Tom’s reasoning, and thinks that he wouldn’t trade Tom Sawyer’s mind for... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Huck suggests that he and Tom bring up the raft, steal the key to Jim’s hut,... (full context)
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Huck and Tom survey the Phelps’ farm and think of ways to bust Jim out of... (full context)
Religion and Superstition Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Jim greets Huck and Tom by name, which startles Nat. He asks how it is that Jim knows... (full context)
Chapter 35
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
...or a guard-dog, or that Jim were better chained down. He sighs that he and Huck will have to invent difficulties; for he wants the escape to be as grand as... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Tom also proposes that he and Huck make Jim a rope ladder by tearing and tying up their sheets, and that they... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Tom also says that Huck should steal a shirt off the clothesline, so that Jim can use it to keep... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
That morning, Huck steals things to give Jim, as well as a watermelon from the slave’s watermelon patch.... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
Finally, Tom tells Huck that they need to steal tools to dig Jim out of the hut with. Huck... (full context)
Chapter 36
Growing Up Theme Icon
In the night, Huck and Tom begin digging with their knives to rescue Jim, but after a while are... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
The next day, Huck and Tom steal a spoon and candlestick from the house for Jim to use as... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
...Tom says he is having the most fun of his life, and that he and Huck should keep their game up so for as long as possible, and even suggests that... (full context)
Chapter 37
Growing Up Theme Icon
Tom and Huck get what they need to bake the witch-pie. Afterwards, the boys go down to breakfast,... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
...his hat but doesn’t mention it. Tom recognizes that Uncle Silas has helped him and Huck conceal their plan to help Jim by producing the spoon at breakfast, and so he... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Huck and Tom steal another spoon, but pretend that Aunt Sally miscounted how many there were... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
After a lot of trouble and experimentation, Tom and Huck bake the witch-pie, which is basically a crust under which is hidden a ladder. Nat... (full context)
Chapter 38
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
...of his hut; he must carve them into stone. Tom proposes, then, that he and Huck steal a grindstone to carve the inscriptions into, and which can also be used to... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
When they have the grindstone halfway home, Tom and Huck realize that they can’t roll it all the way without help, because it is too... (full context)
Chapter 39
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Jim is agitated by the creatures that Tom and Huck introduce to his hut. He says that there isn’t hardly any room for him, and... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
After all preparations are completed, Tom says that he and Huck need to write an anonymous letter to warn the Phelpses that someone is going to... (full context)
Chapter 40
Growing Up Theme Icon
...Phelps family is troubled and anxious after receiving the anonymous letter Tom wrote. Tom and Huck are sent to bed early, where they get ready to take a lunch they have... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
In the sitting room, Huck is surprised to see fifteen farmers, all with guns. Huck wishes Aunt Sally would get... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Huck hurries to meet Tom inside Jim’s hut to tell him about the farmers. Tom is... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
...considerable pain and bleeding. After some deliberation, Jim says he will not leave Tom’s side. Huck knew that Jim would say that, because he knows that Jim “was white inside,” and,... (full context)
Chapter 41
Growing Up Theme Icon
Huck fetches a nice old doctor, telling him that Tom is his brother and that, while... (full context)
Freedom Theme Icon
...to the raft where Tom is, but the canoe can only carry one person, so Huck is forced to stay behind. He sleeps in a lumber pile that night, and by... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
...must have stolen things from the Phelps house. Soon, Aunt Sally wonders why Tom and Huck weren’t in their room that morning. Huck gets up, thinks about it, and by way... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Aunt Sally grows increasingly worried that “Sid” (i.e., Tom) hasn’t come home yet. Huck volunteers to fetch him, but Aunt Sally tells him he’ll do no such thing. Uncle... (full context)
Chapter 42
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
The next morning, as Huck and the Phelpses sit around the breakfast table, Aunt Sally sees Tom on a mattress... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Tom begins to recover, and comes fully to as Aunt Sally and Huck sit at his bedside. He joyfully recounts to an incredulous Aunt Sally how he and... (full context)
Growing Up Theme Icon
...Polly, his guardian, has come in, much to Aunt Sally’s delight. She reveals Tom and Huck’s true identities, and tells the disgruntled Phelpses all about Huck. She also confirms that Miss... (full context)
Chapter 43
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Growing Up Theme Icon
When Huck catches Tom in private, he asks Tom what his plan was if they had successfully... (full context)
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
...gives Jim forty dollars for being such a patient prisoner, such that Jim can remind Huck that he predicted he would be rich, and now he is. (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Tom suggests that he and Huck and Jim travel to the Territory for adventure, but Huck says he doesn’t have enough... (full context)
Society and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Freedom Theme Icon
Eventually, Tom heals completely. Huck is glad he doesn’t have anything more to write about, because, he says, making a... (full context)