The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Wow! What an amusing and exciting read! Even though it was difficult to read with the dialect and slow with the small print of the text, I am pleased that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is on the reading list for this American Lit class and I, at last, read it. I don’t remember reading in my earlier high school years, and saw it as something I would never have chosen to read for myself. I actually found myself on the edge of my seat at times, wondering what was coming next. Twain did an amazing job with the many facets he intertwined within his story: abuse, commitment, deceit, humility, friendship, hospitality, and adventure, just to name a few. I can understand why this novel has been popular among the academic book lists. It brings to the reader, in an entertaining way, the history of the time with many characters and social issues to study. I see the opportunity a teacher would have to address family, social, and moral issues while also addressing the many literary terms, such as character, theme, conflict, and plot.

Before I looked at the study questions, I knew, as I read, I wanted to address in my reflection the relationship between Huck and his father and Huck and Jim. As a parent and one whose wish for all children would be to have two loving parents who cared for them and never have to feel threatened, I found it hard to read of the interaction between Huck and his father: the fear and disappointment Huck must have felt at the hands of his father. Then, for Huck to find more trust and camaraderie with someone who society saw as mere “merchandise”, turned the story line into a type of love story for me, even though it was a type of “brotherly love”. I loved the character Twain developed for Jim. While he was considered a “nigger” by definition of the times, he turned out to be the most trusted, loving, committed individual in the story. This story should definitely teach all human races that someone’s character cannot simply be judged by their color or status in life. While the court was intent on returning Huck to his “father” simply because he helped to create him, he turned out to be the most significant threat to Huck, not this black slave who most of society would have feared and deemed unworthy of caring and raising Huck. Jim proved himself several times during the story of his commitment and compassion for Huck; the emotion Jim expressed when he thought Huck had been lost in the fog and the quick forgiveness he granted when he realized Huck had been tricking him about being lost, laying in wait for Huck after the raft was hit by the steamboat and Huck has spent time with the Grangerford family, not revealing to Huck the murdered man they found in the house was actually Huck’s father, taking Huck’s watch on the raft and letting him sleep without complaint, and the extent he accepted Tom and Huck’s adventurous plan to help him escape from the Phelps family. Jim was more of a father figure to Huck than it seemed his real father would ever have been.

Another topic I found to be most evident in the story was the easiness of deceit in this story. The king and the duke were characters who would have done anything for money. The extent they were willing to go with the estate money was beyond understanding for me. Twain did, however, embrace the idea of “what goes around comes around” concerning these two characters. But also disturbing were the yarns that Huck and Tom were able to develop at the drop of a hat. While it all seemed adventurous in the story, it is unsettling to imagine how easily one could be taken in by the likes. While Huck’s and Tom’s deception was usually “for the good of the cause”, it was still extensive.

This is a story I wish I had shared with my children in their earlier years and taken the opportunity to discuss the many issues within. If I ever become a grandparent, I will plan to share this with my grandchildren and hope to instill some of Jim’s qualities in them.