Huck Finn

I. Introduction:

II. Themes

A. Deformed Conscience:

1. "All right, then, I'll go to hell!" (pg161)

a) Huck had been raised to believe that he would go to hell if he did not report

this runaway slave to the owner.

2.

a)

B. Individualism vs. Society:

1. "The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize

me... I got into my old rags and my sugar hogshead again, and was free and

satisfied" (pg1)

a) From the very beginning of the story, Huck without a doubt stated that he did

not want to conform to society. Huck is an individual, a person who is

independent and has the willingness to live a life free of complications.

2. "Miss Watson would say, "Don't put your feet up there, Huckleberry;" "Don't

scrunch up like that, Huckleberry -- set up straight;" "Don't gap and stretch like

that, Huckleberry -- why don't you try to behave?"(pg2)

a) The Widow Douglas doesn't let Huck smoke when he wants and she is always

nagging.

C. Appearance vs. Reality:

1.

a)

2.

a)

D. Death & Rebirth:

1.

a)

2.

a)

E. Dehumanization / Humanization:

1.

a)

2.

a)

F. Superstition:

1.

a)

2.

a)

III. Symbolism

A. The River:

1. "The river...warn't black any more, buy gray..." (pg89)

a) The river symbolizes that things are ever changing. A river adapts with its

surroundings, changing color, shape, and consistency. In the same way

characters in this novel are forced to conform to new situations. Huck must

learn to how to handle his father coming back, the way the society works,

and the relationship he forms with Jim, while society must modify its beliefs

concerning black people.

2. "It was so still,...you know by the look of the steak that there's a snag there in a

swift current..." (pg89)

a) This shows the river is unpredictable and is not just what it seems on the

surface. In the same way people can be unpredictable and unknown. Jim

displays prime examples of this when he travels with Huck and gets Tom

help even after they've both played tricks on him.

B. The Shore:

1. "...a kind of dull line - that was the woods on t'other side..." (pg

a) Shore is conforming and ruling. While on land people must do as society sees

fit. They must restrain their thoughts and actions to those that the majority of

people in the area agree with. Land also symbolizes cruelties such as slavery.

C. The Raft:

1. "I hadn't had a bite to eat since yesterday, so Jim he got out some corn-dodgers

and buttermilk, and pork and cabbage and greens--there ain't nothing in the

world so good when it's cooked right--and whilst I eat my supper we talked

and had a good time. . . .We said there warn't no home like a raft, after all.

Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel

mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft." (pg88)

a) It symbolizes freedom, independence, and life in the wild. Huck flees

civilization to life on the river to live freely and have an adventure. Huck

escapes from everything on the river. The raft is also symbolic of a nourished

friendship between Huck and Jim that wouldn't have happened if they had

stayed in civilization.

D. Huck's Pap:

1. "I