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Setting- The novel is set in an area of the Mississippi River where Huck and Jim travel on a raft. It also occurs in several villages where Jim and Huck visit on their journey: Miss Watson's House, the Grangerford's, Huck's fathers house, Aunt Sally's....
Background Information--Huck is friends with Tom Sawyer , a boy who is constantly seeking difficult solutions to easily solvable problems because he is a hopeless romantic. Huck lives with Miss Watson, who tries to civilize Huck's barbaric style of living and rescue the orphan child from his crude ways. Huck's mother died early in his childhood and his father is an abusive alcoholic who rarely sees his son unless he is in need of money. Huck seeks to run away from Miss Watson and his Father, and be able to live on his own and take care of himself.
Major Characters-
Huck Finn- A young boy that seeks to run away from home. He is smart and efficient. Huck is the orphan of an absentee father and a deceased mother. He is uncivilized in manner and habit. He desires to flee his life, living on a raft, floating down the Mississippi RIver and doing as he pleases.
Jim- A slave on Miss Watson's Plantation who later escapes and becomes Huck's first true friend. He is searching for his family and freedom. He is very superstitous and religious.
Huck's father- An abusive, drunk old man who is using Huck for his money and advantages. The Duke and The the King- A devious duo who are corrupt and cause trouble. They meet up with Jim and Huck on the raft and scam cities out of money.
Tom Sawyer- A boy about Huck's age. He is an idealist and a hopeless romantic, constantly pretending and creating situations in his head.
Miss Watson- Foster mother who tried to civilize Huck, owner of Jim.
Plot Summary-
Huck lives with Miss Watson who is trying to civilize him. He and Tom Sawyer become friends with her slave Jim. Huck's drunk father returns to try and take Huck back, but Huck fakes his own murder and runs away with Jim to a nearby island. Jim and Huck discover a raft, which they make their new home and set out to sail down the Mississippi River where they will both be free. Jim and Huck travel by night to avoid being caught, and sleep out in the woods during the day time. During the journey, Huck and Jim's friendship grows considerably, and the two become like family. Huck and Jim are separated when their raft hits a steamboat and Huck goes ashore to stay with a family, the Grangerford's. Huck soon becomes involved in their ongoing feud and leaves when several family members are killed. Huck also plays with the concept of morality and debates over the question of whether to turn Jim in or risk being shunned by society if he is caught with a runaway. The Duke and the King soon join Huck and Jim on the raft, and the four scam several cities out of money by performing plays and circuses. They stay at the Wilkes' house where they steal money from a family of girls whose father just died, by pretending to be their uncles. Huck eventually confesses to the girls, and abandons the Duke and the King when they try to sell Jim. Eventually Huck winds up at Aunt Sally's house and pretends to be Tom Sawyer, who they are expecting. He soon learns that she is keeping Jim hostage until his master comes to get him, and tries to think of a way to free his friend. When the real Tom comes to Aunt Sally's, the two form an intricate plan involving ransom notes and digging holes in order to free Jim. When the plan is activated, Huck and Tom are caught by angry townspeople and are forced to confess their identity and reason for disturbing the slave. Huck learns that Miss Watson set Jim free in her will, and he is no longer a slave. Huck plans to escape being civilized once more, and suggests that he will flee to live in Indian territory.
Themes-
Maturity...Huck is forced to take care of himself because he has no parents. Although he is a young boy, he faces many problems that adults struggle with, and is forced to deal with them maturely. (Jim's freedom, confessing to the Wilk's...)
Friendship...Huck never really had any true friend before Jim, but the time spent with him allowed the two to become very close.
Legality vs. Morality...Huck faces the question of whether he should obey the law and turn in Jim, or if he should risk a bad reputation and keep his friend happy.
Love...Jim loves Huck and he has been a true friend and been through many tough situations. Huck learns to love through his friendship with Jim, who is devoted and willing to do anything for Huck.
Racism...The novel is set in the South. Blacks are slaves with no legal rights and are faced with high degrees of discrimination. Their status is lower than that of a white person, and Huck grows up debating that reality. It is a barrier at first between himself and Jim, which they eventually realize and overcome.
Freedom ...Literally, Jim seeks freedom from slavery. Figuratively, Huck seeks to be free, and not have to live in fear of his father, or being civilized.
Key Issues-
Racism...A major part of the novel, because as a black man fleeing slavery, Jim faces many struggles. He is constantly reminded of the dangers of running and is threatened by his capture. He is also forced to accept the fact that his race makes him inferior to a white, and even a friend like Huck is still of higher status. Huck and Jim overcome the race barrier, only after Huck overcomes the inner struggle of whether to save Jim or not. Huck's idea of racism is based on his upbringing, but he himself questions the validity of these statements of black inferiority.
Friendship...Huck never had a true meaningful friendship. He found this completely, devoted, caring, generous individual in Jim as they traveled together. Although Jim was black, Huck learned that race didn't matter, and that Jim really loved him and would protect him from harm. Huck at first battled with the issue of supremacy by teasing Jim and playing jokes on him which made him feel ignorant. When Huck realized Jim had feelings and could be hurt, and that he missed his family, it became easy for Huck and Jim to remain friends because he realized that aside from skin color, they had similarities.
Freedom...Huck seeks to free himself of his father's neglect and abuse. He wants to live alone, and be able to survive by himself. He struggles to reach freedom by running away, living barbarically, and refusing to be civilized by those who attempt to fix his crude manners. Jim seeks freedom from slavery. He wants to find his lost family and free them. He runs away when he hears Miss Watson talking of selling him "down the river."
Lessons/ morals/ applications-
Huck learns that although society has taught him to regard blacks as inferior, he should listen to his own opinion, even if it means sacrificing his reputation and being labeled. He realized this when he befriended Jim and went out of his way to secure Jim's freedom, by risking his own safety and name.
Huck also learned that although people in his life may have hurt him, he is able to be loved and to love back. He learns this when his friendship with Jim evolves, and they become like family. Huck is able to love Jim back, and is willing to help him escape slave if it will attain happiness.
Huck realizes that Tom's intricate plans for solving problems sometimes are fun, but are not usually the best answers. Huck is a more realistic character and understands that effort and efficiency are better than confusion and complication. He depicts this when Tom's plan to free Jim becomes to involved and eventually backfires. Huck's plan at the beginning was more reasonable, but he used Tom's plan instead.
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