Review of The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Here’s a fun fact about me; I’ve read The Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn five times.
1) Summer between 9th and 10th
grade
2) Fall of 10th grade once the teacher
learned not everyone had read it
3) 12th grade because 2 kids out of 14
hadn’t read it and the teacher thought that was unacceptable
4) Freshman year of college
5) Junior year of college, for fun this time
Huckleberry Finn has changed for me over the years,
and has become a story I now truly enjoy. I own a beat-up old copy I bought for
$1.99. It’s full of my notes; the cover is falling off, and written on that
falling off cover are the addresses of my friends. Needless to say this
paperback and the story it contains means a lot to me. After all, it is all
about the journey, man.
*Summary Contains Spoilers*
Huck’s story opens where Tom Sawyer left off. Huck has been “adopted” by the Widow Douglas. The
old widow and her sister Miss Watson take on the task of “sivilizing” him. Poor
Huck has to wear starch white shirts and read the Bible, and he’s having none
of it. He joins Tom and some of the other local boys for some shenanigans, but
even that doesn’t really help. Huck is itching for something to happen, and
around that time his father returns and kidnaps him.
Now, Huck wasn’t a big fan of being sivilized, but
living in the woods with his drunk, abusive father isn’t great either. So, Huck
fakes his own death and hides while the village combs the river looking for
him. While hiding Huck meets Jim, Miss Watson’s slave. Jim’s a runaway and
after their hiding place is compromised the two grab a raft and head down the
river. Their plan is eventually ditch the raft and take a steamboat north where
slavery is illegal.
Of course, things don’t work out that easily. Huck
and Jim have many misadventures on the river from meeting a group of robbers in
an abandoned steamboat, getting caught up in a feud between two old Southern
families, and running cons with the King and the Duke.
One of the most frustrating things about reading Huckleberry Finn the first time is the
picaresque style it’s written in. I had never read anything like it before and
found the episodic text puzzling. Especially to a kid who was always taught
that every story has a predictable sequence with one distinct climax/turning
point.
Now, the picaresque is one of my favorite things
about this novel. The style of the book allows the reader to be taken on an
adventure with Huck and Jim and meet all the crazy characters along the way.
There are many ways to interpret all the stops along
with way, but overall Huck gets a picture of all the ways sivilization works.
From the racists to the con men, to the liars and the lovers. Those in the
midst of an ancient feud and everyone in between. Huck doesn’t meet a lot of
likeable people, but isn’t that just the way the world works?
Even though
the book is written episodically it can be argued that there is one distinct
climax, and that’s when Huck considers turning Jim in but decides against it.
Jim and Huck are a classic literary team and a lot can be learned from their
dynamic about the time period the book takes place in as well as human
interactions.
The end of the book doesn’t quite live up the rest
of the text, and is a little abrupt. Legend has it that Twain didn’t know where
he wanted the story to go next so he just tied it all up nicely with a shiny
bow, had it published, and went along his merry way.
The ultimate question I’ve been asked about the book
is whether or not the journey leads to Huck becoming sivilized. But, a better
question is whether or not Huck wants to be sivilized?
And the answer? A resounding NO!
Sure Huck wants some sort of family, but he’s so
good at looking out for himself. Pap certainly isn’t good for our hero, but
neither is the widow. He appreciates the people who try to take care of him,
but he’s stifled but those who try to change him. Huck is his own man and he
likes his freedom.
Supplementary Texts:
1) Articles about the “controversial” nature of the
novel. (Like this one.) The book takes place in pre-Civil War deep south.
People own slaves, they are racist, and they drop the N-word often. Editions of
the book have been released with the N-word taken out, but I think that’s really
detrimental to Twain’s vision. He provides a beautifully accurate portrait of a
harsh time period and that cannot be overlooked. You could even…
2) Host a debate. Have your students debate the turning
point of the book, whether or not Huck becomes sivilized, Jim’s intentions, and
the use of racist terms within in the book.
3) Movie previews. When I read the novel the 4th
time, the teacher showed the class the trailers for the different movie
versions of Huckleberry Finn. Just
watching these trailers and small clips you can see what directors picked out
as the most important parts of this novel and most of it is hilarious. These
clips provide the class a great way to pull out important themes and motifs.
Here’s the original. And the more recent Disney version. (There are several
others too.)
4) Maps of Missouri. Have your students map out Huck’s
journey so they can visualize. Fill your classroom with pictures of the era to
get everyone in the mood for learning! Here’s an interesting lesson to get your
map project started. It’s a great review tool too!
Report Card:
This book is deserving of its status as a classic
and has so much to offer its readers. Huck is great for the classroom and I
look forward to getting the chance to teach a unit featuring this novel.
Huckleberry
Finn is everything a high schooler should want. He
answers to himself and has his own point of view of the world, and he should be
applauded for it. Huck is clever and a problem solver. He’s an innocent and
doesn’t let some of the ugliness he encounters change the way he views life (or
his friends). The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn gets a definite A.
