Huckleberry Finn | portfolio

Chapters 1-5

Timeline

-Huckleberry Finn was taken in by the widow.

-He left with Tom Sawyer.

-They created Tom Sawyer's gang.

-He comes back and gets in trouble because his clothes were dirty.

-They tried to rob some rich people but it ended up being a school group.

Time Period

The time period was back in the day. They talk about stages and carriages being on the roads. It was also the time of slavery so they use a certain word to refer to black people, not as an insult, but because that's just what was said back then.

Perspective

The events are probably told a little differently than they happened and with things added in because Huckleberry Finn is a kid. He is telling the story his way. Some things might be exaggerated or toned down because it's from the view of a child.

Chapters 5-11

Why?

Pap locked Huck up to prove that he was still the boss of him. The widow told him that he couldn't hang around her house anymore and he didn't like that. He kidnapped Huck to make sure people knew that he was the one in charge of him.

Escape

Abolitionist

Being an abolitionist means being someone that considers black people equal. It was the time of slavery so people don't think that black people are equal. They wouldn't like people that think otherwise.

Gender-Swap

He forgot the fake name he used
He held the needle wrong
He clapped his legs together to catch the lead instead of spreading them like a girl would

Modern Times

Girl pretending to be a boy

Sound of her voice
Facial structure
She would probably act like a "stereotypical guy" instead of a real one

Boy pretending to be a girl

Sound of his voice
Facial structure
He would probably act like a "stereotypical girl" instead of a real one

Chapters 12-16

King Solomon

The story of King Solomon and his child is that 2 women came to King Solomon one day. They brought a child and both of them claimed that the child was theirs. He said that there was a simple solution. He would chop the child in half and each woman would get half of the kid. One of the women agreed to his plan while the other one begged for him not to do it. She said the other woman could have the child because she didn't want the kid to be cut in half. King Solomon knew that the woman who said no was the mother because she cared for her child and didn't want anything to happen to it. Jim thinks that King Solomon was stupid. If King Solomon was wise he would just go ask the neighbors and the people in the village who the child belonged to and then given it to the mother, safe and sound. Half a child is useless. You can't do anything with it. Jim looked at it like a dollar bill. If you cut the dollar bill in half then there's no point in getting it. Jim also thought that it wouldn't even settle the dispute. The argument was about a whole child, yet King Solomon thinks he can settle it with half of one. The whole story is very ridiculous in Jim's eyes.

After the Separation

Jim was very happy. He thought that Huck had drowned and was dead. He checked on him and was so glad he was alive. This tells us that Jim cares about Huck. He knew him because he worked for the widow and she took Huck in and they had grown close on this trip. It was the two of them against everyone else. Jim really cares for Huck and doesn't want anything to happen to him. I like Jim at this point in the story. I've gotten to know him better and he seems like a good man. He is very superstitious but he really just doesn't want anything to happen to Huck.

Superstition

In the 1800's the slaves and the poor couldn't go to church or school. They didn't learn things and they weren't part of a religion, but everyone believes in something. It doesn't matter if it's science, God, the Devil, or witches. Jim and many slaves believed the superstition. They had signs and bad luck and good luck. Jim didn't know the other things so he had superstition and that's what he believed in.

Apologizing to Jim

Huck is changing. He is beginning to care about Jim. It's strange for him because he knows that, according to society, he shouldn't be apologizing to a black person, but he cares about Jim so he does it and he doesn't feel sorry. Society has told him that he should feel sorry for apologizing to a slave but he doesn't see Jim as just a slave anymore. He's changing. He is starting to see him as a person.

Giving Jim Up

Jim was talking about how he was free and that upset Huck. He was mad so he decided that he was going to reveal Jim as an escaped slave. He left in the canoe but then Jim was talking about how Huck was his best and only friend and the only white man to honor his word. Huck was conflicted. He considered Jim a friend but he was also upset that he planned to steal other slaves. When he came across the men and they asked if the person in the boat was white or black he hesitated. He didn't know what to say. In the end he told them that Jim was white. They didn't believe him and decided to go check but Huck tricked them into thinking that Jim had small-pox so they left.

Chapters 17-21

The Grangerfords

The Grangerfords are a very interesting family. They are very proper at times. They all stand when the man of the house comes and then they wait for him to sit before they do. They are very respectful and they go to church every Sunday. Their house is filled with books and one of their daughters, who passed away, was amazing at poetry. They are very ind to Huck and take good care of him. Yet there is one thing they're not proper about. The Shepherdsons. They have a feud with them and try to kill them whenever they see them.

The Feud

Mark Twain would write this into the novel to show how those two kinds of people acted towards each other during this time period. It also alludes to how people can have the biggest fights over the most insignificant issues. No one from either of the families even know how the feud started but they continue to kill each other and in the end, they all die. It tore them apart.

The Battle

Huck is a 12 year old boy. When he is describing things he tones them down and makes them seem not as bad because he doesn't want to think about it. The battle was a lot worse than described but what the reader saw and felt wasn't as bad because Huck can't and/or doesn't want to think about the battle and how awful it truly was.

The King and The Duke

The King and the Duke are two lying, scheming men. They didn't know each other before they met up on the raft. The Duke is a young man who tricks people out of their money. The King is the same except he is old. They both tell elaborate stories that explain how they are a King and a Duke and then they have Huck and Jim wait on them hand and foot. Huck figures out pretty fast that these men are not nobility or royalty in any way. He doesn't say anything because he figures it's not doing any harm. Huck also doesn't like conflict. He thinks that everyone has to get along on a raft in order for things to go well. He knows that if he calls them out on their lie there will be conflict.

The Plan

He made the reward for Jim high. People are greedy. They might to take Jim for themselves in order to get the reward and then he really is in trouble. There is also a possibility that someone won't believe them, or will know that they're lying.

The Town

Chapters 22-26

The Handbill Line

That line might fetch people because the men think it's going to be something really special. Something just for them, since there are no women or children allowed. It leaves people to wonder why there are no women or children allowed. It lets them speculate and gives their imaginations room to run wild on what the show is.

The King and the Duke

Huck doesn't think that it'll make a difference if Jim knows that the King and the Duke are liars. They're still going to act the same way. Nothing will change. There's no point in possibly creating conflict for nothing.

Huck says that they're no different from the real thing because he has read a lot about kings in school. He sees them all as greedy. He thinks they're bad people. He talks about a king he read about that would take a new wife every day and then kill her the next. Huck believes that kings are greedy people so he doesn't see a difference.

Ashamed of the Human Race

Huck is talking about how the King and the Duke are pretending to be the brothers of a man who just died because he has a lot of money. They want to get the money so they're pretending to be his family and faking being heartbroken over this man's death. The fact that Huck is ashamed shows that deep down he's a good person. He's done and will continue to do bad things but he is a good person at heart. He understands that death isn't something you lie about. Someone's passing is important and sacred. It shouldn't be lied about for money.

The Doctor

The Doctor knows that the King and the Duke are frauds from their accents and the words they use. The King imitates an English accent but he's not very good at it. He also uses the wrong words for things and then pretends that it's an English thing. The Doctor knows that it's not how English people talk. He sees them as frauds but no one believes him.

The King and The Duke's Decision

They decide to stay to get more money. The Duke wanted to leave. He didn't want to rob the orphans of everything they had but the King refused. He insisted that there was so much more money that they could get. They could sell the property. He convinced the Duke that it would be ok because once they left and were found out to be frauds the sale would be invalid and the girls would get the house back. They decided to stay out of greed.

Chapters 27-30

Stay Up With the Dead

During this time period someone would be with the body at all times. The most common reason was to make sure that the person was actually dead. Someone would keep watch to make sure.

Huck and the Slaves

Huck has a good heart. He's done some bad things but he's not a bad person. He sees how upset Mary Jane is and he comforts her without even thinking about it.

Identifying the Frauds

The first method that they tried was hand-writing. They had all of the men write on a paper and they compared it to letters that they had gotten. That proved inconclusive so they moved on to a question. They asked what mark he had on his breast. Whoever answered right were the true relatives.

Chapters 31-35

You Can't Pray a Lie

Huck is trying to pray about Jim. He wants forgiveness for stealing him and he wants to say that he will fix it by writing Miss Watson a letter to let her know where Jim is but he knows that he won't. He can't make the words come because he knows, deep down, that he won't tell Miss Watson where Jim is. Huck is saying that you can't lie in a prayer. It won't work.

The Letter

Huck tears up the letter because he doesn't want Jim to be forced back to slavery. Huck really cares about Jim. He thinks back and remembers all of the good times that they've had on the river. He remembers how Jim said that he was his only, and greatest friend. Huck considers Jim a friend too, so he can't let him be forced back. He tears up the letter because Huck decides to rescue Jim.

Tom Sawyer

I'm not surprised that Tom Sawyer would help steal Jim. Tom put together a gang and has killed people. He's not a good person. I understand why Huck was so shocked though. He has always looked up to Tom and seen him as this great person who has wonderful adventures, and stealing a slave is low and dirty and wrong, in his opinion, so he's upset that Tom would help him do something like that.

Human Beings

The first statement is about how they tarred and feathered the King and the Duke. He sees how awful it is and sees how someone could do that to someone else. They were tricking them out of money but tarring and feathering someone is horrible. The second statement talks about how Huck feels guilty even though he didn't do anything. He didn't get there in time to warn them so he feels bad. He knows it isn't his fault and that he didn't do anything wrong, but he feels bad anyway.

The Harder Escape

They are looking for a harder way to break Jim free because Tom wants style. He is obsessed with grand stories and if he won't become a great story by doing something, he won't do it. Tom has to have style and flair in everything he does. He thinks it isn't good if it isn't interesting, and that it isn't interesting if it's not risky.

Chapters 36-40

Motivation

Tom wants to break Jim out because it's an adventure and a good story. He loves schemes and plans. He thinks they're the greatest thing there ever was and he will take part in as many of them as he can. Huck's motivation is that he wants his friend back. He wants Jim to be free and to be able to live his own life. Huck cares about him.

Let On

When they talk about letting on they mean saying that they did something even if they didn't. Huck and Tom dig the hole for Jim with a shovel and a pick-axe but they plan to say that they did it with case-knives. They say certain things in order to make the story that is going to be told better. They're lying to make things sound more interesting.

Letters and Warnings

Escape Satire

White Inside

Chapters 41-End

Feeling Mean

Jim

Tom

Huck

EK

EK