The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, characteristics and Themes
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| The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -Summary- by Mark Twain |
characteristics
Adolphus
Hawk's name is when King claims to be the brother of Briton Peter Wilkes.
Levi Bell
The lawyer tries to determine the true heirs of the Wilkes property.
Rev. Elexander Blodgett
The wrong name used by the king when Tim Collins addresses a young man who goes to Orleans who tells the king all about the Wilkes family.
Boggs
A drunken man insults Colonel Sherborne and later kills him. The events take place in the same town where the Duke and King performed Shakespeare's show.
Tim collins
A young man tells the king the whole story of Wilkes' fortune.
The Dauphin
see the king
Widow Douglas
The widow who brings Huck home and tries to "civilize" him. He leaves his house when Pap kidnaps him and takes him to a log cabin.
The Duke
The youngest crooks and inventor Royal Nonesuch. The tar and feathers were then coated in Pikesville.
Huckleberry Finn
The main character of the story. He escapes and rides the Mississippi River on a raft with the runaway slave Jim as his companion.
Bob grangerford
Son of Colonel Grangerford.
Buck grangerford
Youngest son of Colonel Grangerford, who befriended Hawke, but was later killed in the feud.
Miss Charlotte Grangerford
Daughter of Colonel Grangerford.
Colonel Grangerford
The father of the Grangerford household and the man who invited Huck to live with the family. Killed in hostility.
Emmeline Grangerford
Daughter of Grangerford. She died before Hooke's arrival, but she created beautiful paintings and poetry.
Miss Sophia Grangerford
Daughter of Colonel Grangerford who runs away with Harney Shepherdson, and the argument resumes.
Tom Grangerford
The eldest son of the Grangerford family.
Buck Harkness
The man who threw a mob to kill Colonel Sherborne after Sherburne shot Boggs.
Joe Harper
A member of the Tom the Robber band.
George Jackson
Huck's nickname is used when living with the Grangerfords.
Jim
A runaway slave accompanies Huck Finn on the Mississippi.
The king
The two biggest crooks made Huck travel with them. He plays the Naked Man in Royal Nonesuch, the man who sells Jim as a runaway slave. Then he was covered with tar and feathers with the duke.
Mrs. Judith Loftus
Ms. Hack visits to gather news while posing as a girl. She tells him that she suspects Jim of hiding on Jackson Island. Huck barely has time to join Jim and get her off the island.
Sally Phelps
Tom Sawyer's aunt. She is married to Silas Phelps and initially mistakenly identifies Huck as Tom Sawyer.
Silas phelps
Uncle Tom Sawyer and the farmer who bought Jim from the king for forty dollars.
Aunt Polly
Tom's aunt finally seems to find out what tricks Tom played with loved ones. She reveals the true identity of Tom and Hucks to her sister and sabotages her attempt to rob Jim from slavery by declaring that he is already free.
Dr. Robinson
The only man who realizes that the King and Duke are impostors who want to pretend to be British. He warns the city, but they ignore him.
Ben Rogers
A member of the Tom the Robber band.
Sid Sawyer
The younger brother of Tom Sawyer. Tom claims to be a master while he and Huck Finn live with Sally Phelps.
Tom Sawyer
Ven's best friend Tom loves to make games look believable and starts a group of thieves. He and Huck later live with Tom's aunt Sally, and Huck pretends to be Tom while Tom pretends to be his younger brother, Syd.
Harney Shepherd's son
The young man who runs away with Miss Sophia Grangerford.
Colonel Sherborne
Colonel Sherborne.
Judge Thatcher
A prominent citizen of the city is respected and loved. He is struggling to protect Huck's money when Pap returns to claim Huck and steal his money.
Jim Turner
One of the thieves on the wrecked ship.
Miss Watson
Sister of Douglas's widow. Trying to teach Hack to read and write. Jim is his servant. He flees from her after learning that she wants to sell him to a merchant in the south.
Wilkes Harvey
British brother Peter Wilkes, who was played by King until the arrival of the real Harvey Wilkes.
Joanna Wilkes
As the youngest daughter of the late George Wilkes, she is recognizable by her cleft lip.
Mary Jane Wilkes
The eldest daughter of the late George Wilkes, a red-haired hawk girl begins to fall in love with her. She is convinced that the King is her real uncle and not a cheater until Huck tells her the truth.
Peter Wilkes
The dead who incarnate the king's brother.
Susan Wilks
The second eldest daughter of the late George Wilkes.
William Wilks
British brother Peter Wilkes, the Duke played him until the arrival of the real William Wilkes.
Pap
Huck's abusive, alcoholic, and broken father returns to the beginning of the book to seek custody. When Huck can no longer stand his father's mistreatment, he escapes and begins his journey down the river with Jim.
The conflict between civilization and "normality"
The main theme of the novel is the conflict between civilization and "normal life". Huck represents normality through his freedom of spirit, uncivilized ways, and his desire to escape civilization. He grew up with no rules or discipline and has strong resistance to anything that could "catch" him. This conflict is illustrated in the first chapter through the efforts of Widow Douglas: she tries to force Huck to change clothes, quit smoking, and study the Bible. Throughout the novel, Twain seems to suggest that the uncivilized way of life is more desirable and morally superior. Drawing on the ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Twain suggests that civilization corrupts people rather than improves them.
To honor
The topic of honor permeates the novel after its first introduction in the second chapter, in which Tom Sawyer expresses his conviction that there is a lot of honor associated with theft. Theft occurs throughout the novel, particularly when Huck and Jim encounter thieves on the sinking ship and are forced to come to terms with the king and dolphin, both of whom "steal" from anyone they meet. Tom's original thief team is compared later in the novel when Tom and Huck become real but honest thieves at the end of the novel. You are determined to rob Jim and free him from the bonds of slavery, an honorable act. Thus the concept of honor and the work to earn it becomes a central theme in Huck's adventures.
Food
Food occupies a prominent position in the novel. In Huck's childhood he often fought pigs for food and ate from "a barrel of stumps and leftovers". In this way, the serving of food becomes a symbol for the people who care for and protect it. In the first chapter, for example, Widow feeds Douglas Huck, whereupon Jim becomes his symbolic overseer who feeds him and overseers on Jackson Island. Food is a big issue again when Huck lives with the Grangerfords and the Wilks.
Religious ridicule
One topic that Twain focuses heavily on in this novel is the irony of religion. Throughout his life, Twain was known for his attacks on organized religion. Huck Finn's satirical personality clearly sets him apart from the satire of religion, and he represents Twain's personal views. In the first chapter, Huck points out that hell is more fun than heaven. Later, in a memorable scene, the "king", liar and deceiver, persuades a religious community to give him money so that he can "convert" his pirate friends. Religious people are easily misled, which makes fun of their belief and devotion to God.
Superstition
Fables arise throughout the novel. In general, Huck and Jim are very rational characters, but when they encounter something superstitious, irrationality takes over. The prevailing myths about the two show that Huck and Jim are childish despite their apparent maturity. In addition, the fable refers to the plot in several important nodes. For example, when Huck pours salt, Pap returns, and when Huck touches the snake's skin with his bare hands, Jim bites the rattlesnake.
Bondage
The theme of slavery is perhaps the most famous aspect of this novel. Since his first publication, Twain's handling of slavery and his ideas on racism have been hotly debated. Twain was tough against slavery in his personal and public life. Given this information, it's easy to see that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn provides an allegory of how and why slavery is bad. Twin Jim, the main character and slave, is used to show the humanity of slaves. Jim expresses complex human emotions and struggles with his life. To prevent him from being sold and forced to separate from his family, Jim escapes from his owner, Miss Watson, and works to gain freedom so that he can buy his family's freedom. Throughout their journey downstream, Jim cared for and protected Huck, not as a servant but as a friend. Thus, Twins encourages the reader to feel pity and sympathy for Jim and to be angry at the society that enslaved him and threatened his life. Although Twain attacks slavery through his portrayal of Jim, he never directly addressed the problem. Huck and Jim never discuss slavery, and all the other slaves in the novel are very minor characters. Only in the final part of the novel does Twain develop the central conflict over slavery: should Huck release Jim and then condemn him to Hell? This decision changes Huck's life, forcing him to reject everything that "civilization" has taught him. Hack decided to free Jim on the basis of personal experiences rather than social norms, preferring an ethics of "normality" over an ethics of civilization.
Money
The concept of wealth, or lack of wealth, runs throughout the novel, highlighting the inequality between the rich and the poor. Twain intentionally begins the novel by noting that Huck has over six thousand dollars to his name; An amount of money that outweighs all the others mentioned and, on the contrary, makes it appear insignificant. Huck is quiet about wealth, not seeing money as a necessity but as a luxury because he has so much of it. Hack's view of wealth contrasts sharply with Jim's. For Jim, who wants to rid his family of slavery, money means freedom. Moreover, being rich will allow him to increase his position in society. So Jim is constantly in search of fortunes, while Huck remains apathetic.
Mississippi
Most of the action takes place on the river or its banks. For Huck and Jim, the river means freedom. On the raft, they are completely independent and determine their own approach. Jim is eager to reach the Free States, and Huck is eager to escape his violent and drunk father and the "civilization" of Miss Watson. However, the cities along the riverbank begin to take their toll and eventually Huck and Jim face criminals, shipwrecks, dishonesty and great danger. Eventually, the fog forced them to miss the city of Cairo, as they wanted to plan a motorboat over the Ohio River to the free states.
Originally, the river was a safe place for travelers, but it becomes more and more dangerous when Huck and Jim take out the truth of their lives on the run. Once the river becomes a mirror of absolute freedom, it quickly becomes a short-term sanctuary, and the novel ends in the safety of Dry Land, where Huck and Jim, ironically, find their true freedom.
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