My+Reading+Questions


 * 1) Why did Twain include the "Notice" on the opening page?

He places this notice there to make it clear that he wrote this first and foremost to entertain. Though many people find alternative motifs and so called hidden symbols, that is not always the intent of the author.


 * 1) Can the book's 43 chapters be grouped according to distinct action sequences? Are there correspondences among chapters or groups of chapters?

I don’t think that the chapters can be grouped into specific action sequences, because more often than not the action spills into another chapter. In fact many of the actions in the beginning chapters are referred to in the ending chapters. Yes there are correspondences between chapters. Many of the later chapters refer to characters in the beginning chapters. The events in the end of the novel count on an understanding of the chapters in the beginning.


 * 1) Each stage of Huck's moral growth culminates in a crisis of conscience and a decision to assist Jim (as when Huck tells the two slave hunters that there is "only one" man on the raft and that "He's white"); and each decision is more consequential than the previous. What are these stages and decisions; when do they occur; and what are their consequences?

The first stage is when Huck returns to the island to warn Jim that people are making their way to the island to capture him. Even though Huck thinks that it is wrong to help a slave, he still somewhat overcomes his prejudice and helps Jim. Another stage is when the sailors want to check Huck’s boat for escaped slave, and he covers for Jim. This illustrates how Huck has become friends with Jim, despite his race. Probably the most important stage is when Huck and Tom free Jim from Tom’s Aunt and Uncle. In this part, Huck shows true loyalty and friendship to Jim, who before they set of down the river, was just another slave.


 * 1) What are the consequences of Huck's and Jim's going past the mouth of the Ohio River in the fog? (Chapter XV)

This is the first time we see Huck truly bond with Jim. After tricking Jim about him dreaming up the whole instance in the fog, Jim becomes angry with Huck. Huck states that, “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger” Eventually Huck apologizes to Jim and feels much better afterwards. Without this instance, Huck may have never completely realized that Jim is a man just like himself.


 * 1) Among the novel's great ironies is that Huck's and Jim's quest for freedom takes them farther and farther into the deep South, the heart of slavery. How and why does this happen? What are the implications?

This is Twains satirical view of western expansion. Though this is a general and broad way to look at this, there are many unmistakable parallels. Huck and Jim encounter more and more civilization in their attempt to escape from it, just as the pioneers had no success trying to settle the western lands. The implications of this is that Huck actually learns that people are just people no matter where you go or what color you are. Without them encountering civilization, Huck would have never been put in the positions that he was put it, and consequently not learn the lessons that he did.


 * 1) The primary movement of Huck's and Jim's journey and of the novel is linear, from north to south. A back-and-forth pattern of movement between river and shore also occurs. How is this pattern important in terms of plot? How is it related to the north-to-south movement? Does it reflect any other kind of movement experienced by Huck or Jim?

This pattern is important because it parallels the personal journey felt by Huck. The back and forth, kind of confused journey is one similar to Hucks idea of Jim and slavery. He constantly goes back on his ideas and attempts to rethink what is right and wrong in terms of what to do with Jim. It is related to the North and South movement, because that too was a movement concerning slavery and whether it was right or wrong. If these patterns were not evident in the book, than Huckleberry Finn would just be another adventure story of a boy going down a river.


 * 1) How do the king and the duke impact Huck's and Jim's life on the raft, their quest for freedom, and the novel's movement?

The entrance of the King and the Duke to the raft represents a large turning point in the novel. The two men each represent how powerless Huck and Jim are in this world. Though the river is supposed to be a calm and easy life, these two white men, picked up off the side of the river, hold complete power over both Huck and Jim. They have the power to turn the boy and the runaway in whenever they like, so Huck and Jim are forced to do whatever they ask. It is only now, in the presence of these two men, that Huck and Jim truly commit crimes. The King and the Duke are necesarry to the plots movement because they allow us to follow Huck and Jim into a new mode of thinking. Now their objective is not only to be free from society, but also from these two conmen.


 * 1) What are the parallels between the king's and duke's treatment of Jim in Chapter XXIV and Tom Sawyer's treatment of him in the final chapters?

In both cases, Jim is treated as if he is less than human. The king and the duke often take advantage of Jim’s supidity and constantly toy with the fact that Jim is a runaway. Tom, though not trying to be condescending, only wishes to free Jim because it would be an adventure. If he frees Jim he would be seen as an adventurer. He does not see Jim as a human being, only as an object on his quest for recognition.


 * 1) The cemetery passage in Chapter XXIX is one of the few times when Huck is in immediate danger of actual harm or death. What are some similar incidents? What threatens his safety and well-being in each instance--other people or forces of nature? How does he escape in each instance?

A similar instance is when the sailors ask to check his boat for runaways. If Huck had been caught assisting a runaway slave he would have been charged and probably taken to court. There is also an incident in which the Grangerford’s have a shoot out with the Shepherdson’s. At any time in this fight, Huck could have been seriously injured. In both instances Huck survives by retreating to the raft and sailing down the river some more.


 * 1) Do the final chapters, beginning with Huck's arrival at the Phelps farm, rely too much on coincidence?

Yes. If the Phelps had not been related to Tom Sawyer, than the last couple of chapters would not make sense. There is also the coincidence of Tom being the only one shot when the men are shooting at the boys and the slave. If it would have been anyone else, than the Phelps would not have been as thankful to Jim and probably would not have let him go. The coincidence that drives the events over the edge is that Jim’s old master is dead, and the only reason people are after him is because of the fake pamphlets printed by the duke and the king to ensure that he would remain unquestioned.


 * 1) Do Tom Sawyer's elaborate escape stratagems indicate that Jim's and Huck's goals are unobtainable?

No, it just indicates that Tom is only offering to help Jim because it would increase his reputation as, well, Tom Sawyer. He makes up elaborate escape plans to make it more of an adventure, not more of a success.


 * 1) Is there any justice in the fact that only Tom is wounded in the final chase through the swamp?

Perhaps, because it was only Tom who wanted to make the escape plans all complicated. We could also look at the fact that it was Tom’s fault that Huck got the money in the first place, so it is his fault that Huck’s father took him, so it is his fault that Huck took off down the river, and so on and so forth. If we look at it in this way than it is obvious that Tom is the one who deserves to be shot.

I think in this case we can trust what Huck says. It does not appear that he is attempting to make himself look good in anyway, so in light of that we can assume that he is telling the truth. In fact, many times in the novel Huck admitts his own faults, alluding to the fact that what he is saying is actually true. P5 AKoff
 * 1) The story is told by a fourteen-year-old Huck, who admits to elaborate lies and fabrications. Can we trust him? Can we accept his version of things, or must we read between his lines?