Jordansreading+questions

Reading Questions from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

1. Why did Twain include the "Notice" on the opening page? -Twain wanted to show that the story was going to be a light hearted one.

2. Can the book's 43 chapters be grouped according to distinct action sequences? Are there correspondences among chapters or groups of chapters? -Many of the books chapters follow distinct sequences of events although some of the chapters break this pattern.

3. 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? -While Huck was spending time with Jim he starts to feel as though they are friends. This bond forms when Huck discovers that Jim would risk his life for Huck and will try to protect him. This causes a conflict within Huck because he knows he has a slave with him but Jim is his friend

4. What are the consequences of Huck's and Jim's going past the mouth of the Ohio River in the fog? (Chapter XV) -Huck and Jim gets separated and couldn't find each other because of the thick fog.

5. 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 happens because Huck and Jim missed their exit, this implies that to earn freedom you have to be willing to work for it.

6. 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? -The back-and-forth movement appears in the plot but it also mirrors the back and forth pattern of events occurring in the story.

7. 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? -Huck and Jim are forced to aid in the efforts of the King and Duke which gets them into trouble.

8. 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? -The king and the duke treated Jim like a slave and controlled the raft with total power. Tom likewise saw Jim as a slave and not a person.

9. The cemetery passage in Chapter X XIX 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? -Huck's Father Pap was a drunk and he took pleasure in beating Huck out of his own grief. This put Huck in grave danger because Pap would get extremely angry. It was so bad that he had to fake his own death to escape.

10. Do the final chapters, beginning with Huck's arrival at the Phelps farm, rely too much on coincidence? -The coincidence of Huck arriving at Tom's Aunt and Uncles farm seems to make for a good storyline but it also detracts from the sense of reality in the story.

11. Do Tom Sawyer's elaborate escape stratagems indicate that Jim's and Huck's goals are unobtainable? -Tom Sawyer's escape stratagems were in many cases extremely dangerous. The fact that they would need to go through so much danger to obtain a goal does make it seem like the goals are impossible.

12. Is there any justice in the fact that only Tom is wounded in the final chase through the swamp? -The fact that only Tom gets hurt seems to me like karma. He put so many people in danger that finally the danger caught back up with him.

13. 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? -I think that the basic story line is true. Though the specific details may be blurred because of the tendency of adolescence to exaggerate the way things occur. . Home