| Chap 1: What do we know about Huck from the way he talks? | He is uneducated and a young boy |
| Chap 1: What is a “stretcher?” | Tells white lies; stretching the truth |
| Chap 1: Why does Mark Twain begin Huck Finn with a reference to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer? | Background info about Tom |
| Chap 1: How does Huck feel about being “civilized?” | Thought it was dull and boring |
| Chap 1: “The widow she cried over me, and called me a poor lost lamb, and she called me a lot of other names, too, but SHE NEVER MEANT NOT HARM BY IT. Exactly where does the humor of this sentence lie? | “She never meant no harm by it.” |
| Chap 1: Why does Huck prefer the “bad” place to the “good” place? | Doesn’t want to go to the same place as Mrs. Watson and since Tom is going to hell. |
| Chap 1: What does Huck’s reaction to the burning of the spider show us about him? | Huck is superstitious |
| Chap 2: What trick does Tom play on Jim? | Tom took Jim’s hat off and hung it on a branch above his head. |
| Chap 2: How does Huck feel about it? | Wanted to leave |
| Chap 2: What difference between the two boys does this suggest? | Tom is brave and takes risks. Huck is scared and conservative. |
| Chap 2: How does Jim react to the trick? | Jim claimed that witches cast a spell on him and put him in a trance and witches hung his hat to show what they had done to him. |
| Chap 2: If you were going to join Thom Sawyer’s gang, what would you have to agree to do? | You took a blood oath and agreed that if you broke the oath that the others could kill your family. Since Huck did not have a family, he told them they could kill mrs watson |
| Chap 2: What do we learn about Tom as the head of the gang? | He is brake and likes to get what he wants and wants others to follow his orders |
| Chap 2: How does Ben Rodgers react to the ransoming idea? | Reacts doubtful; got teased when he cried |
| Chap 3: What does Huck think about praying? | Thinks there’s no point because you don’t get the stuff you are asking for like hooks etc. |
| Chap 3: Why does Huck decide that there must be two Providences? | Because the widow and mrs watson gave him two different definitions of what a providence was. |
| Chap 3: What does Huck think about Pap? | Doesn’t want to see him anymore because he beats him and is mean to him. |
| Chap 3: Why does Huck resign from the gang? | Because they don’t do anything (actions), they just talk about things (that they’d like to do or what they think but that’s it)… |
| Chap 3: Huck and Tom have very different outlooks on “A-rabs” and on “rubbing lamps” etc. What does this show about them? | Both think different things and have their own personal opinions |
| Chap 4: Why does Huck “sell” his fortune to Judge Thatcher? | Get rid of the money so his dad can’t buy beer |
| Chap 4: What does the “hair-ball” tell Jim about Hucks future? | There are different paths he can take and the future is unknown so make choices wisely. this is an example of foreshadowing. |
| Chap 5: Describe Pap. | Self centered and doesn’t care about Huck as much; he is mean and poor |
| Chap 5: Is Pap realistic (believable)? | Depends on which situation, but is homeless and always drunk |
| Chap 5: How does Pap feel about Huck going to school? | Doesn’t want Huck to be smarter and more educated than him, so he does not want him to go to school |
| Chap 5: How does the new judge find out how Pap really is? | Does pretty much anything for alcohol |
| Chap 6: Why is Huck going to school now? | To rebel against his dad and annoy him; doesn’t really want to go to school but wants to in order to spite pap |
| Chap 6: Why does Huck at first enjoy living with Pap? | he said it was kind of fun and relaxing; smoking and fishing and not having any responsibilities of being civilized. |
| Chap 6: How does Pap feel about the “govment” and the “educated ******s?” | the government should be banned and didn’t like blacks being educated because they would be smarter than him; he wasn’t educated so he doesn’t want them to be. |
| Chap 6: Account for Pap’s unusual behavior. | Hallucinating (seeing things) when really drunk |
| Chap 7: Why does Huck kill the pig? | Wanted people to believe he was killed, so he could escape from this dad, so he wiped the blood everywhere in the cabin. |
| Chap 7: Describe Hucks emotions when he first sets out on the river. | Happy to be free from his dad, but scared because his dad goes like 12 inches from his canoe as he was escaping but his dad couldn’t see him because it was dark. |
| Chap 7: Where is Huck headed? | Jackson Island |
| Chap 8: Why are people firing a cannon over the water? | Trying to make it so they can maybe see Huck’s body; trying to make the body rise to the surface. |
| Chap 8: What is the reason for floating bread down the river? | Thinks if you put bread on the water that it will go straight to the drowned body |
| Chap 8: Why does Huck scare Jim? | He is excited to see him and Jim thinks he is a ghost because he heard he was killed (pigs blood). |
| Chap 8: Why has Jim run away? | Heard Miss Watson talking about selling him to plantation down the river, where he would be treated horribly and separated from his wife and kids |
| Chap 8: Why is the chapter entitled, “I Spare Miss Watson’s Jim?” | Because Huck is white and could have told on Jim, but he didn’t |
| Chap 8: Is there a difference between the superstition of Huck and the superstition of Jim? | Jim knows about a lot more and he believes them. |
| Chap 8: The functions of chapter 8 are to bring Huck and Jim together as twin protagonists representing escape, to add color of time and place through language and description of customs and to establish the character of Jim. What does the chapter suggest about civilization? | Jim was going to be sold to plantation and this chapter makes the point about the worth of people ( i don’t think this right so you should check with someone) |
| Chap 8: At this point, how would you describe Hucks attitude toward Jim? | Nice because they have developed a friendship |
| Chap 9: Why is there a house floating down the river? | Storm washes pap’s cabin into the river; the dead body is actually Paps but Jim does not tell Huck. |
| Chap 9: What do Huck and Jim find in the house? | They find a dead body |
| Chap 10: How does the snake come to be in Jim’s blanket? | Huck killed the snake and put the body in Jim’s blanket; it’s mate (wife) came and laid with the dead snake and bit Jim when he laid down. Huck does not tell Jim that he put the dead snake in blanket. |
| Chap 10: What does Jim do for the snake bite? | Jim drinks a jar/jug of whiskey to kill the pain for 4 days. Huck said he would rather get a snake bite than drink the whiskey. |
| Chap 10: What does Huck’s reaction show about him? | Shows that Huck is compassionate towards Jim and that Huck will believe Jim’s superstitions in the future. |
| Chap 10: Why does Huck dress up like a girl? | To disguise himself so he can go into town and find out what everyone is saying about the situation with Huck’s death. We know of course that Huck faked his death to get away from his dad. |
| Chap 11: What information does Huck get from Mrs. Judith Loftus? | That the town first thought that Paps killed Huck but then they start to think that it could be Jim who killed him because Jim just happened to runaway the same night. They put a $200 reward on Paps and $300 on Jim to find them. She also told him that the town was going to Jackson Island the next day since they saw smoke coming from that direction. |
| Chap 11: What store does Huck tell Mrs. Loftus when she sees through his disguise? | Calls himself George Peters , son of mean farmer and runaway |
| Chap 11: What three things does Huck do that show that is a boy? | Threw lead at rat, caught lead in lap, bad job threading needle |
| Chap 11: Why do Huck and Jim leave Jackson’s Island? | Huck dresses up as a girl and finds out that people are about to come and search the islands because they saw smoke, so Jim and him have to leave. |
| Chap 12: Describe the raft and the life Huck and Jim lead when alone on it. | Fishing lines, dirt piles, teepee; they are naked most of the time and the spend time getting to become friends. They feel free on the raft and without worries. |
| Chap 12: How do Huck and Jim get food? | buy, steal and hunt |
| Chap 12: Why are Huck and Jim able to feel comfortable about borrowing things? | They make a list which has the things they have to payback later, so they really weren’t stilling since they would pay for it eventually. |
| Chap 12: Why does Huck insist on boarding the Walter Scott? | Wants to steal (“borrow”) from Steamboat’s Captain. He also wants an adventure. |
| Chap 12: Who are Bill? Jake? Turner? | Robbers that were on the steamboat stealing with Jim and Huck came on board. |
| Chap 12: What do Bill and Jake decide to do with Turner? | Turner was the other robber. The two robbers decide to eave Turner tied up and if the boat sinks, he drowns |
| Chap 12: What terrible discover does Jim make at the end of the chapter? | Raft broke loose and is gone |
| Chap 13: Huck and Jim escape Walter Scott in the lifeboat, leaving the murderers trapped on the wreck. How does Huck feel about leaving them? | Wants to help them because he feels bad |
| Chap 13: How does his concern differ from the widows? | Huck is concerned about their well-being and she is concerned with their deaths |
| Chap 13: How does Huck try to help the murderers? | Tells the watchman his “family” is on my wreck, so they will go and rescue murderers |
| Chap 13: What happens to the murderers? | The steamboat (wreck) sinks and everyone dies. |
| Chap 14: Why does Jim decide that he doesn’t want any more adventures? | Too risky for Jim and he does not want to die. |
| Chap 14: Why does Jim “take no stock in…Sollermun bein de wises’ man dat ever live”? | He thinks it’s foolish that any man would try to cut baby in half; “Sollermun” was really Solomon from the bible. Solomon was trying to figure out which lady was really the mom of a kid, so he said he would cut the kid in half and give each to the mom because he knew the real mom would just give up the child because she would not want to see the child die; this would allow Solomon to figure out who the real mom was. |
| Chap 14: Why does Huck decide that it is useless to argue with him? | He gets frustrated and Jim isn’t smart enough to understand Huck and doesn’t know how to argue properly. |
| Chap 14: Is Mark Twain expressing opinions through Jim or Huck? | Both, but mostly through Huck |
| Chap 15: What do Huck and Jim plan to do when they reach Cairo? | Cairo is in Ohio and they want to go there to get Jim his freedom. |
| Chap 15: In the filmstrips, the comment was made that “huck does know how to tell us things.” Describe how Huck felt when he was alone in the fog. | He panics and is upset and scared. He lays down and just goes to sleep. |
| Chap 15: Huck tells Jim that the separation in the fog was a dream. Why is Jim so hurt by Huck’s trick? | Because he spent all night calling for Huck and was so sad because he thought he had died and when Huck found him, Huck just decided to play a joke on him about the dream instead of being happy they were back together. |
| Chap 15: Why is Huck’s response to Jim’s rebuke significant? | Because back then white people did not apologize to black people. Rebuke is when you correct someone. When Huck realized that what he did was wrong, he apologized to Jim which was hard to do to a black person. |
| Chap 16: Why is Huck so uneasy about approaching Cairo? | He feels bad again about helping get Jim’s freedom because it is like stealing Miss Watson’s property because Jim was her slave. He is also concerned because Jim said he was going to go back and steal his family back which will be like stealing the property of this neighbors since they own these slaves. |
| Chap 16: Explain what Huck calls “conscience.” | an inner feeling or voice which acts like a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one’s behavior. |
| Chap 16: How does is conflict with helping Jim escape? | Back in society would say the right or legal thing to do would be to turn Jim back in, but his “conscience” tells him the right thing to do is to help him get his freedom. |
| Chap 16: What decision does Huck make to quiet his conscience? | He decides to turn Jim in. |
| Chap 16: How does Huck keep the men in the skiff from checking out the raft? | Saying his dad has small pox (contagious disease) |
| Chap 16: What decision does Huck make about doing right and wrong? | He thinks he would feel the same no matter if he did wrong or right, so he might as well make whatever decision is the easiest at the time. |
| Chap 16: Why did Huck and Jim have to change their plans? | They passed Cairo, Ohio in the fog. |
| Chap 16: How did Huck and Jim get separated? | steamboat ran into their raft and they both fell in the water and had to swim to safety which is when they got separated. |
| Chap 17: How does Huck solve the problem of forgetting his name? | Asks Buck if he can spell it out. Buck spelled out George Jackson. |
| Chap 17: What does Huck think of the Grangerfords? Of their home? | They are rich and the house has paintings and books and looks like they are trying to brag about being rich. He enjoys living and eating with them and likes wearing Bucks’s clothes. |
| Chap 17: Huck often makes interesting observations. His comment on Emmeline Grangerford is, “I reckoned that with her disposition she was having a better time in the graveyard.” What does this show about Huck? | He was insightful (smart) enough to know that since the daughter that died liked drawing paintings of death and other morbid things like the painting of a girl that looks like she is about to jump off a bridge, that she is probably enjoying being dead. |
| Chap 17: Why had Emmeline died? | ?? (ask teacher) |
| Chap 18: What is the cause of the feud between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons? | No one knows for sure |
| Chap 18: Which side started the shootings? | ???? ask teacher because I am not sure which shooting they are referring to? Was it the one where Buck shot at the Shepherdons son from the bushes or another one? |
| Chap 18: Why is Twain so vague about it? | He wants to point out how stupid the fight is especially because they go to church together and then keep on fighting. |
| Chap 18: Buck tells Huck, “There ain’t a coward amongst them Shepherdsons- not a one. And there ain’t no cowards amongst the Grangerfords either.” What are the drawback to this sort of courage | Courage is good except when it keeps you from thinking clearly which the two families are definitely not doing since they don’t even know why they are fighting in the first place. |
| Chap 18: Why is the topic of the Sunday sermon “satiric”? | A satire is making fun of something to show that it was wrong. The fact that the two families that were trying to kill each other were going to church together just shows how stupid the fighting is. |
| Chap 18: What has happened to Jim since the last time Huck has seen him? | Jim swam to shore and stayed hidden. The Grangerford’s slaves have taken care of him while Huck was living with them. |
| Chap 18: What does Miss Sophie Grangerford do? | She ran off to get married to Harney Shepherdson which is funny since their families are fighting and hate each other. |
| Chap 18: What happens to the various Grangerfords? | Buck and Joe Grangerford are shot and killed below a tree that Huck had climbed up and was watching the fight. |
| Chap 18: What does Huck do? | Covers up both of the boys dead faces. |
| Chap 19: Read aloud Huck’s description of river that begins, “Two or three days and nights went by; I reckon I might say they swum by, they slid along so quiet and smooth and lovely.” What causes Huck’s new appreciation of life on the raft? | (???ask if this is right) He realizes how lucky he was to escape from the fighting families and that even though he did not have their wealth, he could be happy out on a raft with just the simple things of life and Jim. |
| Chap 19: The peaceful interlude on the raft is distributed by the arrival of the duke and the dauphin (the king). Describe these two “rapscallions.” | The duke and the king are 2 criminals who teamed up together. The are bad guys are you just looking to lie and cheat people out of their money. |
| Chap 19: Huck says, “It didn’t take me long to make up my mind that these liars warn’t no kings nor dukes at all, but just low-down hurnbugs and frauds.” Why does he pretend to believe them? | Huck does not want to cause a fight with them. |
| Chap 19: When the duke and dauphin first got on the raft, why did they talk to each other and ignore Huck and Jim? | Because the duke and king didn’t even know each other and they were telling each other stories about the various scams they had run. |
| Chap 20: How does Huck explain Jim to the duke and the king? | Lies and says that Jim was owned by his dad and that his dad drown when the riverboat hit his raft leaving just Huck and Jim. He said that everyone was trying to come and take Jim from him since they thought he was a runaway, so they just decided to travel at night. |
| Chap 20: How do the king and duke treat Huck and Jim? | Poorly. They take the two bed and make Huck and Jim watch out at night while they sleep. |
| Chap 20: What does the king do at the camp meeting? | He starts preaching and saying that he was a pirate from the Indian Ocean and lost all his men and money but he was happy about it because it caused him to be here and learn about the Lord. He asked from money so that he could go back and tell the other pirates about God so he could save them. The church members gave him money to help him go back to the Indian Ocean to save pirates. |
| Chap 20: How does the duke arrange for them to travel in the daytime? This chapter paints a fuller picture of the two hitchhikers that Huck and Jim have taken aboard. You will remember that the Grangerfords were first characterized through their possessions. How are the two men drawn? | printed up a bill for Jim that declares a $200 reward for him as a runaway slave. This way, he says, if anyone stops their raft, they can claim they’ve already captured him and are bringing him back to capture their reward. |
| Chap 21: What are the king and the duke getting ready for? | Performing scenes from Shakespeare to cheat people out of money. |
| Chap 21: What kind of a town is Brickville? | Small, Not nice, people are not very smart who live there. |
| Chap 21: Why had Boggs come to town? | To drink. Boggs has a habit of getting wasted (drunk) and riding through town on his horse threatening to kill everyone he doesn’t like. He liked to cause trouble. |
| Chap 21: What did the “loafer” think of Boggs’ treats? | Everyone is used to Boggs and his empty threats, so they’re more inclined to laugh at him than run screaming in the other direction. |
| Chap 21: Describe the murder of Boggs. | He started yelling at Sherburn, who owned the biggest store in town. Sherburn told him to leave by 1pm or he would kill him. Boggs did not leave so Sherburn came out and shot him dead. |
| Chap 21: How did the townspeople react to the murder? | They put a Bible under Boggs’ head and tried to lynch (hang) Sherburn. |
| Chap 22: Why did the “Lynching Bee” fail? | When the town came to Sherburn’s house to lynch (hang) him, he came out with a gun and said that they were all cowards and were to scared to lynch him. They got scared and went away. |
| Chap 22: What does Sherburn think of the men in the mob? | All cowards |
| Chap 22: Is he right? | Yes, because when they are scared they run away |
| Chap 22: Sherburn’s speech is the only place in the novel where the point of view shifts for any length of time. Why, at this point, does Twain let Sherburn take over? | ??? (check to see if this is right?) Showing different point of view in which Huck can’t explain |
| Chap 22: Why does Huck enjoy the circus so much? | ?? (ask about this answer) Exciting. It was a really good circus and he could forget about the troubles in his life. |
| Chap 22: How successful is the Shakespearean Revival | The town doesn’t understand it because they are not to smart and they don’t like it at all so they change their plans and decide to do a comedy the next night. |
| Chap 22: How does the duke plan to get an audience for the low-comedy presentation? | Puts up big signs saying their will be comedy show that “no women or kids allowed” so the crowd things it will be naughty. |
| Chap 22: Compare the incident at the circus with the shooting of Boggs. In what ways are the situations similar? How does Huck’s response differ from the crowd’s in both circumstances? | ??? ask teacher |
| Chap 23: Why doesn’t the audience “take care of” the king and the duke after the first performance? | They were embarrassed that they have been made a fool of. The audience hated the comedy show because it was so short and wanted to lynch the king and duke, but they wanted the rest of the town to fall for the duke and kings prank, so they wouldn’t look like the only stupid ones and then everyone in the town could lynch the king and duke together. |
| Chap 23: What happens on the third night? | Everyone came back to throw tomatoes at them and lynch them, but the duke and king had already taken off with the money and are back on the raft with Jim and Huck. |
| Chap 23: Discuss Huck and Jim’s comments on royalty in this chapter. Is it believable for Huck to know such history. Explain. | Huck tells Jim that the duke and king are bad guys (fakes) and that all kings are bad guys like Henry VIII who cut off the heads of his wives. It’s not believable for Huck to know such history because he is young and uneducated and he exaggerates all the descriptions of royalty. |
| Chap 23: Why is Huck amazed at Jim’s mourning his home and family? | He didn’t think black people could care about their families the same way whites do. |
| Chap 23: What does the story of Lizabeth show about Jim? | That he is a caring, loving dad. He felt horrible about the time he hit his daughter (Lizabeth) on the head for not closing the door because he found out later that his daughter had gone deaf because to the scarlet fever and could not hear her dad asking her to close the door. Jim thought she was just ignoring him so he hit her. When he found out she was deaf, he felt horrible. |
| Chap 24: Why is Jim dressed up like a sick Arab? | So he won’t be discovered as a runaway slave |
| Chap 24: Huck’s last statement in the chapter is, “It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race.” What is Huck talking about? | Huck is so disgusted by the duke and the king pretending to be the brothers of Peter Wilks (who has just died) in order to get the inheritance (money that he left). Huck couldn’t believe the would act like they were sad and cry about Peter’s death. |
| Chap 24: How does Twain make it believable for the two rogues (king & duke) to impersonate the Wilks brothers? | A young man they met who was from the same town, told the duke and king all about Peter Wilks and his family so they would know how to act like Peter’s 2 brothers. |
| Chap 25: Huck describes the tearful scene at the Wilks as the most disgusting thing he has ever seen. Does he mean only the king’s performance? | Huck thinks it’s disgusting the way the duke and king kneel and pray over the dead body, pretending to be distraught. |
| Chap 25: Why does the king give the money to Mary Jane? | Prove his royalty/honesty and look like a good guy even though they know they are going to steel the money later. |
| Chap 25: Have the “rapscallions” hood winked everybody? | Yes, except the Doctor Robinson |
| Chap 26: What decision does Huck make? | He can’t let the king and duke steal Mary Jane and her sisters money, so he takes the money/gold ($6,000 worth) and hides it in the coffin under the hands of the Peter Wilks (the dead guy) |
| Chap 26: What are the plans of the king and duke? | They want to sell off all the property of Peter Wilks so they can have even more money. Once they sell it off, the would take the money from Mary Jane and her sisters and leave town. The duke felt bad for the sisters about this plan, but the king told him that the sisters would get he house back once the town found out the king and duke were fakes; |
| Chap 27: Where did Huck hide the gold? | in Peter Wilks coffin under his hands. |
| Chap 27: Describe the undertaker (guy who buries dead people). | he was very quite and calm. He didn’t smile and walked very smoothly and was kind of creepy. |
| Chap 27: Where is the humor in Huck’s observation, “There warn’t no more popular man in town than what that undertaker was?” | (??check and see if this is right)Huck said the undertaker was the coolest guy in town. since he is a guy that buries the dead, this means the town does not have too many cool people. |
| Chap 27: How are the king’s plans progressing? | Well. The king sold all Peter Wilks’ slaves and plans on selling the property the next day. When the next day gets there, the duke and king realize the gold is gone (since Huck hid it in the coffin). They start yelling at Huck, so Huck tells the king that the slaves that the king sold yesterday stole the gold. Since the slaves were already gone, the king could not find out if the story was true which was a smart move by Huck. |
| Chap 28: What is special about Mary Jane? | She really cares about people and is very upset that her slaves that the king sold were split up so they would never see each other again which was horrible because they were all family. |
| Chap 28: Why is she the only person to whom Huck tells the truth? | Huck felt sorry for how sad she was and he also thought she was very pretty. |
| Chap 29: Why do the men decide to dig up the corpse? | In order to prove are the real 2 brothers of Peter Wilks. You see, the 2 real brothers of Peter show up at the same time the duke and king are still there acting like they are the brothers. Even though the 2 real brothers are there, the king and the duke keeping promising everyone that they are the real brothers and the new two guys are fakes. The real brothers tell the the town that there is a tattoo on Peter’s chest and that they know what it is. So the king guessed what the tatoo was and so did the real brother and the town dug up Peter to open the coffin and see who was right about the tattoo. The tattoo was his initials PWB, so the real brother got it right and the duke and king took off running. |
| Chap 29: Huck concludes the chapter by saying, “So I wilted right down onto the planks then, and give up; and it was all I could do to keep from crying.” What’s bothering Huck? | He and Jim were floating down the river again and he thought he had gotten rid of the duke and the king which relieved him because he knew they were bad guys. Then all of a sudden, he saw the king and duke paddling towards their raft and he was ready to just give up because he never thought he would get away from them. |
| Chap 30: Why are the king and duke fighting? | Because the king thinks the duke hid the gold in the coffin to steel it from the king and the duke thinks the king was trying to do the same thing to him; they start strangling each other and then the stop and start to drink and forget about everything. The funny thing was that Huck was really the guy that put the gold in the coffin and not the duke and the king. |
| Chap 30: Why do they get back together? | The started drinking and forgot the incident and forgave each other. |
| Chap 31: What do the king and duke do to Jim? | They sold him for $40 to Silas Phelps and the king used all the money to get drunk |
| Chap 31: Why does Huck write Miss Watson? | Letter-told her what is going on with Jim running away |
| Chap 31: Why does he tear up the letter? | Huck was going to write a letter to Miss Watson telling her the truth, but then realizes he can’t do that because she will then know that Huck helped steal her slave (Jim), so he tore up the letter. |
| Chap 31: Huck has rebelled against civilization before. At Miss Watson’s he smoked, played hookey, and left his room nights to sleep in the woods. What is different about this decision? | Before when Huck rebelled, he did it for his benefit and did not care how it affected others. Since he has now made the decision to rescue Jim and set him free, he is rebelling but he is doing it to help others without worrying about what is going to happen to him even though he thinks he will go to hell for helping Jim. He is putting others (Jim) first ahead of his own interests. |
| Chap 31: Tearing up the letter to Miss Watson has been described as one of the great moments in American history. A Southern boy breaks free of the social convention that surrounds him and risks his soul to free a Negro slave. Why is Huck just the boy to tear up the letter? | ?? (check if this is correct) Huck tearing up the letter means he won’t turn Jim in and has made the decision to rescue him. This is so meaningful because he has hard such a hard life that most would think he would be the last one to be the hero. Furthermore, since Huck is so young Twain is showing that you don’t have to be old and educated to know the difference between right and wrong. You can be a young kid as long as you use your conscience. |
| Chap 31: Discuss the implications of Huck’s conclusion, “All righ, then, I’ll go to hell.” | Being selfless; Huck makes the decision to help Jim even if it means that he/huck will go to Hell. |
| Chap 31: Huck again encounters the duke. What happens? | The duke starts to tell Huck the truth, but then tells him a lie about where Jim was sold to. Huck knows the truth and moves ahead to rescue Jim. |
| Chap 32: What is Huck’s new name? | Tom Sawyer; Sally and Silas Phelps are Tom’s aunt and uncle and are the ones who bought Jim from the King. |
| Chap 32: Why is that convenient for Huck? | Because Huck knows everything about Tom and his family. |
| Chap 33: Why is Huck surprised at Tom’s willingness to rescue Jim? | Tom has always been a “good boy” and didn’t think he would help |
| Chap 33: Why is Tom willing to do it? | He wants to do the adventure & have fun |
| Chap 33: What new identity does Tom assume? | Sid Sawyer |
| Chap 33: How does Huck feel when he sees the king and duke tarred and feathered? | He feels bad for the duke and king. He also feels guilty for what happened to them, but does not understand why. |
| Chap 33: Do they deserve his pity? | No, but Huck “thinks that human beings can be cruel to each other.” |
| Chap 33: Why is Huck so annoyed with his conscience? | Huck feels like it’s his fault even though he didn’t do anything; he thinks a person’s conscience bothers you no matter what you do. |
| Chap 33: Does the fact that Tom and Huck are on the plantation add to or detract from the plot? | (?? ask to get the right answer as I don’t think this one is right) Yes, because Tom had a negative influence |
| Chap 34: How did Tom figure out where Jim was? | He sees a slave with a plate of food go into a hut on the plantation. |
| Chap 34: Compare Huck’s plan for freeing Jim with Tom’s. | Huck’s plan was simple & Tom’s plan was complicated and long. Huck was just trying to help Jim and Tom wanted an adventure which is selfish. |
| Chap 34: What does Huck think of Tom’s fancy touches? | He thought it would have the same result (set Jim free) as his simple plan but was more risky and might get them both killed. |
| Chap 34: What are the dangers of Tom’s approach? | (?? check and ask if there are any more dangers) it was going to take a long time and could get Huck and Tom killed along with Jim; the dogs could bark and alert the family; Huck and Tom could get real sick from eating the saw dust cut from the leg of the bed where Jim was chained. |
| Chap 34: Some critics think Jim’s rescue is an inappropriate ending to the novel. They wonder how Huck, with his new maturity, can consent to Tom’s foolish scheme. Do you agree with these critics? Why or why not? | I don’t agree. Huck agreed to go along with Tom’s plan to rescue Jim even though he knew it was a bad plan that was too complicated and could get them killed, because Huck respected Tom and saw him as an honest person who does the right thing. He followed Tom at the beginning of the book, so it was easy to start to follow him again. In fact, he was so shocked that Tom agreed to risk his own reputation by helping Huck free Jim, that I think Huck would do just about anything Tom asked him to do. What Huck doesn’t when he sees Tom again on his way to visit his Aunt Sally is that Tom already knew that Miss Watson had freed Jim when she died 2 months earlier, so Tom isn’t really doing anything wrong by helping Huck free Jim from the Phelp’s hut. This ending just shows the reader how good a person Huck is compared to someone like Tom who is willing to let other people get hurt just to have an adventure. |
| Chap 35: What is the whole chapter, “Dark, Deep-Laid Plans’ about? | This chapter covers the plans Tom and Huck have for rescuing Jim like digging a hole at the hut, sawing off the leg of the bed to get the chain off, making Jim write notes in the cabin and more. |
| Chap 36: Huck says, “When I start to steal a ******, or a watermelon, or a Sunday-school book, I ain’t no ways particular how it’s don’e so it’s done.” How would Tom feel about this statement? | When Huck steals something, he just wants to do it, but Tom wants it to be a planned adventure with lots of excitement. |
| Chap 36: Why does Jim agree to go along with everything? | The plan did not make sense to Jim, but he agreed to do it exactly as Tom said because Jim believed that white people were smarter than blacks, so Tom must know what he was doing. |
| Chap 36: What’s Nat’s problem? | He is afraid of witches. Nat is Silas’s Phelps slave who is in charge of watching Jim was he is being held in the hut. |
| Chap 37: What is the topic of conversation at the breakfast table? | Aunt Sally was mad that things kept disappearing like the Silas’ shirt, a sheet, a spoon and candle sticks. Aunt Sally didn’t know that Huck & Tom were taking these items to help in Jim’s escape. |
| Chap 37: How does Tom manage to get the things he needs for the escape? | He steals them |
| Chap 37: Describe the baking of the witch pie. | To get it just right, it took a lot of time and Tom and Huck burned themselves quite a bit. They also had a problem with the pie collapsing in the middle so they put a ladder in it. |
| Chap 38: What is the irony involved in the fetching of the grindstone? | Jim escapes from the hut to help them bring back the grindstone which was heavy and then he goes back to prison in the hut. He was already free when he got out of the hut to help get the grindstone, but they were so busy planning their Adventure that none of them realized it. |
| Chap 38: Why does Tom try to talk Jim into keeping a pet rattlesnake? Rats? | Tom wants Jim to fill the role of the desperate prisoner who makes friends with wild things in his desperation, sadness and loneliness |
| Chap 38: What purpose does this chapter serve? | This chapter shows how Huck and Tom have gotten so involved in their adventure that they don’t realize that they are really hurting a man, Jim by making him sleep with rats and spiders and carve out words on a stone with a nail. They are playing with Jim almost like he is not real which makes them as bad as slave owners themselves. |
| Chap 38: Describe Jim’s ordeal. | Tom and Huck want to make life as hard as possible for Jim while in the hut so that the adventure is as good as possible. They make him sleep with snakes and spiders and carve words into rocks with nails just to make him happier when he escapes and to make their adventure exciting. |
| Chap 39: Why does Tom write anonymous letters? | Tom writes the anonymous letters primarily to make everyone who receives them nervous like Aunt Sally & Silas Phelps. His main goal is to stir up trouble, as usual. Specifically, he puts one letter on the back of a slave’s neck that instructs his “owners” to watch out for robbers who aim to steal the slave. |
| Chap 39: What does he say in them? | “Beware. Trouble is brewing. Keep a sharp lookout.” and that Jim is going to be taken/stolen from Phelp’s farm |
| Chap 40: What does Huck find when he goes into the sitting-room? | Huck sees 15 uneasy local farmers with guns who have gathered in the front room of the house the night of Jim’s “escape” because of the letters Tom wrote. |
| Chap 40: When the butter melts down Huck’s face, what does Aunt Sally think it is? | That Huck has brain fever and the inside of his body is squirting out the top of his head. |
| Chap 40: What one thing really does wrong in the escape? | Tom gets shot in the leg. |
| Chap 40: When Huck says, “I knowed he was white inside, and I reckoned he’d say what he did say.” What is he talking about? | Huck views Jim as his equal and as good as any white man because Jim is courageous, honest and loyal. |
| Chap 41: Why doesn’t Huck go with the doctor? | There is only room for one person in the canoe. |
| Chap 41: How does Huck explain his absence to Uncle Silas? | Tells him that he and Sid (Tom) was hunting for runaway slave |
| Chap 41: What is Old Mrs. Hotchkiss’ theory? | That Jim is crazy & there were thieves involved in stealing him (his escape) |
| Chap 41: Why doesn’t Huck go check on Tom that night? | He promised Aunt Sally that he would not go out looking for Tom and feels guilty about making her worry so much about them being gone. |
| Chap 42: Why don’t they hang Jim? | The doctor told the town’s people that Jim came out of hiding in the bushes to help the doctor save Tom. By doing this, Jim knew he would be captured, but Jim wanted to help save Tom’s life anyways. Since Jim did such a good thing that they should not hang him. |
| Chap 42: What does the doctor think of Jim? | He thinks he is a great slave who should be treated well after helped save Tom’s life when he was shot. |
| Chap 42: What does Tom tell Aunt Sally? | He tells his aunt the truth about how it was really him and Huck that were trying to set Jim free. When Tom hears that Jim has been thrown back in captivity, he is mad. He then tells everyone the truth that Jim is free and they should let him go because Miss Watson died two months ago and, feeling guilty and likely fearing hell, set Jim free in her will. |
| Chap 42: Why had Tom worked so hard to set Jim free when he was already free? | Tom just wanted an adventure which shows how selfish Tom is. |
| Chap 42: Who arrives on the scene to really straighten things out? | Aunt Polly who was the one originally taking care of Tom. When she shows up, everyone knows Huck’s and Tom’s real identities/names. |
| Last Chap: What were Tom’s plans concerning Jim after he was free? | Tom would have taken him on a steamboat back to Jim’s home, paid him for all of Jim’s time down the river and thrown a party for him with Jim’s friends (slaves) |
| Last Chap: What does Huck find out about his father? | That he died at the house that was floating down the river in the beginning of the story. |
| Last Chap: Does it seem right that Huck has been an orphan all along? | While it may seem sad that Huck has been an orphan, this allowed him to develop an even stronger relationship with Jim who became kind of like is father. Jim acted like Hucks father when her protects him from seeing his father’s face in the house floating down the river and by teaching Huck that racism was wrong. |
| Last Chap: Where is Huck bound for at the end of the novel? | Indian “Injun” country |
| Last Chap: Why does Huck reject civilization? | He prefers the life of adventure and trusts his own conscience and decisions better than what a civilized society might tell him is right and wrong. |
| What did Tom make Jim carve on the wall of the cabin before they helped him escape? | “Here a captive heart busted” |
Huck Finn – Study & Discussion Guide
June 4, 2020