Huckleberry Finn

A detailed Summary of Huckleberry Finn

An analysis of the ending of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn by Hasan Memon

"I never let my schooling interfere with my education..."

Mark Twain wrote the last few chapters in order to show that non-abolishing of slavery was just a horrific of a crime against humanity as owning a slave. Mark Twain believed that men should stand up and speak against the institution of slavery and if man failed many lives would be doomed, therefore prolonging the horrific cycle of oppression. This opinion is clearly expressed in the last few chapters of Huckleberry Finn through the interaction of Huck, Tom and Jim. Mark Twain was quoted as having had said, "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear-not absence of fear" in Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar.

As Huck and Jim journeyed down the river they developed a bond. There were multiple obstacles and tests through which Jim gained Huck's trust, strengthening their bond. This book was heretical because it was one of the first, if not the first to declare a "nigger" human. Jim was transformed in Huck's perspective as an actual, feeling, thinking human being.

||||Put quote in when Huck had to humble himself||||

The evidence of this is shown when Huck is forced

To humble oneself to a "nigger" was abnormal because the beliefs of the society of the time. The "niggers" ranking in society was shown in the introduction of chapter thirty-two. When Huck entered Mrs. Phelps house, she asked him why he was so late. Huck, in response, told her that a cylinder head exploded. She responded "Good Gracious! Anybody hurt?" Huck, in disguise as a archetypical person of society, tells her "No'm Killed a nigger." This conversation seems very harmless and trivial but upon closer examination, the value of a "nigger" in society can be deduced. Huck tacked on a comment that did not need to be there. Huck's response could have been "No'm". The part "Killed a nigger" is very similar to the end of the book.

Tom's insanity was shown in his efforts to turn Jim into a "hero". Tom suggests everything, from insignia to befriending snakes. On many occasions the two worlds collided but Tom kept pushing his convictions on Huck and Jim, no matter how clear reality became. One can even conclude that Mark Twain was critiquing western culture itself**. The way Tom pushes his beliefs on Huck is similar to the way the western world pushes its beliefs other counties. There are many U.S foreign policies, which are made by "scholars" who have no grip of the greater spectrum. Many of these men cannot prove or disprove their beliefs (rather than pointing to books but they continue to push things they have read in books on others, which is truly a ridiculous concept. There were many clashes of reality and romance yet Tom continued to ignore the truth and live in his Peter Pan world. "Making them pens was a distressed tough job, and so was the saw; and Jim allowed the inscription was goin got be the toughest of all. That's the one, which the prisoner has to scrabble on to the wall. But he had to have it; Tom said he'd go to. 'Look at Lady Jane Grey,' he says; look at Gilford Dudley; look at Northumberland.'" Clearly this was a absurd idea because Jim could not write. When Jim replied "Why, Mars Tom, I hain't got no coat o' arms; I hain't got neffn but dish yet ole shirt, en you knows I got to keep de journal on dat", Tom was quick to reply "Oh, you don't understand, Jim; a coat of arms is very different."

**- I am not sure how interested Mark Twain was in international affairs and the hi

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Approximate Word count = 1554
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English