FREE ESSAY ON HUCK FINN NOVEL ANALYSIS

HUCK FINN NOVEL ANALYSIS

I. Setting
The story of Huck Finn begins in his hometown of Hannibal, Missouri. Then the setting
changes to Jackson Island because Huck decides to run away and live there. After that the
setting changes to the Mississippi River and various towns alongside, when Jim and Huck
decide they are heading to a state where Jim will be free. 
The setting immediately reflects the tone of the book because the book is written in a
southern dialect and the story is set in the south. 
The setting is crucial to the actions in the book. If Huck lived in a state where slaves
were free, then there would have been no need for Huck and Jim to travel the Mississippi
looking for a state where Jim would be a free man. If they had not traveled up the
Mississippi then there would not have been any adventures of Huck Finn. 
II. Characters
The protagonist in this story is Jim, a runaway slave. He always looks out for those
around him, especially Huck. The three other major characters in the story are Huck Finn,
the king, and the duke. Huck Finn is the main character in the story and Jim's best
friend. The king and the duke are thieves who force Huck and Jim to let them on their
boat. 
Jim and Huck are dynamic characters. Their personalities and feelings on issues change
throughout the story. The king and the duke are static characters. They are greedy
thieves only out for themselves and they remain this way throughout the entire story. 
Two minor characters in this story are Mary Jane and the Widow Douglas. The widow Douglas
is a dynamic character. At the beginning of the story one gets the impression she only
wants Huck's money, but by the end of the story she actually cares about him and hopes
that he is all right. Mary Jane is a static character she is sweet and kind and stays
that way through the entire story. 
III. Quotes
Jim: "What is popular isn't always right."
Huck Finn: "All right, then, I'll go to hell."
The king: "I am the king of France and just about anything else that suits my fancy."
The duke: "Lets swindle the first good town we come to."
Mary Jane: "If it's reason enough for Huck, then it's reason enough for me." 
Widow Douglas: "Huck, you poor lost lamb."
IV. Form Structure and Plot
The plot of this story is simple, but the symbolism in it is complex. One really has to
read into the metaphors to understand the symbolism in the story. 
V. Narrative Perspective
This story is written in first person, past tense. It is narrated by an objective
narrator. It is autobiographical because it is a story told by the narrator about
himself. 
VI. Symbolism
Twain used Huck Finn to talk about the "damned human race" and to condemn the stereotypes
of right and wrong in which the rulers of society justified their own selfish interests.
In this novel the representative stereotype is slavery. Huck was constantly battling with
his conscious because morals of church and society said he should report a run away
slave. Another way to look at it is that Jim might represent slavery and Huck represents
white America's struggle with the morals of slavery. 
The work is allegorical. The River is the central symbol to which other symbolic elements
are referred. In this story the River accorded with Huck's loneliness; and whether it
ravened the land or was at peace, it was clean and trustworthy reality for Jim, a
fugitive from slavery, and Huck, fleeing from all the brutality of "civilization"
epitomized in his father. 
VII. Plot
The book begins with Huck Finn living with the Widow Douglas and Mrs. Watson, that is
until his father comes back into town and takes Huck into the woods to live with him.
Huck does not like living with his pa very much so one day when his pa is gone Huck makes
it look as if someone killed him and then runs away to Jackson Island. While on Jackson
Island he runs into Jim, a slave who ran away from the widow and Mrs. Watson. They decide
to sail down the Mississippi until they get to a state where Jim will be free. On the way
to a free state Huck and Jim had many adventures. Huck met the Grangerford family, who
was involved in a feud with the Shepherdsons, and he stayed with them until one day all
of them got shot and killed by Shepherdsons. On their journey Huck and Jim also met two
men who called themselves the king and the duke. They were greedy thieves who forced
their way on board Huck's raft. Shortly thereafter they arrive in a little Tennessee town
where the duke and the king expect to rob the Wilks girls of their inheritance by playing
the parts of the girls uncles, a parson and a deaf mute. Huck comes to feel badly for the
girls and tells them that the king and the duke aren't their actual uncles. Before Mary
Jane can do anything, the girls' real uncles show up and the town decides they are both
frauds. They decide to tar and feather them. While all the commotion is going on Jim and
Huck try to slip away, but they are noticed. While trying to escape Huck is shot so Jim
takes him back to the towns people to try and get Huck a doctor. The towns' people are
angry and decide to hang Jim. Just before they get the chance Mary Jane shows up with a
gun and demands that they release the slave and get Huck to a doctor. Well in the end
Huck gets well and Jim becomes a free man because on their journeys Mrs. Watson died and
in her will she gave Jim his freedom. 
The plot is written in chronological order.