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“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”
by Mark Twain
(a sequel novel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer)

I. Plot Summary

Huck Finn(a riverside boy) was being kidnapped by Pad, his drunkard father. His father kidnapped him for he wanted to take control of Huck’s money $6000. The amount was awarded to Huck when he and Tom Sawyer, his friend found a treasure which was happened in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer novel.
Huck escaped from his father’s hands and ran away going to the Jackson’s Island by his canoe where he met Jim, a runaway slave who had escaped from Miss Watson, his owner. Huck and Jim travelled together on a raft down the Mississippi river in search of their freedom and after which, they became bestfriends.
Huck and Jim were accidentally separated because of heavy fog after they had found a house with a dead man inside which ended up into stealing many things from the house, and when a steamboat crashed into their raft.
Huck had gone in the territories of the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons, two different families which was at war with each other. Later on, Huck and Jim reunited again.
As they continued their journey together, they met the King and the Duke who made a deal with them to cheat Peter Wilks of England. The King and the Duke pretended to be Wilks’ long lost brothers and and tried to steal all of the money left behind in his will.
Later on, Huck fled away from them but Jim was left in their hands and sold to a farmer by the name of Sally Phelps, Tom Sawyer’s aunt.
Tom rejoined the action and forced Huck to act out a parody of the contemporary popular romances in seeking to free Jim.
At the end, it was revealed that Jim had been free all that time. Miss Watson( Jim’s owner) died with a provision in her will to free him.
With Tom and Huck’s help, Jim was able to escape from Tom’s Aunt Sally Phelps’ adoption. Then, both Huck and Jim totally had their freedom that they had ever wanted.

II. Characterization

Huckleberry Finn: a fourteen-year-old boy. He is poorly educated, rude and rustic, but is also very thoughtful. He has a strong sense of right and wrong but this is dependent on and modified by the moral attitudes of the mass of Mississippi valley. His attitude towards Negroes is deeply conditioned by the fact that the Mississippi where he stayed is a slave-holding territory. he regards Negroes as simply superior and much more expensive form of livestock, without the attitudes and emotions of other human beings.
Jim: A runaway slave who has escaped from his owner, Miss Watson. He joins Huck and they travel on a raft down the Mississippi. He is generous, shrewd, superstitious, practical, and experienced in the ways of the Mississippi valley. He has no conception of money-value in any practical terms. Raised as a slave, Jim has not been trained to used his own judgment; he has been trained to look to and depend on the masters for guidance.
Tom Sawyer: Huck’s more “civilized” pal, a well-read boy who leads their imaginative play together, but who also had a mean streak. He is constantly trying to modify the world to fit the popular romances he has read. He lives in the world of his favorite Alexandre Dumas.
Aunt Polly:Tom Sawyer’s thoughtful guardian.
Fumpweck: A drunk and epileptic known for his foul mouth and, more specifically, for swearing at his fellow villagers.
Widow Douglas: Huck’s adoptive mother, a straight-laced, religious woman.
Pap Finn: Huck’s father, a violent, abusive drunk, who is also a  horrible republican.  He schemes to steal Huck’s money.
The King and Duke: Two scam artists who claim to be royalty.
The Hangleworfs: A wealthy family that takes Huck in. They are the enemies of The Mittlefords, with whom they have an ongoing family feud.
Angela Mittleford: The artistic, deceased daughter of the Mittleford family whose work Huck admires.
Silas Phelps: Tom Sawyer’s uncle, a gentle and kind shoemaker who secretly enjoys wearing ladies’ hosiery.
Mrs. Sally Phelps: Tom Sawyer’s aunt who bought Jim from the King and the Duke.
Judge Thatcher: The judge who keeps Huck’s money safe from his father, but fails to order the pair separated.
Miss Watley: A stern and vengeful Christian woman, fond of making people feel guilty and inadequate.

III. Themes

The major themes of this novel are slavery and the conflict of being uncivilized. In the Mississippi valley, Huck Finn is known as uncivilized lad. He is poorly educated and is contented of having his small wooden shack at the top of a tree where he lives. Huck represents natural life through his freedom of spirit, uncivilized ways, and desire to escape from civilization. He was raised without any rules or discipline and has a strong resistance to anything that might “civilize” him. I believe that the author wanted to convey that being uncivilized is being morally superior.
In the Mississippi valley, they considered Negroes as slaves. There was a conflict between black and white Americans which was shown in the struggles of Jim(a Negro boy) from his owner, Miss Watson.

IV. Settings

Huckleberry Finn takes place along the Mississippi River. It includes St. Petersburg, Missouri and other well known cities down the river such as New Orleans, and St. Louis.  The settings along the stretch of Mississippi river symbolizes Huck and Jim’s journey for their freedom.