Study Guide Huckleberry Finn

1. How does Huck solve the problem of forgetting his name? Bets Buck that he can't spell his name, and does, so then he knows his name – George Jackson 2. What does Huck think of the Grangerfords? Of their home? He thinks their home is really nice and he really likes the family 3. Huck often makes interesting observations. His comment on Emmeline Grangerford is, â€Å"I reckoned that with her disposition she was having a better time in the graveyard. † What does this shows about Huck? She focused so much on death and people dying that he figured she was in the place she always wanted to be, she was happier there. 4. Why had Emmeline died?Sickness Chapter 18 1. What is the cause of the feud between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons? It's been going on for 30 years, no one remembers what started it, beyond a legal dispute over land 2. Which side started the shooting? Jason Zhang's side 3. Why is Twain so vague about it? No one can remember how or why the feud started, but in the last year, two people have been killed, including a fourteen-year-old Grangerford. The two families attend church together and hold their rifles between their knees as the minister preaches about brotherly love. 4. Buck tells Huck, â€Å"There ain’t a coward amongst them Shepherdsons – not a one.And there ain’t no cowards amongst the Grangerfords either. † What are the drawbacks to this sort of courage? 5. Why is the topic of the Sunday sermon â€Å"satiric†? the sermon was about brotherly love, and the 2 families are killing each other in a feud 6. What has happened to Jim since the last time Huck has seen him? Jim followed Huck to the shore the night they were wrecked, but did not call out to him, for fear of being caught. Some slaves found the raft Jim was on, but he reclaimed it by threatening the slaves and saying it belonged to his white master. 7. What does Miss Sophie do? runs off with Harney Shepardson . What happens to the var ious Grangerfords? Sophia Grangerford runs off with one of the Shepardsons and a gunfight ensues that kills some of the Grangerfords. 9. What does Huck do? Chapter 19 1. Read aloud Huck’s description of river life that begins, â€Å"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? the peacefulness of the river, the scenery, the beauty, the ease of living 2. The peaceful interlude on the raft is disturbed by the arrival of the duke and the dauphin (the king).Describe these two â€Å"rapscallions. † liars, con-men, running away from people 3. When the duke and the dauphin first got on the raft, why did they talk to each other and ignore Huck and Jim? They are trying to out do each other in rank to decide who is in charge and who will sleep under the tent. 4. Huck says, â€Å"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 humbugs and frauds. † Why does he pretend to believe them? Huck quickly realizes that the two men they let onto the raft are liars, but to prevent â€Å"quarrels,† he does not let on that he knows.Chapter 20 1. How does Huck explain Jim to the duke and the king? He tells them that his family was hit by a steamboat while they were riding down the Mississippi, and that only he and Jim survived. 2. How do the king and duke treat Huck and Jim? Duke and King has treated Huck and Jim as their own personal servants. Rate This Answer 3. What does the king do at the camp-meeting? cons people for $87 pretending to be a reformed pirate 4. 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 Gragerfords were first characterized through their possessions. How are these two men drawn? prints a reward poster for Jim & they tie him up so it looks like they are returning him Chapter 21 1. What are the king and the duke getting ready for? performing a play – Romeo and Juliet 2. what kind of a town is Bricksville? Not a good place always looking for lynching someone. 3. Why had Boggs come to town? to kill Colonel Sherburn. 4. What did the â€Å"loafers† think of Boggs’ threats? do not take his threat very seriously, 5. Describe the murder of Boggs.Col. Sherburn shoots him down while he is drunk 6. How did the townspeople react to the murder? They are going to lynch Col. Sherburn Chapter 22 1. Why did the â€Å"Lynching Bee† fail? Because Sherburn tells them they are not men, just a mob and cowards. 2. What does Sherburn think of the men in the mob? Sherburn says the men in the mob are â€Å"beneath pitiful-ness†. Sherburn thinks the men are cowards. 3. Is he right? 4. Sherburn’s speech is the only place in the novel where the point of view shifts for nay length of time. Why, at this point, does Twain let Sherburn take over?We need Sherburn to speak because he is a MAN, Huck wouldn't be able to have the same effect on the reader. 5. Why does Huck enjoy the circus so much? pleasant relief from the king and the duke and the problems helping Jim escape. 6. How successful is the Shakespearean Revival? The Shakespearean Revival that is put on by the duke and the dauphin in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is not very successful. The characters don't really care if it's successful though as they are using it for a cover to scam people. 7. How does the duke plan to get an audience for the low-comedy presentation? 8.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 instances? They are both drunk, they are both in danger. With Boggs, he is curious, with the circus he's afraid for the man Chapter 23 1. Why doesn’t the audience â€Å"take care of† the king and the duke after the first performance? 2. What happens on the third night? 3. Discuss Huck and Jim’s comments on royalty in this chapter. Is it believable for Huck to know so much history? Explain. 4. Why is Huck amazed at Jim’s mourning his home and family? 5.What does the story of ‘Lizabeth show about Jim? Chapter 24 1. Why is Jim dressed up like a sick Arab? 2. Huck’s last statement in this chapter is, â€Å"It was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race. † What is Huck talking about? 3. How does Twain make it believable for the two rogues to impersonate the Wilks brothers? Chapter 25 1. Huck describes the tearful scene at the Wilkses as the most disgusting thing he has ever seen. Does he mean only the king’s performance? 2. Why does the king give the money to Mary Jane? 3. Have the â€Å"rapscallions† hood-winked everybody? Chapter 26 1. Wh at decision does Huck make? . What are the plans of the king and the duke? Chapter 27 1. Where did Huck hide the gold? 2. Describe the undertaker. 3. Where is the humor in Huck’s observation, â€Å"There warn’t no more popular man in town than what the undertaker was†? 4. How are the king’s plans progressing? Chapter 28 1. What is special about Mary Jane? 2. Why is she the only person to whom Huck tells the truth? Chapter 29 1. Why do the men decide to dig up the corpse? 2. Huck concludes the chapter by saying, â€Å"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?Chapter 30 1. Why are the king and the duke fighting? 2. Why do they get back together? Chapter 31 1. What do the king and duke do to Jim? 2. Why does Huck write Miss Watson? 3. Why does he tear up the letter? 4. Huck has rebelled against civilization before. At Miss Watson’s he smoked, played h ookey, and left his room nights to sleep in the woods. What is different about this decision? 5. 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 that letter? 6. Discuss the implications of Huck’s conclusion, â€Å"All right, then. I’ll go to hell. † 7. Huck again encounters the duke. What happens? Chapter 32 1. What is Huck’s new name? 2. Why is that convenient for Huck? Chapter 33 1. Why is Huck surprised at Tom’s willingness to rescue Jim? 2. Why is Tom willing to do it? 3. What new identity does Tom assume? 4. How does Huck feel when he sees the king and duke tarred and feathered? 5. Do they deserve his pity? 6. Why is Huck so annoyed with his conscience? 7.Does the fact that both Tom and Huck are on the plantation add to or detract from the pl ot? Chapter 34 1. How did Tom figure out where Jim was? 2. Compare Huck’s plan for freeing Jim with Tom’s 3. What does Huck think of Tom’s fancy touches? 4. What are the dangers of Tom’s approach? 5. Some critics think that 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? Chapter 35 1. What is the whole chapter, â€Å"Dark, Deep-Laid Plans† about? Chapter 36 1.Huck says, â€Å"When I start to steal a nigger, or a watermelon, or a Sunday-school book, I ain’t no ways particular how it’s done so it’s done. † How would Tom feel about this statement? 2. Why does Jim agree to go along with everything? 3. What’s Nat’s problem? Chapter 37 1. What is the topic of conversation at the breakfast table? 2. How does Tom manage to get the things he needs for the escape? 3. D escribe the baking of the witch pie. Chapter 38 1. What is the irony involved in the fetching of the grindstone? 2. Why does Tom try to talk Jim into keeping a pet rattlesnake? Rats? . What purpose does this chapter serve? 4. Describe Jim’s ordeal. Chapter 39 1. Why does Tom write anonymous letters? 2. What does he say in them? Chapter 40 1. What does Huck find when he goes into the setting-room? 2. When the butter melts down Huck’s face, what does Aunt Sally think it is? 3. What one thing really goes wrong in the escape? 4. When Huck says, â€Å"I knowed he was white inside, and I reckoned he’s say what he did say,† what is he talking about? Chapter 41 1. Why doesn’t Huck go with the doctor? 2. How does he explain his absence to Uncle Silas? 3. What is Old Mrs.Hotchkiss’ theory? 4. Why doesn’t Huck go check on Tom that night? Chapter 42 1. Why don’t they hang Jim? 2. What does the doctor think of Jim? 3. What does Tom tell Aun t Sally? 4. Why had Tom worked so hard to set Jim free when he was already free? 5. Who arrives on the scene to really straighten things out? Last Chapter 1. What were Tom’s plans concerning Jim after he was free? 2. What does Huck find out about his father? 3. Does it seem right that Huck has been an orphan all along? 4. Where is Huck bound for at the end of the novel? 5. Why does Huck reject civilization?