Huck Finn study guide:  Below you will find questions to ensure understanding and comprehension of Huck Finn.   Questions should be answered on a separate sheet of paper and remain in your binder at all times.  Questions will be regarded as part of reading homework unless otherwise noted and will help form a basis for class discussion.  

Chapters 1-3

1. In the opening lines of the novel, what important details does Huck give the reader about the end of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer?  Where is Huck still living when he begins his own story?

2. In what way has the widow tried to change Huck?  How does Huck seem to feel about her attempts to change him?

3. Why is Huck’s personality at odds with life in the widow’s home?  In what ways does the widow’s treatment of Huck differ from Miss Watson’s treatment of Huck?  Who is most responsible for Huck’s feelings of resentment toward being “civilized”?

4. At what time of night does Tom Sawyer call Huck out of his room?  What does Tom “steal” from the widow’s kitchen before they leave?  What practical joke does Tom play on Jim?  In what way does this joke make Jim “famous” when he later tells people about it?

5. Why do you think Tom is the group leader?  Why do you think Huck offers Miss Watson, rather than Miss Douglas, as a person to be killed if he violates the group’s oath?  Even thought the boys want to be outlaws, they do not want to meet on Sunday, a church day, for their meetings.  What does this fact say about the seriousness of their wishes to be outlaws?

6. A narrator is one who tells a story.  Point of view is the vantage point from which a story is told.  Huck’s way of describing the events in his life contributes to the humor in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  He is rather innocent in his dealings with people and reports things directly as he sees them.  He is also often unaware when he has said something insightful.  Give examples from the novel of Huck’s style as a narrator.  Name things that seem funny or strange when they are described from his point of view.

Chapters 4-7

1. How does Huck seem to feel about his father?  What does Huck’s wish to hide his money reveal about what Pap might be like as a person?  What does this action show about Huck’s practical nature?

2. Why do you think Pap feels so threatened by the fact that Huck is going to school and living with such material refinements as clean clothes and a rug on his bedroom floor?  Does Pap seem most concerned about Huck’s welfare or is he most concerned about himself?  How do you know this?

3. Do you think Pap is truly concerned with being a father to his son?  What, most likely, are his reasons for fighting so strongly to be with Huck?  In what ways does he show that he resents losing power over Huck almost as much as he resents the loss of Huck’s money?

4. Motivation is a force that moves a character to think, feel, or behave in a certain way.  After years of neglecting and abusing Huck, Pap returns to fight in court for custody of Huck.  What is his motive?  Do you think he has any motives besides Huck’s money and a desire for control?  What is Huck’s motivation in planning his escape?

5. A Motif is any element that recurs in one or more works of literature or art.  Superstition is an important motif in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Throughout the novel, readers will see characters turning to superstitious beliefs.  What are some superstitions that Huck and Jim believe?

Chapters 8-11

1.      How does Huck know his plan to make people believe he has been killed is successful?  What does he witness?

2. How does Huck feel during his first night on the island, after his successful escape?  In what ways do his feelings change when the steamboat leaves and he realizes that “nobody else would come a-hunting” after him?

3. How does Huck feel to have found a companion?  How does Jim react to seeing Huck?  Why does he react this way?  What makes Huck uncomfortable about the promise he makes to Jim?

4. In what ways is Huck unsuccessful at fooling the woman he visits?  In what ways is he successful?  When Huck rushes back to Jim, he tells Jim, “They’re after us!”  Are people really after Huck?  In what way does his reaction to news of a hunt for Jim show that Huck has begun to identify closely with Jim?

5. Why do you think Huck agrees to keep Jim’s secret even thought he knows people in the village would “despise” him as a “low-down Abolitionist”?  Why would people regard Huck’s wish to hide Jim as a bad thing?  Why does Huck make this decision despite what people may say?  Why might Huck feel closer to Jim than to others in the village?

6. Theme is the central idea of a literary work.  In chapters 7-11, an important theme of the novel is raised—Huck’s growing sense of compassion for other human beings, especially for Jim.  Refer to the prank with the dead snake Huck plays on Jim in chapter 10.  What is Huck’s intent when he plays the prank?  What is the unfortunate result of his prank?  How does Huck feel when he realizes his mistake?  What do his feelings reveal about his growing maturity and his feelings for Jim? 

Chapters 12-16

1.      What do Huck and Jim do to prepare the raft for travel?  What is unusual about the steamboat they encounter?  Who takes the lead in deciding to explore the steamboat?

2. Why doesn’t Huck simply leave the men on the boat to their fate?  Why does he fabricate an elaborate story in an attempt to help them?  What does this reveal about Huck’s character?

3. On a particular foggy night, what causes Huck to lose sight of the raft and Jim?  Where is the raft when he finally finds it, and what condition is it in?  What prank does he try to play on Jim?  When Jim catches on to the prank, what vow does Huck make?

4. What is Jim’s reaction to seeing Huck?  How does Jim feel about the joke Huck played on him?  How does Huck feel after being scolded by Jim?  How do you know, based on this incident, that Huck takes Jim’s feelings and Jim’s friendship seriously?

5. Why does Huck begin to feel uncomfortable as Jim talks about his plans for the future?  When Huck leaves the raft to go ashore, how do Jim’s parting words affect him?  Why does Huck decide that it’s “troublesome to do right”?

6. A symbol is a thing that stands for or represents both itself and something else.  What does the river represent to Huck and Jim?  Of what might the fog be symbolic?

7. A Conflict is a struggle between two forces in a literary work.  A struggle that take place between a character and some outside force is called an external conflict.  A struggle that takes place within a character is called an internal conflict.  What internal conflict does Huck face?  How does he resolve this conflict, at least temporarily?

Chapters 17-18

1. What kind of place is the Grangerfords’ house?  Why is the Grangerford home different from homes to which Huck is accustomed?

2. Does Huck appear to be impressed by the Grangerfords’ way of life?  Do you think he could live comfortably with them for long?  Why, or why not?

3. Which character in the Grangerford family especially fascinates Huck?  How does he learn more about her?

4. What touches off the new fighting between the Grangerfords and the Sheperdsons?

5. How does the Shepardson-Grangerford feud compare with the games that Tom Sawyer and his gang of robbers have played?  In what ways do the two scenarios differ?

6. Why is Huck so relieved to be back on the river with Jim?  What does Huck learn about home as he considers life with the Grangerfords and living on the raft?

Chapters 19-23

1. Do Huck and Jim seem content?  Why do you think Huck says, “we would watch the lonesomeness of the river.”  What does he mean?

2. From whom are the two men escaping?  Why?  How do they present themselves to Huck and Jim?

3. What kinds of things do the self-styled duke and king do to make a living?  Why do you think they decide to call themselves a duke and a king?  How would you describe the duke and the king?  Why does Huck decide not to question their stories, even though he does not believe them?  In what way might challenging these men put Jim at risk?

Chapters 24-30

1. How have the duke and the king taken over the river trip?  Why do you think Huck and Jim lose control of the situation?

2. What inspires Huck to risk telling the truth to Mary Jane?  What qualities about her impress him?

Chapters 31-33

1.      Why do you think Huck has such a difficult time getting rid of the king and the duke?  Have the king and the duke helped Jim and Huck at all, or was their presence on the raft completely unnecessary?

2.      After Huck finds out that Jim has been captured, he has a crisis of conscience as he tries to decide what to do.  What does he think is the right thing to do?  Why?  Does he decide to do what he believes is the right thing?

3.      What forces are at work in Huck as he struggles to decide what to do about Jim?  Is the choice he makes really the “wicked” choice, as he says?

4.      How do you feel about Huck’s response to the question about who was hurt on the boat?  Why do you think he said this?  Why is Aunt Sally not shocked?  Do you think Huck’s response reflects how he really feels, or is he playing a part?

5.      When Huck watches the king and the duke being punished, he says, “It was a dreadful think to see.  Human beings can be awful cruel to one another.”  What other incidents of human cruelty in this section leave Huck baffled and confused?  Why are such things beyond his understanding?

Chapters 34-44

1. What experience causes Tom to admit his plans are somewhat unrealistic?  Does he abandon his plans altogether?  How does he reconcile himself to the fact that they can not dig an escape tunnel with knives?

2. What does Jim’s willingness to sacrifice his own safety for Tom’s well-being say about Jim’s character?  What does Tom’s unwillingness to sacrifice the adventure to see a doctor, even when he is seriously hurt, say about Tom’s character?