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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Huckleberry Finn, an abused outcast, rafts with Jim, a runaway slave, down the Mississippi River, where they have a variety of experiences.
-condensed and retold by Clay Stafford
-illustrations by Ruth Palmer.
-condensed and retold by Clay Stafford
-illustrations by Ruth Palmer.
180 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
9 people are currently reading
223 people want to read
About the author
Clay Stafford
16 books46 followerswww.ClayStafford.com
Clay Stafford is an award-winning author, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He has sold over 3.9 million hardcover copies of his children’s adaptations and has seen his film work distributed in over 16 languages. Publishers Weekly named Stafford one of the Top Ten Nashville literary leaders playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” not only in middle-Tennessee, but also extending “beyond the city limits and into the nation’s book culture.” He is the founder of Killer Nashville and Killer Nashville Magazine. Previously associated with Universal Studios and PBS, he is currently CEO of American Blackguard, Inc. near Nashville, Tennessee.
Clay Stafford is an award-winning author, screenwriter, and filmmaker. He has sold over 3.9 million hardcover copies of his children’s adaptations and has seen his film work distributed in over 16 languages. Publishers Weekly named Stafford one of the Top Ten Nashville literary leaders playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” not only in middle-Tennessee, but also extending “beyond the city limits and into the nation’s book culture.” He is the founder of Killer Nashville and Killer Nashville Magazine. Previously associated with Universal Studios and PBS, he is currently CEO of American Blackguard, Inc. near Nashville, Tennessee.
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April 4, 2022
Good Stuff.
September 17, 2018
I find it very difficult to understand the English used by the author. However, I choose this story for my theme paper. Here are the details:
FORBIDDEN FREEDOM
The setting of Mark Twain story “The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn” is crucial to enhance reader’s understanding on the theme of the novel. The Mississippi River in this story is the ultimate symbol of freedom where Huck and Jim can escape from their melancholic lives. During this era, a river is not just a river. It gives life and death to human and living things and also a much-traveled highway through United States. Other than being America’s premier river, The Mississippi River is the route used by Huck and Jim towards freedom. The river and the raft are the only place where they can talk freely because the society teaches them not to talk with the slave because they are not equals because slaves are at the bottom level of society. The setting plays a role to help in revealing the theme and freedom is one of the dominant themes that stood out throughout this novel. There are several freedoms that have been portrayed in this novel but these three are the most obvious ones, which are freedom from guilt, freedom of faith and freedom from loneliness.
According to Oxford Dictionary, guilt is “the fact of having committed a specified or implied offense or crime or a feeling of having done wrong or failed in an obligation”. Freedom from guilt is finding release from burden that someone has because of his or her sinful act. Feeling guilt is always a terrible feeling. When a person keeps questioning their misbehavior, playing and replaying what they did inn their mind, it will increase the feeling of guilt. A person will feel guilt when they realize what they have done was wrong. Since nobody likes to feel guilty, a guilty person will come out with reasons to justify their act and decrease their self-generated suffering. Huck is trying to achieve the freedom from guilt in this story by using the term ‘borrow’ when he ‘steals’ something. Huck learns this from Pap, his father who says that it is not wrong to ‘borrow’ someone else’s property without permission because someday they will return it.
“Mornings before daylight I slipped into cornfields and borrowed a watermelon, or a mushmelon, or a pumkin, or some new corn, or things of that kind. Pap always said it warn’t no harm to borrow things if you was meaning to pay them back some time.”
Huckleberry-Chapter 12, page 65
Huck’s father, Pap uses the word ‘borrow’ to comfort himself that what he is doing is not sinful. Consequently, Huckleberry learns this bad value and his character change. As a teenager Huck tend to be easily influence by people around him. Teenager could not differentiate between the good and the bad because it is their nature wanting to try something new in their life. When Pap instills this value in Huck at the young age, he follows it without doubt. Therefore this wrong value is portrayed throughout the story whenever he is in need of something that he did not own.
“The minute I was far enough above the town to see I could make the towhead, I begun to look sharp for a boat to borrow, and the first time the lightning showed me one that wasn’t chained I snatched it and shoved.”
Huckleberry-Chapter 29, page 193
This extract was when Huckleberry was trying to run from the town people who chase him because he was with the Duke and the Dauphin who were trying to steal money from Peter Wilks, the deceased townsman. He wanted to steal a boat so that he and Jim can escape from the frauds and townspeople.
“Along during that morning, I borrowed a sheet and a white shirt off of the clothes line; and I found an old sack and put them in.”
Huckleberry-Chapter 35, page 230
Then, later in the story Huck and Tom steal the white sheet, shirts, old sack and candles in order to save Jim from being sent back to his owner by Silas Phelps. However, Huckleberry thinks he is free from guilt because again, he uses the word ‘borrow’.
This type of negative freedom will only bring destruction to the society and individual, like what it had done to Huck as he or she will keep living in denial to avoid their actual feeling. The society decrees that taking another person’s property without permission is wrong and changing the term would not make it right or forgivable. Huck’s character is trying to change the value in human by following the bad example showed by his father, which leads to the misconception of lawful behavior. Negative freedom like this allows people to feel better and at ease about their wrong doings. However, it will not free them from the risk of being punished if they get caught. Moreover, it brings problem to the individual and encourages one to be dishonest and should not be practiced in society because it has a lot of negative effect and will produce chaotic society in future.
Freedom from guilty is portrayed on the scene when Jim is thrilled to see Huck alive, but Huck tries to trick Jim by pretending that Jim dreams up their entire separation. When Jim notices all the debris, dirt, and tree branches that stuck on the raft while it was adrift, he knows that Huck lies. Jim feels angry and hurt as Huck makes a fool of him after he has worried about Huck so much. He is angry at Huck not because of the lies but Huck fails to see the consequences of his lies. Jim believes in superstitious and having that kind of dream is like an evil sign that something bad will happen to them. Jim expresses his worries over Huck and makes Huck realize his mistakes and consequently feels guilty over what he had done: “It made me feel so mean I could almost kissed his foot to get him to take it back”. (Huckleberry-Chapter 15, page 84) In order to wipe away his guilty feeling and make him free, he apologise to Jim. The freedom from guilty can be seen in this chapter portrayed by Huck who will do anything to be free. Huck is considered lucky as Jim forgives his lie and sets him free from the guilt he shoulders. This event is the starting point where seeking freedom changes Huck feelings towards Jim. Before this event, Huck always makes fun of Jim and does not treat Jim as someone important in his life. However, this event is like a strike that change Huck to appreciate Jim and their friendship more. He finally sees how Jim values their friendship.
In real life, apologizing is a way to express regret of a wrongdoing or misconduct. However, not all mistakes can be easily forgiven. This kind of freedom should not be taught to children. They must be forbidden from running away from the feeling of guilt when they make mistakes so that they will learn their lesson. Not all human are as lucky as Huck who changes to be someone better through his escapism to seek freedom. Therefore, at home, it might not right to forgive children whenever they misbehave especially when they lie. They must be taught that there must be consequences for certain infractions. If lying is part of the offense the punishment will be swift, immediate, unpleasant, and nonnegotiable. Telling a lie is the worst offense because it is foundational for all other evil acts. Too many lies in a society will demolish good values in the system. It will bring damage to the society where words could never be counted upon and make human communications worthless. Every sin or crime begins with someone believing or telling a lie.
The worst step in attaining freedom from guilty is through escapism. Huck unintentionally helped Colonel Grangerford’s daughter, Sophia ran away from home with Harney Shepherdsons and he felt guilty because of it. These two families are in feud. Sophia manipulated Huck by asking him to retrieve a Bible from the bench in the church but she actually wants the note inside it. Huck saw that Sophia cheek turned pink when she read the note in the bible with the words “Half-past two”. However, Huck does not know that this is a foreshadow and by the time Huck knew about Sophia’s run off, it is too late. As the consequences, Grangerfords’ family has having a big gunfight with the Shephersons. Both of the Grangerfords, Buck, who also Huck’s room mate and his father are killed. Huck feels that he is the one who trigger everything because he helped Sophia that night. He could not hold the guilty feeling inside him any longer. In order to attain his freedom, he runs away from Grangerfords’ home. The realization that the is the place where can make he feels from guilt and remorse and he said, “Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery but a raft don’t. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on the raft.” (Huckleberry-Chapter 18, page 112) Although this escapism wipes Huck guiltiness towards the family, it changes Huck totally. He does not want the same thing that happens to Buck who he considers close to him happens to Jim. Therefore when Jim is sold to the Silas Phelps, Huck tries as best as he can to save Jim.
Running away from problem by telling more lies oneself is not an appropriate move. That is why this act to achieve freedom from guilt should be forbidden from ones life. Escapism is a form of self-defense mechanism. Many people try to escape from various things because they think that they have no strength to face them. However, this does not solve anything. A person may get a temporal sense of relief when they avoid their problem but the problem will come and hunt him or her in future. For example, Huck has been running away since the early chapters of the book and readers can see that nothing has been solved in his life and he only stacks up more problems upon himself. Therefore, readers need to learn from Huck mistake is a person needs to work thorough the issues that they have.
Freedom of faith is also being pictured in this story. The meaning of freedom of faith is when a person is free to practice what religion he or she would like. In this story, other than in Huck, this freedom can also be seen in Jim’s character. Although the story is set in the era of slavery and the owner of slave has their own beliefs, they give freedom to their slaves to choose what they want to believe. Magic and superstition are always synonymous in slaves’ lives. Much has been written about the African American religious experience that highlights the importance of magic in the slave culture. They believe that they have only one god but they do not pray to god as god is too high exalted above for them so they commit to the spirit instead (McNamara,2010). Therefore they have strong beliefs in witches and ghost and a lot of example in this story shows that the slaves are free to have their own faith and they are free to believe what they want to believe in. However, freedom of faith is not only related to supernatural in a slave’s life but also to other characters who went to church but at the same time believe in witches and ghosts. The society is not strict and rigid in terms of their religious beliefs.
Although Huck lives in the Widow’s house, he is free to practice what he believes in. Having grown up without religion and without a good guidance from adults, Huck was bored, uncomfortable and does not understand the value that the Widow and Miss Watson are trying to teach him. “Miss Watson she kept pecking at me, and it got tiresome and lone- some. By and by they fetched the niggers in and had prayers, and then everybody was off to bed.” (Huckleberry-Chapter 1, page 5) When miss Watson leads a prayer session with Huck and the household slaves, it shows that she has religion and believes in god. In Christian tradition, saying a grace (short prayer contains thankful phrase) will be said before and after eating. The Widow and Miss Watson try to make Huck says grace to before meals but he finds it ridiculous since he has to wait for the reciting to be done before he can have his food. However, both of them also give Huck freedom in choosing his faith. This can be seen when Huck does not want to pray, they did not scold him. Huck prefers to believe in the supernatural “Then away out in the woods I heard that kind of a sound that a ghost makes when it wants to tell about something that’s on its mind and can’t make itself understood…” (Huckleberry-Chapter 1, page 5). However, his choice to believe in supernatural makes it abundantly clear how different Huck is from the more civilized characters in the novel. This is because in this story, civilise people have their own beliefs.
Huck believes strongly in the power of evil, which is probably the result of his dark childhood life. As a child, he is supposed to hold on to naïve belief and be open to any religion. However, he is the way he is as a consequence of the terrible things that has happened early in his life. He lived with an abusive alcoholic father, feeling alone and abandoned. Believing in superstition is the only way for Huck to make sense of why terrible things continue to happen to him. Being too free from religion is not good for an individual and a kid as it might divert them from the good values of the society. The story depicts that a family with religion is civilized, well adjusted and live without fear. The religious family will help to produce a stable family. Children will learn values from their parents first at home before they go out in the real world. Parents need to provide them with a good example to guide their children to live in this challenging world. Sooner or later, the children will seek religion and but the children in this story is doing it in an opposite way.
The juxtaposition of faith between the owner and the slave’s beliefs has been portrayed in Jim and Miss Watson. Jim, the slave believes in superstitious and witches.
“Afterwards Jim said the witches bewitched him and put him in a trance, and rode him all over the State, and then set him under the trees again, and hung his hat on a limb to show who done it.” (Huckleberry-Chapter 1, page 8)
When he was sleeping in the back yard of Miss Watson’s kitchen, his hat is placed on the branch of a tree and Tom drop five cent in the kitchen. Tom was making fun of Jim but Jim believed that the witches visited him and the devil gave him a five-cent piece, which he wore in his neck on a ring to arouse the power of supernatural. The other slaves have identified him as someone knowledgeable about supernatural powers among other slaves and worship. This shows that although Miss Watson, his owner has her own stand in religion, Jim has the freedom to choose on what he believes in. This is good because one cannot force people to embrace other people’s belief, as it will affect their sincerity in practicing the religion.
The third freedom that has been pictured in this story is freedom from loneliness. At the beginning of the novel, Huck struggles against the attempts to civilize him done by Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson. Both of them are trying to help him to become civilised. However, Huck does not only find it difficult to live in a society which is pictured as a society full of manners and custom imposed by Southern society, he feels lonely too. This can be seen in the first chapter when he was with Miss Watson.
“I couldn’t stood it much longer. Then for an hour it was deadly dull, and I was fidgety. Miss Watson would say, “Don’t put your feet up there, Huckleberry;” and “Don’t scrunch up like that, Huckleberry—set up straight;”
(Huckleberry-Chapter 1, page 4)
In this new world, he does not have relatives and friends whom he can share the joy and the pain he feels. He only knows Judge Thatcher, The Widow and Miss Watson. The only friend he has is Tom Sawyer and their Gang but they are his secret friends and he cannot introduce them to The Widow as they live in different social circle. Huck’s loneliness does not stop there. The feeling gets worse when Huck’s father kidnaps him form The Widow. He was always left alone in an old log hut in a place the where timber was so thick and it was difficult for anybody to find him. “He got to going away so much, too, and locking me in. Once he locked me in and was gone three days. It was dreadful lonesome. (Huckleberry-Chapter 6, page 8). The loneliness that Huck feels is very painful because he endures it for a long period of time. In order to be free from this loneliness, Huck put his time, energy and focus to find a way to escape. He successfully makes his escape from Pap and fakes his own death so that he will get the endless the freedom. This escapism change Huck to be a better person. He knows that he deserves better than what he gets from Pap therefore he leaves him.
Other than that, Huck also uses Jim as a platform to escape from his loneliness. After leaving Pap’s house, he arrives at Jackson Island. He is all by himself on the river so he gets lonely. He keeps hearing noises but he does not know where it comes from. Huck walks around the island and he comes upon a fire. He sees a man lying on the ground with blanket on his head and he finds out that the man is Jim. “Well, I warn’t long making him understand I warn’t dead. I was ever so glad to see Jim. I warn’t lonesome now.”(Huckleberry-Chapter 8, page 42). Although Jim is a black, Huck treats him nicely and considers him as his friend. Huck is embracing freedom of loneliness by treating Jim as an individual, a normal man, and frees himself from the social cultural belief that niggers are slaves and nobody treats slave like a friend. He realizes that by treating Jim as human, he is breaking the code of society in that era which states that slaves can never be one’s friends. However, his view changes and Huck treats Jim as a person and ignores the fact that he is a black slave. He is now free from his lonely world and is able to see how a valuable Jim is as a friend. When Huck makes his third prank on Jim by saying the fog is just a dream, Jim’s unexpected somberness shakes and sparks realization in Huck’s heart and makes him see Jim as a real person who has human qualities.
In conclusion, the theme of freedom is significant in the novel The Adventurous of Huckleberry Finn. Ignorance in seeking freedom to escape from feeling guilt in a person might cause harmful effect in other’s life. A person will not only attain his or her freedom temporarily because the guilt feeling will hunt them for the rest of their lives. Therefore this kind of freedom is forbidden. However, humans seek freedom to pursue their happiness. Having this positive freedom like freedom of faith and freedom from lonesome will motivate people to work hard in life. With great freedom comes great responsibility, but freedoms still conquer all.
FORBIDDEN FREEDOM
The setting of Mark Twain story “The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn” is crucial to enhance reader’s understanding on the theme of the novel. The Mississippi River in this story is the ultimate symbol of freedom where Huck and Jim can escape from their melancholic lives. During this era, a river is not just a river. It gives life and death to human and living things and also a much-traveled highway through United States. Other than being America’s premier river, The Mississippi River is the route used by Huck and Jim towards freedom. The river and the raft are the only place where they can talk freely because the society teaches them not to talk with the slave because they are not equals because slaves are at the bottom level of society. The setting plays a role to help in revealing the theme and freedom is one of the dominant themes that stood out throughout this novel. There are several freedoms that have been portrayed in this novel but these three are the most obvious ones, which are freedom from guilt, freedom of faith and freedom from loneliness.
According to Oxford Dictionary, guilt is “the fact of having committed a specified or implied offense or crime or a feeling of having done wrong or failed in an obligation”. Freedom from guilt is finding release from burden that someone has because of his or her sinful act. Feeling guilt is always a terrible feeling. When a person keeps questioning their misbehavior, playing and replaying what they did inn their mind, it will increase the feeling of guilt. A person will feel guilt when they realize what they have done was wrong. Since nobody likes to feel guilty, a guilty person will come out with reasons to justify their act and decrease their self-generated suffering. Huck is trying to achieve the freedom from guilt in this story by using the term ‘borrow’ when he ‘steals’ something. Huck learns this from Pap, his father who says that it is not wrong to ‘borrow’ someone else’s property without permission because someday they will return it.
“Mornings before daylight I slipped into cornfields and borrowed a watermelon, or a mushmelon, or a pumkin, or some new corn, or things of that kind. Pap always said it warn’t no harm to borrow things if you was meaning to pay them back some time.”
Huckleberry-Chapter 12, page 65
Huck’s father, Pap uses the word ‘borrow’ to comfort himself that what he is doing is not sinful. Consequently, Huckleberry learns this bad value and his character change. As a teenager Huck tend to be easily influence by people around him. Teenager could not differentiate between the good and the bad because it is their nature wanting to try something new in their life. When Pap instills this value in Huck at the young age, he follows it without doubt. Therefore this wrong value is portrayed throughout the story whenever he is in need of something that he did not own.
“The minute I was far enough above the town to see I could make the towhead, I begun to look sharp for a boat to borrow, and the first time the lightning showed me one that wasn’t chained I snatched it and shoved.”
Huckleberry-Chapter 29, page 193
This extract was when Huckleberry was trying to run from the town people who chase him because he was with the Duke and the Dauphin who were trying to steal money from Peter Wilks, the deceased townsman. He wanted to steal a boat so that he and Jim can escape from the frauds and townspeople.
“Along during that morning, I borrowed a sheet and a white shirt off of the clothes line; and I found an old sack and put them in.”
Huckleberry-Chapter 35, page 230
Then, later in the story Huck and Tom steal the white sheet, shirts, old sack and candles in order to save Jim from being sent back to his owner by Silas Phelps. However, Huckleberry thinks he is free from guilt because again, he uses the word ‘borrow’.
This type of negative freedom will only bring destruction to the society and individual, like what it had done to Huck as he or she will keep living in denial to avoid their actual feeling. The society decrees that taking another person’s property without permission is wrong and changing the term would not make it right or forgivable. Huck’s character is trying to change the value in human by following the bad example showed by his father, which leads to the misconception of lawful behavior. Negative freedom like this allows people to feel better and at ease about their wrong doings. However, it will not free them from the risk of being punished if they get caught. Moreover, it brings problem to the individual and encourages one to be dishonest and should not be practiced in society because it has a lot of negative effect and will produce chaotic society in future.
Freedom from guilty is portrayed on the scene when Jim is thrilled to see Huck alive, but Huck tries to trick Jim by pretending that Jim dreams up their entire separation. When Jim notices all the debris, dirt, and tree branches that stuck on the raft while it was adrift, he knows that Huck lies. Jim feels angry and hurt as Huck makes a fool of him after he has worried about Huck so much. He is angry at Huck not because of the lies but Huck fails to see the consequences of his lies. Jim believes in superstitious and having that kind of dream is like an evil sign that something bad will happen to them. Jim expresses his worries over Huck and makes Huck realize his mistakes and consequently feels guilty over what he had done: “It made me feel so mean I could almost kissed his foot to get him to take it back”. (Huckleberry-Chapter 15, page 84) In order to wipe away his guilty feeling and make him free, he apologise to Jim. The freedom from guilty can be seen in this chapter portrayed by Huck who will do anything to be free. Huck is considered lucky as Jim forgives his lie and sets him free from the guilt he shoulders. This event is the starting point where seeking freedom changes Huck feelings towards Jim. Before this event, Huck always makes fun of Jim and does not treat Jim as someone important in his life. However, this event is like a strike that change Huck to appreciate Jim and their friendship more. He finally sees how Jim values their friendship.
In real life, apologizing is a way to express regret of a wrongdoing or misconduct. However, not all mistakes can be easily forgiven. This kind of freedom should not be taught to children. They must be forbidden from running away from the feeling of guilt when they make mistakes so that they will learn their lesson. Not all human are as lucky as Huck who changes to be someone better through his escapism to seek freedom. Therefore, at home, it might not right to forgive children whenever they misbehave especially when they lie. They must be taught that there must be consequences for certain infractions. If lying is part of the offense the punishment will be swift, immediate, unpleasant, and nonnegotiable. Telling a lie is the worst offense because it is foundational for all other evil acts. Too many lies in a society will demolish good values in the system. It will bring damage to the society where words could never be counted upon and make human communications worthless. Every sin or crime begins with someone believing or telling a lie.
The worst step in attaining freedom from guilty is through escapism. Huck unintentionally helped Colonel Grangerford’s daughter, Sophia ran away from home with Harney Shepherdsons and he felt guilty because of it. These two families are in feud. Sophia manipulated Huck by asking him to retrieve a Bible from the bench in the church but she actually wants the note inside it. Huck saw that Sophia cheek turned pink when she read the note in the bible with the words “Half-past two”. However, Huck does not know that this is a foreshadow and by the time Huck knew about Sophia’s run off, it is too late. As the consequences, Grangerfords’ family has having a big gunfight with the Shephersons. Both of the Grangerfords, Buck, who also Huck’s room mate and his father are killed. Huck feels that he is the one who trigger everything because he helped Sophia that night. He could not hold the guilty feeling inside him any longer. In order to attain his freedom, he runs away from Grangerfords’ home. The realization that the is the place where can make he feels from guilt and remorse and he said, “Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery but a raft don’t. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on the raft.” (Huckleberry-Chapter 18, page 112) Although this escapism wipes Huck guiltiness towards the family, it changes Huck totally. He does not want the same thing that happens to Buck who he considers close to him happens to Jim. Therefore when Jim is sold to the Silas Phelps, Huck tries as best as he can to save Jim.
Running away from problem by telling more lies oneself is not an appropriate move. That is why this act to achieve freedom from guilt should be forbidden from ones life. Escapism is a form of self-defense mechanism. Many people try to escape from various things because they think that they have no strength to face them. However, this does not solve anything. A person may get a temporal sense of relief when they avoid their problem but the problem will come and hunt him or her in future. For example, Huck has been running away since the early chapters of the book and readers can see that nothing has been solved in his life and he only stacks up more problems upon himself. Therefore, readers need to learn from Huck mistake is a person needs to work thorough the issues that they have.
Freedom of faith is also being pictured in this story. The meaning of freedom of faith is when a person is free to practice what religion he or she would like. In this story, other than in Huck, this freedom can also be seen in Jim’s character. Although the story is set in the era of slavery and the owner of slave has their own beliefs, they give freedom to their slaves to choose what they want to believe. Magic and superstition are always synonymous in slaves’ lives. Much has been written about the African American religious experience that highlights the importance of magic in the slave culture. They believe that they have only one god but they do not pray to god as god is too high exalted above for them so they commit to the spirit instead (McNamara,2010). Therefore they have strong beliefs in witches and ghost and a lot of example in this story shows that the slaves are free to have their own faith and they are free to believe what they want to believe in. However, freedom of faith is not only related to supernatural in a slave’s life but also to other characters who went to church but at the same time believe in witches and ghosts. The society is not strict and rigid in terms of their religious beliefs.
Although Huck lives in the Widow’s house, he is free to practice what he believes in. Having grown up without religion and without a good guidance from adults, Huck was bored, uncomfortable and does not understand the value that the Widow and Miss Watson are trying to teach him. “Miss Watson she kept pecking at me, and it got tiresome and lone- some. By and by they fetched the niggers in and had prayers, and then everybody was off to bed.” (Huckleberry-Chapter 1, page 5) When miss Watson leads a prayer session with Huck and the household slaves, it shows that she has religion and believes in god. In Christian tradition, saying a grace (short prayer contains thankful phrase) will be said before and after eating. The Widow and Miss Watson try to make Huck says grace to before meals but he finds it ridiculous since he has to wait for the reciting to be done before he can have his food. However, both of them also give Huck freedom in choosing his faith. This can be seen when Huck does not want to pray, they did not scold him. Huck prefers to believe in the supernatural “Then away out in the woods I heard that kind of a sound that a ghost makes when it wants to tell about something that’s on its mind and can’t make itself understood…” (Huckleberry-Chapter 1, page 5). However, his choice to believe in supernatural makes it abundantly clear how different Huck is from the more civilized characters in the novel. This is because in this story, civilise people have their own beliefs.
Huck believes strongly in the power of evil, which is probably the result of his dark childhood life. As a child, he is supposed to hold on to naïve belief and be open to any religion. However, he is the way he is as a consequence of the terrible things that has happened early in his life. He lived with an abusive alcoholic father, feeling alone and abandoned. Believing in superstition is the only way for Huck to make sense of why terrible things continue to happen to him. Being too free from religion is not good for an individual and a kid as it might divert them from the good values of the society. The story depicts that a family with religion is civilized, well adjusted and live without fear. The religious family will help to produce a stable family. Children will learn values from their parents first at home before they go out in the real world. Parents need to provide them with a good example to guide their children to live in this challenging world. Sooner or later, the children will seek religion and but the children in this story is doing it in an opposite way.
The juxtaposition of faith between the owner and the slave’s beliefs has been portrayed in Jim and Miss Watson. Jim, the slave believes in superstitious and witches.
“Afterwards Jim said the witches bewitched him and put him in a trance, and rode him all over the State, and then set him under the trees again, and hung his hat on a limb to show who done it.” (Huckleberry-Chapter 1, page 8)
When he was sleeping in the back yard of Miss Watson’s kitchen, his hat is placed on the branch of a tree and Tom drop five cent in the kitchen. Tom was making fun of Jim but Jim believed that the witches visited him and the devil gave him a five-cent piece, which he wore in his neck on a ring to arouse the power of supernatural. The other slaves have identified him as someone knowledgeable about supernatural powers among other slaves and worship. This shows that although Miss Watson, his owner has her own stand in religion, Jim has the freedom to choose on what he believes in. This is good because one cannot force people to embrace other people’s belief, as it will affect their sincerity in practicing the religion.
The third freedom that has been pictured in this story is freedom from loneliness. At the beginning of the novel, Huck struggles against the attempts to civilize him done by Widow Douglas and her sister, Miss Watson. Both of them are trying to help him to become civilised. However, Huck does not only find it difficult to live in a society which is pictured as a society full of manners and custom imposed by Southern society, he feels lonely too. This can be seen in the first chapter when he was with Miss Watson.
“I couldn’t stood it much longer. Then for an hour it was deadly dull, and I was fidgety. Miss Watson would say, “Don’t put your feet up there, Huckleberry;” and “Don’t scrunch up like that, Huckleberry—set up straight;”
(Huckleberry-Chapter 1, page 4)
In this new world, he does not have relatives and friends whom he can share the joy and the pain he feels. He only knows Judge Thatcher, The Widow and Miss Watson. The only friend he has is Tom Sawyer and their Gang but they are his secret friends and he cannot introduce them to The Widow as they live in different social circle. Huck’s loneliness does not stop there. The feeling gets worse when Huck’s father kidnaps him form The Widow. He was always left alone in an old log hut in a place the where timber was so thick and it was difficult for anybody to find him. “He got to going away so much, too, and locking me in. Once he locked me in and was gone three days. It was dreadful lonesome. (Huckleberry-Chapter 6, page 8). The loneliness that Huck feels is very painful because he endures it for a long period of time. In order to be free from this loneliness, Huck put his time, energy and focus to find a way to escape. He successfully makes his escape from Pap and fakes his own death so that he will get the endless the freedom. This escapism change Huck to be a better person. He knows that he deserves better than what he gets from Pap therefore he leaves him.
Other than that, Huck also uses Jim as a platform to escape from his loneliness. After leaving Pap’s house, he arrives at Jackson Island. He is all by himself on the river so he gets lonely. He keeps hearing noises but he does not know where it comes from. Huck walks around the island and he comes upon a fire. He sees a man lying on the ground with blanket on his head and he finds out that the man is Jim. “Well, I warn’t long making him understand I warn’t dead. I was ever so glad to see Jim. I warn’t lonesome now.”(Huckleberry-Chapter 8, page 42). Although Jim is a black, Huck treats him nicely and considers him as his friend. Huck is embracing freedom of loneliness by treating Jim as an individual, a normal man, and frees himself from the social cultural belief that niggers are slaves and nobody treats slave like a friend. He realizes that by treating Jim as human, he is breaking the code of society in that era which states that slaves can never be one’s friends. However, his view changes and Huck treats Jim as a person and ignores the fact that he is a black slave. He is now free from his lonely world and is able to see how a valuable Jim is as a friend. When Huck makes his third prank on Jim by saying the fog is just a dream, Jim’s unexpected somberness shakes and sparks realization in Huck’s heart and makes him see Jim as a real person who has human qualities.
In conclusion, the theme of freedom is significant in the novel The Adventurous of Huckleberry Finn. Ignorance in seeking freedom to escape from feeling guilt in a person might cause harmful effect in other’s life. A person will not only attain his or her freedom temporarily because the guilt feeling will hunt them for the rest of their lives. Therefore this kind of freedom is forbidden. However, humans seek freedom to pursue their happiness. Having this positive freedom like freedom of faith and freedom from lonesome will motivate people to work hard in life. With great freedom comes great responsibility, but freedoms still conquer all.
June 29, 2025
I went this long without reading Huck Finn, but book club finally made me do it. It's just as ridiculous as I suspected, and Tom Sawyer is an entitled asshole.
My book club read this first so we could read James next and compare. I'm also going to read the graphic novel Big Jim and the White Boy. I'm hoping these two books will help wash the bad Huckleberry taste from my mouth.
My book club read this first so we could read James next and compare. I'm also going to read the graphic novel Big Jim and the White Boy. I'm hoping these two books will help wash the bad Huckleberry taste from my mouth.
September 13, 2012
Very good condensed version of a classic. Perfect for kids beginning to read chapter books (age 7-12). Character introduction, 16 chapters, large font, b&w sketches, an "about the author," and a forward.
August 12, 2025
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Junior Classics for Young Readers) is a historical fiction book adapted from Mark Twain's classic series. It is the second book in the Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn sequence. It falls under the historical fiction genre because, while the events are fictional, it includes historical details about life in pre-Civil War America.
Set in the 1840s along the Mississippi River in the United States, the book is written in first person by Huckleberry Finn, an "uncivilised" daring young boy. Huck narrates to us through his journey he went through while trying to escape from the limited "civilised" life and trying to help his enslaved friend gain freedom. Along the way, they face many challenges, from foggy nights to storms to con artists. They discover that in a harsh, cruel world, there is still kindness, loyalty, and friendships that would help them along their way. Huck also wrestles with his conscience, not knowing if he should listen to the adults around him or trust his instincts — eventually realising that doing what feels morally right matters most.
I enjoyed reading about the strange adventures they've encountered and the heartwarming relationship between the characters. I also appreciated how it was written from the perspective of a young boy, which made me experience the whole story through a different lens. Since this is the more simplified version, I did feel like the storyline moved quickly and was rushed. I wish there were more details and wished that they included deeper emotional moments in it, especially given the sensitive themes it touches on. As a student going into their sophomore year in high school, I do not recommend this to people my age; however, I do recommend this to a 4th grader who's interested in lively, friendship-filled adventures.
Set in the 1840s along the Mississippi River in the United States, the book is written in first person by Huckleberry Finn, an "uncivilised" daring young boy. Huck narrates to us through his journey he went through while trying to escape from the limited "civilised" life and trying to help his enslaved friend gain freedom. Along the way, they face many challenges, from foggy nights to storms to con artists. They discover that in a harsh, cruel world, there is still kindness, loyalty, and friendships that would help them along their way. Huck also wrestles with his conscience, not knowing if he should listen to the adults around him or trust his instincts — eventually realising that doing what feels morally right matters most.
I enjoyed reading about the strange adventures they've encountered and the heartwarming relationship between the characters. I also appreciated how it was written from the perspective of a young boy, which made me experience the whole story through a different lens. Since this is the more simplified version, I did feel like the storyline moved quickly and was rushed. I wish there were more details and wished that they included deeper emotional moments in it, especially given the sensitive themes it touches on. As a student going into their sophomore year in high school, I do not recommend this to people my age; however, I do recommend this to a 4th grader who's interested in lively, friendship-filled adventures.
December 3, 2025
This book has been scrubbed and thoroughly watered down. The author intended to dumb down the book for public school kids to read at a younger age. There are two problems here: 1) it was dumbed down to a kindergarten level, and kindergartners shouldn't read such books, and 2) the author added his own interpretation and opinion instead of sticking with what Mark Twain intended.
Huckleberry Finn is a great book; this book is not. All the meat is gone, it is disjointed, and about all it does is make you wish you had just read the original. Which you should.
I only read this book because my wife had gotten it free at a public school, and as with any book, I pre-read it for my son. Huckleberry Finn will be a great book for my son one day, but not this one and not at this time.
Huckleberry Finn is a great book; this book is not. All the meat is gone, it is disjointed, and about all it does is make you wish you had just read the original. Which you should.
I only read this book because my wife had gotten it free at a public school, and as with any book, I pre-read it for my son. Huckleberry Finn will be a great book for my son one day, but not this one and not at this time.
December 20, 2017
We read this same adapted version of Tom Sawyer and we loved it. I'm not sure if the story of Huck Finn is more complicated or if it was just this book, but this was not well received. I even had a hard time following along. Too many shortcuts and abbreviations. Too many concepts my 5 year old wasn't able to grasp: slavery, pretending to be someone else, having a pretend plan to throw others off. Not a good read aloud for young children. We will wait many, many more years for another try at Huck Finn!
January 29, 2024
I read this with my foundations English class, and it seemed to be well received. We discussed characters and how Tom is not as good of a friend as he seems. I did not expect the ending of the novel, so I am always pleasantly surprised when it throws a loop at the end of a novel.
December 26, 2024
Easy to read and always to the point. The book served it purpose and it was to help me with the general idea of Huckleberry Finn. I am reading James and didn't want to have any idea about James (Jim, the slave)
January 2, 2025
For 2025 I am trying to read all the books that are on my shelf that I own. I didn't realize that this was a young reader version and was condensed, but it was still a good read to get back into the groove. I probably will read the actual version later down the line.
April 5, 2020
From a nine year old pov: It was a great book! Huckleberry Finn managed to trick people so he could help free a slave.
March 24, 2022
liked it better than tom sawyer, i was kinda scared the ending wouldn't turn out good (though it probably doesn't in the real one) and it actually was pretty entertaining for a children's book
May 16, 2022
Exciting story, great friendship
June 13, 2023
The story starts good, but then it meanders and you end up losing track of things. I shudder to think what the unabridged version is like. The illustrations and the typeface were nice, though.
April 14, 2024
Although this is a young reader's adaptation of the classic tale by Mark Twain, it was an easy read and I'm glad to now know this story!
October 6, 2024
🎧 i listened to the Audible version performed by Elijah Wood. So good! It's included with Audible subscription
October 28, 2024
This was a fun illustrated version of Huckleberry Finn!
January 5, 2025
Year 6 Free Read
April 23, 2025
again--enjoyed the junior classic--don't know if i would want to read the full version.
June 23, 2025
Wish I had realized it was the adapted version before I started it.
September 9, 2025
Bin Tom Sawyer hater
February 5, 2025
Good for basic plot! Didn’t want to read the real one, but wanted the basics before reading “James” so I raided my kids’ bookshelves and found this little gem.
October 28, 2013
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
By Mark Twain
Dalmatian Press
$1.00
178 pages
Illustrated by Ruth Palmer
Fiction
About the Book: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is about a boy who lived with Widow Douglas because he thinks his dad is dead. This story takes place in the south during slave times. Widow Douglas’s sister lives with them and is always trying to make him civilized. She tried to teach him to read and told him he would go to “the bad place”. Huck and Tom Sawyer and some others found some robber’s cash. Huck’s dad find s out about the money and shows up and wants the money. His dad treated Huck badly and kidnapped him. His father locked him in a cabin for two months. Then, his dad disappeared for a few days but came back. When Huck has had enough, he fakes his own death and escapes. He gets on a raft and floats down the river. He stays on an island while the town searches for him. Jim, Widow Douglas’s slave eventually shows up on the island and joins Huck. They float down the river on a raft and find two actors, the King and the Duke, running from people and some dogs that have been chasing them. They got on the raft with Huck and Jim. Huckleberry Finn helps them go from town to town scamming people to pay for shows that aren’t really good shows. Then, they take off and go to the next town. They meet up with a man who mistakes them for someone else. A man has died and left a lot of money for his brothers, and the man they meet mistake them for the brothers. The King and the Duke go to the dead man’s house and Huck acts as their servant. Huck realizes the men are not good and he hides the dead man’s money, letting the dead man’s nieces know where the money is. The real brothers finally show up, so the King, the Duke, and Huck try to escape. Jim gets sold by the King and the Duke to the Phelps family, who are actually Tom Sawyer’s aunt and uncle. They think Huck is Tom. They were waiting for a visit from Tom. Huck is just there to free Jim. Read to find out if Jim is freed and Huck’s dad is dead or alive.
This book was not relevant to me because I am not like Huckleberry Finn. The theme of the book is about a boy growing up in the south after the Civil War and about being a runaway. It is a good book because it is a mix of realistic situations and humor. Teenagers would enjoy this book because they would like the thought of running away and doing their own thing without adults telling them what to do. The characters are realistic. The book is a good length and easy to read.
By Mark Twain
Dalmatian Press
$1.00
178 pages
Illustrated by Ruth Palmer
Fiction
About the Book: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is about a boy who lived with Widow Douglas because he thinks his dad is dead. This story takes place in the south during slave times. Widow Douglas’s sister lives with them and is always trying to make him civilized. She tried to teach him to read and told him he would go to “the bad place”. Huck and Tom Sawyer and some others found some robber’s cash. Huck’s dad find s out about the money and shows up and wants the money. His dad treated Huck badly and kidnapped him. His father locked him in a cabin for two months. Then, his dad disappeared for a few days but came back. When Huck has had enough, he fakes his own death and escapes. He gets on a raft and floats down the river. He stays on an island while the town searches for him. Jim, Widow Douglas’s slave eventually shows up on the island and joins Huck. They float down the river on a raft and find two actors, the King and the Duke, running from people and some dogs that have been chasing them. They got on the raft with Huck and Jim. Huckleberry Finn helps them go from town to town scamming people to pay for shows that aren’t really good shows. Then, they take off and go to the next town. They meet up with a man who mistakes them for someone else. A man has died and left a lot of money for his brothers, and the man they meet mistake them for the brothers. The King and the Duke go to the dead man’s house and Huck acts as their servant. Huck realizes the men are not good and he hides the dead man’s money, letting the dead man’s nieces know where the money is. The real brothers finally show up, so the King, the Duke, and Huck try to escape. Jim gets sold by the King and the Duke to the Phelps family, who are actually Tom Sawyer’s aunt and uncle. They think Huck is Tom. They were waiting for a visit from Tom. Huck is just there to free Jim. Read to find out if Jim is freed and Huck’s dad is dead or alive.
This book was not relevant to me because I am not like Huckleberry Finn. The theme of the book is about a boy growing up in the south after the Civil War and about being a runaway. It is a good book because it is a mix of realistic situations and humor. Teenagers would enjoy this book because they would like the thought of running away and doing their own thing without adults telling them what to do. The characters are realistic. The book is a good length and easy to read.
December 8, 2014
In Mark Twain’s novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he uses Huck’s experiences and journey with a runaway slave, Jim, to display a conflict of race from a much younger perspective. Throughout the story, Huck and Jim face many conflicts and adventures that always result to Huck facing his morals and being concerned of what opinions his societies will have on him. Jim and Huck also have many changes in their relationship as the book progresses, and Huck is revealed to what Jim really feels and believes, this becomes an internal conflict that lasts throughout the novel. Twain also talks about many themes of racism, slavery, a civilized society, cons, and superstitions. Overall, I admired the book for its ultimate message conveyed through its interesting plot. Because of the many critics and readers that believed it was disappointing, it allowed me to open up to new perspectives and view Twain’s message in different lights. One of the aspects that kept me interested was the actual plot, I thought that in every chapter something new happened and something was ALWAYS happening, which I really enjoyed. This was shown less in, for example, The Scarlet Letter, where diction and imagery was very important, however, in this story, Twain focuses more on plot than on intricate language. I believe it was worth the reading and it allows the readers in our society to be exposed to how life was like with slavery and racism many years ago.
December 10, 2014
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a really interesting and captivating novel. Although the book faced harsh criticism during the time of its publication (and now), it depicts the racism of society and gullibility of civilization extremely well. It truly describes the adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a white boy who runs away from civilization in search of independence for himself. In his adventurous journey he comes upon Jim, a black slave who runs away from his owner who wants to sell him for more money. Huck goes through an elongated moral crisis where he has to choose between conforming to the norms and regulations of society by capturing white fugitive slaves, or helping Jim achieve his deserved freedom. By sharing his loneliness and sharing a codependent relationship with Jim, Huck begins to realize that Jim indeed thinks and acts as a white man, and he is indeed a human as well. After several obstacles and adventures, Huck finally chooses to save Jim. Tom Sawyer from the novel "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" comes into the novel near the beginning and the end, and adds some mischevious pranks into the novel. I personally thought this novel was well-written and clearly depicted the society's philosophy, behavior, and racism at that time. Although the book had its boring times, all in all it was indeed an insightful book to read.
August 2, 2013
Book Cover: This classical book cover has a beautiful illustration by Tom Newsom that is really attractive to the eye and fun to look at. *STAR*
Author: Mark Twain was an incredible author really brought the world of Tom & Huck to life for people all over the world. *STAR*
Story: This is an action packed, adventurous story about a boy listening to his heart and trying to make the right decisions for the benefit of another mans life. *STAR*
Characters/Relationships: Huckleberry Finn is a classic reading character for everybody. The story shares of his relationships with his friends and family. *STAR*
Cleanliness: There wasn't anything bad in this book. *STAR*
Overall Review: I loved this story. It was a great classical read for people young and old. It's a story that brings out your adventurous side and keeps you guess what will happen next causing you not to want to put this book down. This is a great easy read or bedtime story.
Author: Mark Twain was an incredible author really brought the world of Tom & Huck to life for people all over the world. *STAR*
Story: This is an action packed, adventurous story about a boy listening to his heart and trying to make the right decisions for the benefit of another mans life. *STAR*
Characters/Relationships: Huckleberry Finn is a classic reading character for everybody. The story shares of his relationships with his friends and family. *STAR*
Cleanliness: There wasn't anything bad in this book. *STAR*
Overall Review: I loved this story. It was a great classical read for people young and old. It's a story that brings out your adventurous side and keeps you guess what will happen next causing you not to want to put this book down. This is a great easy read or bedtime story.
June 19, 2013
The Junior Classics for Young Readers version of the classic Huck Finn was just a book that I found at my local used bookstore.
I never would have thought to read Mark Twain to them, but this book was cheap and available. So I tried it out.
It was such a hit that I then went got Tom Sawyer, the original, not any child version, but that's a different review.
The adapter, Clay Stafford, did a fine job. The story was what I remembered. It moves quicker than the original, which was the intent of the Junior Classics series.
I never would have thought to read Mark Twain to them, but this book was cheap and available. So I tried it out.
It was such a hit that I then went got Tom Sawyer, the original, not any child version, but that's a different review.
The adapter, Clay Stafford, did a fine job. The story was what I remembered. It moves quicker than the original, which was the intent of the Junior Classics series.
May 7, 2016
Although this was only a simplified version of the original work, I think it was a great introduction to Mark Twain's storytelling style. This version essentially strips down the text to only what is necessary for the reader to know and to set the most basic scene, but it was highly enjoyable anyways. The story itself is of course a highly entertaining account with a whole lot of darkness, but as seen from a child's perspective. Great, memorable lines as well such as "He's dead!" then immediately after, "He's alive!" For those curious about Twain, I would recommend this version to start with.
December 12, 2014
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain follows the journey of a white Southern boy Huck Finn and a fugitive slave Jim down the Mississippi River. The novel traces the moral growth of Huck and the development of the intricate relationship between two runaways. The internal conflict in Huck's morality will keep the reader interested in the boy's actions, and the novel's controversial ending will keep critics talking still for years to come.
September 2, 2014
I read this book my sophomore year of high school. To be honest, at first I didn't think I would like it but I honestly didn't mind it at all! I wouldn't quite say it's one of my favorite books, but I also wouldn't say it was my least favorite. This book was easy to follow along & to understand. I give it 3 stars out of 5!
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