Huckleberry Finn Chapter Summary

He has a father who is abusive as well as an alcoholic, which is why two older ladies by the names of Miss. Watson and Widow Douglas watch over and care for him. The concept of a journey to freedom is portrayed through Huck due to him leaving home as a young boy and seeking for independence. In chapter eleven, Huck dresses up as a girl to go steal food and other items from a home for Jim and himself. “My mother’s down sick, and out of money and everything…” (62). Huck lied to a woman just to steal things from her home to survive because he was running away to become free. "It didn't take me long, though, to make up my mind that these liars warn't no kings nor dukes at all..." (40). This is ironic because Huck is noticing that the King and the Duke are con men and liars, but Huck himself is just like them because he lies to people all the time to better himself and get to freedom. Huck has to go through many disadvantages as well as Jim, on their journey to

The chapter continues with the two boys, Tom and Huck, carefully walking through the path. They walk past the kitchen, where they try to avoid Jim, Miss. Watson’s slave. Jim hears them and comes to investigate. The two boys are hiding, while Jim comes close to them, but doesn’t see them. Jim decides to stay in that position until he hears the noise again. While Huck is debating whether he should scratch his nose, Jim falls asleep. Tom tells Huck about Jim, that he is respected by the other slaves, for going against the devil. But Jim had begun to become cocky for seeing the devil and fighting the witches.

Aunt Sally and Huck seem to bond emotionally over the safe return of Tom. Tom wakes up and starts to spill and confess everything that they had done. Aunt Sally was astonished and could not believe it. He confessed to all the work and everything that they had collectively stolen.

The letter Huck writes to Miss Watson symbolizes his total devotion to Jim. After his unsuccessful attempt to leave the king and duke at the Wilks home, the four travel to Pikesville in order for the king and duke to scam more people. The king leaves the raft first in order to scope out the area, but he actually sells Jim to Silas Phelps. When the duke and Huck find the king in a bar drunk, Huck escapes from the two in an attempt to leave with Jim and return to his former life without the king and duke. When Huck returns to the raft he finds Jim is gone and learns later that the king has sold Jim for $40 to buy whiskey. Huck is horrified that Jim has been sold and for such a small

As Huck and Tom plan how to free Jim. Tom wanted to saw the leg off of his bed in order to unchain him but then he says that they need to saw Jim's leg off. Tom continues to come up with more steps in order to free Jim. Tom gets his ideas from the books he has read. Huck steals some items from the Phelps , (shirt, sheets, spoons, candlesticks) which Huck tells Tom he is “ borrowing” . Later Tom and Huck had an idea on digging a hole all the way where Jim is kept in. So Jim can escape through the hole.Tom steal a some of case-knives to begin digging. Tom tells Huck that it will take them at least a few years if they want to do it properly. Later on Tom finally realized it will take too long, so they agree to switch to picks. The next night

Firstly, At the beginning of the book when Huck first encounters Jim, Tom wants to prank Jim by tying him up, as shown in this quote: “Tom he made a sign to me—kind of a little noise with his mouth—and we went creeping away on our hands and knees. When

When Huck stops Tom’s carriage, Tom believes Huck to be a ghost, but once Huck explains the situation, Tom agrees to help Huck. Once Huck and Tom arrive at Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas’ home, Aunt Sally welcomes Huck, whom she had met earlier in the day and believes to be Tom Sawyer, and offers Tom a meal and ride down to Mr. Archibald Nichols’ home. During dinner, “[Huck is] getting a little nervous, and wondering how this was going to help [him] out of [his] scrape, and at last, still talking to along, [Tom] reached over and kissed Aunt Sally right on the mouth” (190). Aunt Sally outraged by this action from a person she believes she does not know as friend or family. Tom continues on to say that people told him that Aunt Sally likes kissing. Aunt Sally, still mad, is confused as to why a stranger kissed her on the mouth. Tom turns to Silas then to Huck, ‘Tom, didn’t you think Aunt Sally’d open out her arms and say, “Sid Sawyer–“’ (191). Tom’s effort to keep Huck safe and to help rescue Jim demonstrates how bold Tom acts, and how, for Huck, Tom would do nearly anything. The fact that Tom willingly lies to his own family proves that even as a follower of society, Tom still has some form of a moral compass. Though much less bold than lying to his own family, Tom participates in the planning of and freeing Jim. To Tom, loyalty is extremely important, so helping Jim is, in Tom’s own standards, less bold. Huck makes a simple plan to free Jim, while the boys use Tom’s plan. According to Huck’s statement, “Well, one thing was dead sure; and that was, that Tom Sawyer was in earnest and was actuily going to help steal that n– out of slavery” (195), Tom dedicated himself fully to help Huck, once again. Tom does write the Phelpses a letter as to warn of the escape plan. This goes against the boldness that Tom presents to Huck in helping to free Jim, but as previously mentioned,

Huck didn’t return to widow Douglas house since he joined tom sawyers gang of bandits

Because of this, Tom’s constant need for stimulus overshadows Huck’s need for growth. After Huck debriefed Tom on Jim’s whereabouts, he came up with a feasible strategy, “We can easy find out if it’s Jim in there…steal the key out of the old man’s britches... shove off down the river on the raft…hiding daytimes and running nights” (195). Tom replied, “…it’s too blame’ simple; there ain’t nothing to it” (195). Huck has a legitimate plan that is workable, but because of Tom’s dominant personality and need for adventure, Huck is not able to voice his opinions and that is definitely not helping him become a better

After planning and executing one of the most needlessly complex rescue plans, considering Jim has no one guarding him, they begin to run away. Someone peruses them and Tom is shot in the leg. Huck goes for a doctor, and Jim sacrifices freedom to help Tom. The escape proves to be pointless, as Jim was already a free man. Miss Watson added to her will that Jim would be free after death, and she died two months earlier. To add to this, Jim revels that a house floating on the river they looted had Pap’s gun-shot body inside.

Huck and Tom start to look around the cabin Jim was in and they get into another discussion about the plan. Huck finds a simple and easy way to get Jim out but Tom cannot settle for the easy way out. He says to Huck, “It’s as simple as tit-tat-toe, three-in-a-row, and as easy as playing hooky. I should hope we can find a way

Jim and Huck go in an adventure and when they return to Huck’s hometown, Tom tells them that:

is one of the slaves of Ms. Watson, the sister of the widow that took

One might say that Huck had the motivation to help Jim escape because he knew it would go against everything Pap believed in. Huck would go out of his way to do things just in spite of Pap “” (Twain I would go to school…..). Now where Huck has this motivation to do anything to not be anything like Pap, and to do everything in his power to go against him. Tom on the over hand has spent his entire life growing up in a modern society home where he doesn’t have any need to go against what his (caretakers) tell him is okay and not okay…… Tom says “” (Twain). as a salve to take care of their

Tom goes to school and church; he is book smart. Tom references books for guidance and for justification of his actions, especially in setting up Tom Sawyer’s Gang; “Everyone said it was a real beautiful oath, and asked Tom if he got it out of his own head. He said some of it, but the rest was out of pirate-books and robber-books, and every gang that was high-toned had it” (6). Tom models his gang and his life after the books he reads. His education gives him a perspective that others do not have. While Huck is not educated in the way Tom is, Huck is still intelligent. Huck’s life is a struggle to stay alive and relatively unharmed. He has learned to read and manipulate people; he is street smart. Huck knows what to tell people to get them to do what he wants them to do, allowing Huck to stay alive despite Pap’s alcoholism-induced rages. Huck’s skill also helps him elsewhere. In order to prevent slave-catchers from finding Jim, Huck leads the slave-catchers to the conclusion that smallpox is on the raft instead of an escaped slave. In doing so, Huck saves Jim, and gets paid $40 for his trouble. Tom and Huck’s differing forms of intelligence allow each to interact with the world