The Motivation Of Pap In Huck's Father

For quite some time, Huck’s father disappeared from town only to arrive later when he heard that his son had acquired a small fortune. He then threatens to beat Huck “down a peg” so that he would remind him of his status in the family only hoping to get the fortune for his booze. Things only get worse when Pa learns that Huck has become the first member of the family to learn to read, and consequently takes him away from town down the river into a small cabin. Cleverly, Pa doesn’t want to abandon Huck just yet for he continuously threatens the Father about the fortune he has hidden until Huck finally fakes his own death. Pa would be a fine example of a specimen who was unworthy of his breath by the way he treated Huck.

His father yells at him for being able to read and go to school. He dislikes how Huck is trying to be better than he will ever be. Huck is forced to move in with his father in a cabin away from the Widow Douglas and Mrs. Watson. Hucks dad continues to torment him and take money for alcohol. One night Huck’s father is so drunk he almost kills Huck, in defense he holds a gun all night just to be safe. With no other way out, Huck fakes his death by making it look like Pap killed him and runs away without telling anybody. This stop is significant for Huck because it reminds him of what his old life was like. Just as he was starting to like his new life and getting used to being civilized, he had to revert back to his old ways. Finally, this stop showed that Huck was so desperate to get away from his father that the only thing he could think of doing was to fake his own

Pap is only stuck on having power and he gets it by treating blacks like the lower class citizen. Twain uses his characters in this book to show that the stereotypical southerner is irrationally greedy. He begins to show the reader this by first using Pap. The character Pap is Huck’s father and is labeled the town drunk.

When Pap returns for Huck, and the matter of custody is brought before the court. Huck is then forced to witness firsthand the corruption of society. Society has a reach on every part of Huck’s life as the judge thatcher rules that Huck belongs to Pap, due to the societal norm that a father should be with his soon putting Huck in the situation to obey an evil and unfit man. One who drinks and later beats his son without any consequence as it is common practice for individuals not interfere with divinity of the family unit. Later, when Huck makes it look as though he has been killed, another moral fault is seen as civilization is more concerned about a dead body than it is in the welfare of living people.

Hypocrisy is apparent in this situation in that Pap is saying he would raise Huck when in reality all he wants is Huck’s money. Another example of hypocrisy is that Pap does not want Huck to attend school since Pap was not schooled. Pap is obviously just jealous of Huck because Pap would have wanted to learn, but does not want to give Huck an opportunity he did not have.

Even though Pap is Huck’s biological father, he is everything a father shouldn’t be. For example, he constantly leaves Huck home alone, confined in his cabin for a long period of time. "Every little while he locked me in and went down to the store, three miles, to the ferry, and traded fish and game for wiskey and fetched it home and got drunk and had a good time, and licked me."(Twain 35) This quote not only shows that Huck was left on his own, it also shows that Pap is not a suitable father because of his drinking problem, and also his abusive behavior. His drinking problem is not only a waste of money, but it is a dangerous addiction not only for Pap’s health, but for Huck’s. "He chased me round and round the place with a clasp knife, calling me the Angel of Death, and saying he would kill me, and then I couldent come for him no more. I begged, and told him I was only Huck; but he laughed such a screechy laugh, and roared and cussed , and kept on chasing me up." (39) This quote shows that during one of his hallucinations, he almost kills Huck. Alcohol

Though not technically an orphan, Huck seems to wish he were, as he provides insight to his indifference towards his father: "Pap hadn't been seen for more than a year, and that was comfortable for me; I didn't want to see him no more" (226). Upon returning, Pap inflicts such physical and mental abuse on Huck, including captivating him, that Huck resolves to not only flee the situation, but also kill his father, after being threatened with a knife. "I slipped the ramrod down it to make sure [the gun] was loaded, and then I laid it across the turnip barrel, pointing towards pap, and set down behind it to wait for him to stir" (237). Huck clearly resents the man enough to want to kill him, yet can not do so: though Twain employs weariness as the preventive factor, Huck's inaction despite his desire epitomizes his conflicted nature.

The first contrast between Jim and Pap is the initial reaction Huck has when encountering them. When Huck is on Jackson’s Island, presumably alone, but then comes across a smoldering fire, he is at first frightened, but once he sees that the other refugee is Jim, he pops right out of the bushes and greets him. He is glad for his company. However, when signs of Pap being around are apparent, Huck is seen to panic, and rushes off to rid himself of his fortune. He knows that Pap is greedy enough to steal from anyone, even his own son. When they come face to face, it becomes clear that Huck is afraid of his father, who used to beat him while in a drunken state. During this confrontation, it becomes clear that Pap resents that Huck is being educated, and feels threatened by it. On the contrary, Jim teaches Huck what he knows, and is proud of him for thinking up schemes, such as faking his death to escape his father’s grasp. As Jim and Huck travel together, Jim shows more consideration and a protective nature for Huck, and he tries to act, as much as he can, as a shield between Huck and the corrupt world, which is something Huck’s father never did. On the contrary, Pap exposed Huck to more corruption than most others his age, such as Tom Sawyer, were expected to have been exposed to.

Pap is known as the town drunk. Every dollar he gets he spends on whiskey. He is an angry drunk, and beats Huck during his drinking spells. One night after he kidnaps Huck, he gets very drunk, which Huck describes. He says

Huck has had enough with their failed relationship, deciding he can handle such an atrocity, he decides he will run away from his monster of an alcoholic father. Pap will never be able to have a relationship with his father, because he was probably drunk, got into an argument and was shot and killed. Alcoholic parents’ actions often hinder the child’s ability to tell what is right from wrong.

Huck's father is absent until he finds out that Huck has found some money.  Pap is an outcast full of hate for blacks and pretty much for all of society.  Huck, as a product of his society, speaks the language of his society.  By choosing as his point-of-view a young boy from the slave south, Twain is able to present and challenge the values and assumptions of this time.  Among the assumptions and values of the time that the reader encounters in the book are the strict definitions pertaining to Huck's world and the people who inhabit it:

The relationship between Huckleberry Finn and Jim are central to Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". Huck's relationships with individual characters are unique in their own way; however, his relationship with Jim is one that is ever changing and sincere. As a poor, uneducated boy, Huck distrusts the morals and intentions of the society that treats him as an outcast and fails to protect him from abuse. The uneasiness about society, and his growing relationship with Jim, leads Huck to question many of the teachings that he has received, especially concerning race and slavery. Twain makes it evident that Huck is a young boy who comes from the lowest levels of white society. Huck's father, Pap, is a drunk who disappears for

Child abuse had a great on effect Huck’s whether if it had to do with where he is living or a decision he has made. Huck has been abused for most if not all of his life by his father, Pap. Huck stated, “I used to be scared of him all the time, he tanned me so much” (17). This quote shows how Huck had to deal with Pap’s abuse before and could not help himself. It shows that Pap has poor ethics shown by beating his child simply because he can. This is an immoral act on Pap’s part because he believes he can control Huck’s life including his life choices and his possessions. Pap says, “I’ll take you down a peg, before I'm done with you” (17). Pap continues to torment and threaten Huck even though he has not been around of the most recent parts of Huck’s life. Pap’s ideologies have not changed since Huck was younger. Pap’s ideals consist of being able to do what he wants when he wants. This was apparent when he tries to threaten Huck and put himself above Huck. In the 1800s community leaders felt responsible for helping orphaned or abandoned

While Pap may have been Huck’s father by blood, he did none of the things that would even remotely make him a “real” father. From Pap, Huck learned nothing but about how immoral and vicious humans can be. Every time Pap is drunk, he terrorizes Huck, so much to the point that Pap’s drunkenness

Since Tom’s parents died, he lives with his Aunt Polly, his half-brother Sid, and his cousin Mary. Huck, however, still had his father, Pap, but is equivalent to not having a father