Huck Finn, last seen in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, is living uneasily with the Widow Douglas, who wants to civilise him, when his drunken, violent father reappears to claim the money Huck found. Huck fakes his own death to escape and hides on an island in the Mississippi, where he meets Jim, an enslaved man who has run away after learning he is to be sold downriver.
The two set off on a raft, hoping to reach the free states. Along the river they meet feuding families, a lynch mob, and two swindlers who call themselves the Duke and the King and drag them into scams in riverside towns. Throughout, Huck wrestles with what his society has taught him about right and wrong as his friendship with Jim deepens.
Told in Huck's vernacular voice, the novel transformed American prose; Hemingway said modern American literature came from it. It is a satire of racism and moral hypocrisy, yet its frequent use of racial slurs and depiction of Jim have made it one of the most debated and challenged books in American schools.
Book details
| Author | Mark Twain |
|---|---|
| First published | 1884 |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Classic |
| Type | Fiction |
| Pages (approx.) | 366 |
| Setting | Mississippi River valley, 1830s-1840s |
Themes
- Slavery and freedom
- Conscience
- Friendship
- Hypocrisy
- Coming of age
Who should read it
Readers interested in American literature, satire and the history of race in the United States.
If you liked this, try
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Moby-Dick