The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Test Review

1. Be familiar with Pap’s “govment” speech. Why is pap so angry with the Widow
Douglas, and what is Twain satirizing through Pap’s “govment” speech? Pap is angry
with the Widow because she told Huck about reading and writing, and she said that Huck
could learn.
Twain is satirizing racism in Pap’s government speech mainly in the second part of his
speech, when he goes on to talk about the college professor that voted in Ohio. Pap says
that the government is an awful government if they allow the black man to vote, despite
him being a regular person. He specifically said that he wanted to vote, but was too drunk
to do so, but when he heard about the black man being allowed to vote, he didn’t. Pap’s
character, being evil, racist, and basically all bad, saying that it is evil for a perfectly
normal person to vote, is satirizing racism.

2. Be VERY familiar with Huck’s “Can’t Pray a Lie” speech. Reread it and write down
the main points. The “Can’t Pray a Lie” speech is about Huck being torn apart by slavery
itself. He wants to pray for forgiveness as he believes that God is punishing him for
helping Jim escape, but he realizes he cannot do so as in his heart he knows he is doing
the right thing in helping him escape. He cannot pray for forgiveness of helping a slave
when deep down he knows he did the right thing. So, he is both ashamed and seeking
forgiveness for it, but on the other hand he feels what he did was right and thus not
ashamed for doing it. At the end, he decides he will not pray a lie and would rather go to
hell (he ends up not regretting it).

3. Identify the irony of the final conflict with the Grangerfords and Sheperdsons. The
final conflict between the Grangerfords and the Sheperdsons involves a massive shootout
between the two sides.
The irony in the bloody battle between both families is the fact that none of the families
know what they started fighting for, yet they are willing to murder just because one of
their own is marrying a member the opposing side. Two rich and noble families are
willing to tear each other apart for practically nothing. They claim it is for honor, but
there is no honor in just killing for no reason.

4. Define satire. What is Twain satirizing with the Royal Nonesuch scene with the Duke
and the King? Satire is making something or someone look stupid or incorrect by the use
of irony, exaggeration, ridicule, or humor itself. Twain is satirizing human nature in the
Royal Nonesuch scene when all of the people agree to say that the show was great so that
they would not be made fun of. He is making fun of how humans are so willing to throw
other humans under the bus if it results in them looking less like a fool.

5. Describe the differences between life on the river and the land. What type of statement
is Twain making about society? The life on the river is usually peaceful; Jim and Huck
have a nice time living on the river because of how they are just sort of alone by
themselves while they have everything they need. On the land, however, there are usually
chaotic events occurring (the life on the land is not as good). Twain is saying that life in
the South is usually eventful and not good, but if you spend a lot of time alone and away
from society, you will live in peace.

6. Why does Huck have such an issue with “sivilization,” and what does he end up
deciding at the end of the novel? Huck cannot bring himself to be civilized, despite the
Widow Douglas wanting him to be that way. He can’t seem to accept religion, as he
believes that it only works for some people. He does not like the clothing that regular
people wear. He can’t read or write well, even though he tries to go to school. In the end
of the book, he decides on living in the outdoors as an uncivilized person in some random
area in the United States. He decides not to go back to Widow Douglas.

7. What does the fog scene reveal about Huck’s understanding of his friendship with Jim?
At the end of the fog scene, Huck ends up apologizing to Jim after playing a mean prank
on him. This shows that he has grown to like Jim, and that he looks at him higher than
just property. Although it took him 15 minutes to apologize, he still did, and this means
that he has grown from being completely pro-slavery to somewhat moderate.

8. Why does Huck feel guilty as he nears Cairo with Jim? He feels as though he should
have turned Jim in already. When Huck thinks about it, he realizes he helped a slave
escape from somewhere, which is kind of like stealing property from someone.

9. Why does Huck tear up the letter to Miss Watson? He realizes that he doesn’t want to
go down that road anymore. He believes that helping Jim was the right thing to do, as Jim
appreciates him so much and cares for him. He gives up on trying to turn Jim in or
praying to God for forgiveness and decides that he will “Go to hell.” He wants to help
Jim out of slavery from this point on (before Jim’s capture, Jim had only been sort of a
companion of Huck. Now, he is actually captured, and Huck can either save him or just
keep on sailing down the Mississippi. He actually has to do something).

10. Describe Huck’s moral conflict throughout the book. All of Huck’s life, he has been
taught that slavery is a regular thing, and he firmly believes that. His influencers (Pap,
Widow Douglas, and society) have led him to believe so. But, as he spends time with Jim
while they both escape, it becomes more apparent to him that slavery doesn’t really make
sense, as the best person he knows is Jim. Because of his close and heartwarming
relationship with Jim, it leads him to believe that maybe slavery isn’t good after all. This
is the conflict; Huck’s past has hammered the fact that slavery is a good thing into his
mind, whereas this new emotion for Jim that he now has contradicts this feeling, making
him torn apart by these two forces.

11. Who is more of a “true” father figure to Huck: Jim or Pap? Explain your answer
using examples. Jim is obviously the true father figure to Jim. First of all, Jim looks out
for Huck. This is seen when Jim covers up the dead body’s face from Huck (the dead
body was his real father) so that it wouldn’t traumatize Huck. Jim also cares deeply for
Huck, and he always says that he is very grateful for what Huck has done for him. Pap on
the other hand has beaten him senseless, tried to rob him of his fortune, and has been
absent for most of his life. He is also always drunk and wants Huck to be a lesser person
because Pap fears that Huck is becoming a better person than he is (with being educated,
etc.)