Chapter Summaries
Chapter 19:
In this chapter, Huck and Jim sail further down the river. At one point, they come across two men that don't know each other, but are both fleeing from their town. They want to get on Huck's raft to sail away safely. The first man they meet is an old, bald man with a beard. He ran an anti-alcohol group, but ran away when his members found out he himself drank. The second man was a younger man who sold a toothpaste that destroyed the users' teeth more than it helped them. These two men team to to convince Huck and Jim of fake identities. The younger man says he's the Duke of England, and the older man says he's the dauphin, or the long lost son of Louis XVI. Huck doesn't believe them, but plays along with Jim to not get into a fight. They call the men "Your Majesty" and "Duke," to further the believability of these identities.
Chapter 20:
In chapter 20, the two men start to wonder about Jim and whether he is a runaway slave. Huck uses his quick mind and claims he's an orphan traveling with Jim. The only problem is that so many people have stopped their boat to ask if Jim was a slave, they must resort to traveling only at night. The next town they pass, the two men get off of their raft and start to make living in the town. Originally, they plan to put on a Shakespeare performance for the citizens, but they are all already at a religious event in the woods with lots of shouting and singing. The older man makes up another identity and claims he is a pirate, and will sail the Indian Ocean as a preist. The younger man starts to run the print office and makes money by selling advertisements to print in the newspapers. He also prints a fake flier wanting a reward for Jim. This means that Huck can take with him saying that Jim
Discussion Questions
Why do you think Huck helps the duke and the king when he first meets them?
Huck helps the duke and king at first because they were runaways. He and Jim were also runaways, and knows what it feels like to need to escape. They are in the same situation he and Jim are in, so he helps them out by letting them escape on their boat.
Huck knows the duke and king are frauds from the beginning. Why does he pretend that he thinks they are the real thing?
Huck pretends that the men they meet are the people they claim to be to avoid any conflict. They already let the men on their raft, and if he were to contradict their identities, a fight would break out. The men are bigger, stronger, and older than Huck and Jim, and they could potentially lose their raft, or word of an escaped slave would get out.
What is Twain suggesting by having the Duke and King pull their first "con" at a religious revival?
Twain is making a point at the insincerity of people in society. When people are gathered in a religious gathering, the thought of doing anything illegal should be socially unacceptable. The fact that it's not, and that it still happens, proves that there are still many insincere people living in th South that would do anything to get money or get their way.
Reflections:
It's interesting to see that Huck isn't the only one who can make up quick stories about who he really is. We see the old man first as a dauphin, and later as a pirate. The young man starts as a duke and ends up being the owner of a printing press. It seems as if identity can't be trusted by anyone. Adults as well as kids, like Huck, will go to any means to get their way, even if it means lying about who they really are.