Chapter Summaries
Chapter 4:
In this chapter, we see Huck's attitude towards school. He starts not to mind it so much, but will play hooky every once in a while to give himself a break. We also see Huck get superstitious. He accidentally spills some salt and tries to throw it over his shoulder to get rid of the bad luck, but Miss Watson doesn't let him, therefore he has bad luck looming over his head. He then goes outside and sees footprints with a cross in the heel, to keep off the devil. He is surprised and scared, and runs to Judge Thatcher's house to give him the $6,000 he won from the treasure he found. When he goes home, he talks to Miss Watson's servant Jim, to try to tell him the future. Jim tells him everything will be alright, and he sho
Chapter 5:
The chapter starts with Huck's dad insulting him and the way he lives now. He thinks that Huck thinks that he's better than his father because of his ability to read, write, and his warm house and bed. His father tries to bully Huck into giving him the $6,000, but it's no longer Huck's since he just gave it to Judge Thatcher. His father goes to the judge and tries to get the money with no luck. He goes back the next day to find a new Judge in place, who cleans him up as a favor to get him H. It works-at first. The first night his father is in a nice home with nice clothes on this back, he leaves in the
Chapter 6:
In this chapter, Huck's dad continues to try and get the money from Huck through the court. With no luck, and a probable other trial that will secure Miss Watson's custody over Huck, he travels 3 miles into the woods to a cabin, keeping Huck under lock and key. He would go into the town to drink, and leave Huck locked up for multiple days at a time. One of times Huck was locked up, he found a saw and started to cut a hole to get out. His father came back before he could escape, but he had planned to escape the next night that his father was too drunk to notice. It happened a few days later, when his father woke up seeing visions and thinking Huck was attacking him. When he finally fell back asleep, Huck finished off the escape hole and pointed his father's gun at his father, waiting for him to wake up.
Discussion Questions:
How does Huck like life with his father? Why does he decide to run away?
Huck liked but disliked life with his father. He liked the lack of rules, and the ability to dress in rags, cuss as he pleased, and not have to go to school. He dislikes the fact that his father was very violent and crazy. His father would beat/whip him for doing something wrong, and also be continually drunk. He would go away for multiple days at a time getting drunk on the town, leaving Huck locked up with no food or way out of their cabin. He ultimately decided to run away because for him, the benefits outweighed the risks of staying with the Widow in her house.
What is ironic about Pa's holding Huck against his will?
The ironic thing about Huck's Pa holding Huck against his will is that he enjoyed it more than he liked life at the Widow's house. There were no rules with his father, no set meal times, bed times, no plates to eat off of, and he didn't have to be clean. At the Widow's house, he had to go to classes as well, which he didn't enjoy. The nature of Huck is is to be more adventurous with a dislike of rules and cleanliness. Huck's father gives him that life, thinking he wouldn't like it, when he really enjoyed it more than living at the Widow's.
How does Twain create humor in the tense situation of Pa's drunken rage in the cabin?
Twain creates humor in Huck's father's drunken rage by explaining it all in a way that makes him see like an animal. The way he describes Pa is crazy violent and in such a rage that he even goes for Huck. He has conversations with himself and will take every chance he gets to cuss all the people or things out that have every made him mad. Seeing someone act in that manner is humorous because it is so different from how people act, and it's so socially unacceptable that it creates humor.
Reflections
I can't imagine living in the cabin Huck and his father lived in and enjoying it more than at a house. In the cabin, you have to catch all your food, don't eat off plates, don't shower, don't eat at set times, and don't learn anything. Personally, I like feeling clean and knowing that I don't have to kill and skin my own food every night. It's just not enjoyable to me to be out in the wild with no knowing of what you'll eat next. Also, I wouldn't like to live in rags. I would feel dirty all of the time, and that would just be unpleasant.