Chapter Summaries
Chapter 1:
In the first chapter, we get a look at what Huckleberry Finn's life is like once he is adopted by "The Widow Douglas." His life is very formal and fancy; not like Huck at all. He didn't like wearing clean, formal clothes, he was fidgety, always wanted to be active and doing something that most likely got him dirty. His adventurous personality was not what The Widow was used to or thought a boy should act like. At the end of the chapter, we find out that he sneaks out at night to visit his friend, Tom Sawyer.
Chapter 2:
In chapter 2, we see the type of enjoyment Huck and his friends get. Tom Sawyer plays a prank on The Widow's servant, Jim, even when Huck doesn't want to. They then meet other boys and creep into a cave hidden in the bushes, with plans to form a new gang, called "Tom Sawyer's Gang." This would be a gang of robbers and murderers, with deadly consequences given if a member didn't follow the rules for the gang correctly. We also find out that Huck's dad is a drunk man that hasn't been seen for the past year.
Chapter 3:
At the beginning of this chapter, Huck thinks about the whole concept of praying, and how people pray for things they want. If you pray for it and use prayer to help you get it, then why won't the things that you want to happen happen? This makes Huck not believe in the spiritual gifts of prayer. We also learn that as much as his father was drunk and abused him, Huck wants to see him again.
In chapter 2, we see Tom becoming a leader of his group of friends, but we see it even more when he tries to convince his gang that the Sunday school children they ambushed were really Spaniards, A-rabs and magicians in disguise. Everyone follows what Tom says, and if they disagree, Tom calls them a name and says they don't know anything.
In chapter 2, we see Tom becoming a leader of his group of friends, but we see it even more when he tries to convince his gang that the Sunday school children they ambushed were really Spaniards, A-rabs and magicians in disguise. Everyone follows what Tom says, and if they disagree, Tom calls them a name and says they don't know anything.
Discussion Questions:
What do the "robbers" think ransoming is and what are some objections to it?
The robbers think that "ransoming" is just holding someone captive until they die. They don't know the true meaning of it since it was just an action taken in a book read by Tom Sawyer, but never explained. The boys aren't all agreeing to ransoming their captives because someone always has to be on guard duty, and would never get any sleep. They also don't see the point in not killing them when they are first captured. Also, they say that all the people they're ransoming will take up too much space in the cave, and there will be no room for the robbers.
How does Huck respond to Miss Watson's admonitions to pray? What does this tell us about Huck?
When Miss Watson tries to get Huck to pray, he doesn't like to because he doesn't see the proof that it works. He also sees other people who should be praying for a better life, but they don't get it. Huck is told that is a spiritual gift, and that you should always try to help others before yourself. He sees no advantage in this for himself, so he forgets about it and doesn't believe in prayer. This tells us that Huck is a boy who will believe something if it is right there in front of him, but not if he is told. He needs the cold, hard evidence to believe something. It also tells us that Huck only does things for his own benefit, but won't do something to help someone else if he doesn't get anything from it.
In what ways is Huck different form the other boys in the gang?
Huck is different from the other boys in the gang because he doesn't have a big family that he lives with. His mother died, and his father is an alcoholic who hasn't been see for about year. He is living in Widow Douglas' house, as an orphan. Him not having a family forms some complications when the gang is trying to figure out who to kill when a consequence of telling someone about their gang is to kill that boy's family.
Huck also has a harder time imagining things that the gang does. As a person, he takes things more literally and needs evidence and proof to believe something, which makes the role-playing games harder for him.
Huck also has a harder time imagining things that the gang does. As a person, he takes things more literally and needs evidence and proof to believe something, which makes the role-playing games harder for him.
Reflections:
I think it's really interesting to see how boys got their entertainment in the south in the late 1900s. It's so different from today. Boys today will go out and play basketball or a videogame on the xbox, where boys from that time go around pretending to be in gangs. Also, the gangs that they make are violent. They have a strict set of rules to follow, signed off on them with blood, and vow to murder people and their families if they don't follow the rules. Also, they pretend to kill people, rob people, and take people for ransom.