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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

by Mark Twain

Reviewed by Dorothy Black

For more years than I care to remember, this American classic has sat on my shelf, inviting a re-read:  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain.

The story itself is simple.  It takes place after the Civil War, and Huckleberry Finn is a young boy whose life flows in tandem with the Mississippi River . He has run away from a brutal father and people who have given him shelter and care. His most constant human companion is Jim, a Negro slave, who is in effect a father figure but nevertheless remains Huck's inferior, according to the times.   Both need civilization but also need to be outside of it, and lean on each other  with Huck deciding to help Jim escape from slavery even though he actually believes in slavery. Thus Huck, doing what society would disapprove of, felt he was doing right and in doing so, feels the warmth of that "rightness."

Huck is happy but responsible. He is modest, forgiving, sensitive and sympathetic, often worrying about someone else's difficulties or putting himself in their shoes. He applies reason and is matter of fact and acceptant when that is the sensible route. At the same time, he trusts nobody and tells lies without end if he considers it necessary. So in one way or another, in an America now gone forever, he escapes dangerous and unwanted situations and manages in the end.

Not only is Huck's nature described, but also a boy's nature. So he deals with truth and fairness from a boy's point of view -- which is not the same as an adult's. Boys can lie in their own defense but not to themselves. The river is almost a god, and Huck's world absorbs that. The river's moods, power and influence, the superstitions of the area that keep in mind the possibilities of offending spirits and which Huck respects, impact on every plan and every day. He might be held by fog or a sand bar as his raft runs with the currents.  Confusion and danger and the unknown are companions. But Huck expects these, and deals with them as he must, even as the money-god and capitalism become more and more characteristic of American life.

Mark Twain struggled with Huckleberry Finn, which nevertheless eventually was judged to be his masterpiece. Twain had grown up along the Mississippi and loved it deeply. After leaving it, he returned in middle age and was inspired to gather his memories for his writing.  But Huckleberry Finn was for a time frowned on in schools and libraries because it was considered to set a bad example by its accounts of lying, thievery, bad language and grammar, and poor treatment of religion and respected society.

Literary commentators praise the style and form of this book. It is a "novel of the road," called picaresque, the simplest of novel forms. It deals with the happenings of the tale step by step, with beginning, mid-tale and ending rising to the excitement of finally coming together. The style of the story involves the colloquial speech of the time and location and status of the speakers. Dialect paints word-pictures and gives this story personality.

Ernest Hemingway said that "all modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn." What more flattering endorsement could one wish for?

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain
Rinehart & Co., Inc. Toronto
Harper & Brothers

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