Book: Huckleberry Finn
Author: Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens
Publication: 1884
Pages: 328
Completed: 6/29/25
Earlier this year, I read the book “James,” which was written by a modern author from the perspective of Jim, the runaway slave who traveled downriver on the raft with Huckleberry Finn. Having never read “Huck Finn,” I thought I would read it to see how close the two versions were. They were nearly identical in storyline (except they were told from two different points of view) right up until Jim is sold to Silas Phelps, the sawmill owner after Huck & Jim are separated.
From this point forward, the stories diverge. Huck decides to figure out how to set Jim free and when he gets near the Phelps home, they think he is their cousin, Tom, who came to visit. It soon becomes apparent, that this is the home of his friend Tom Sawyer’s cousins. About a day later, Tom Sawyer shows up, and initially acts like his name is Willam Thompson from Hicksville, OH. IF YOU DON’T KNOW, THAT IS BASICALLY MY HOMETOWN. IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE IT, IT IS ON PAGE 257 OF THE BOOK THAT I READ.
After a couple hours, he announces that he is Sid Sawyer, Tom’s younger brother who came later because he also wanted to go. For the next several weeks, Huck acts like Tom and Tom acts like Sid and they are working on a plan to free Jim. One night, they get him free, but in the chase, Tom is shot in the calf by the slavecatchers. They tell Jim to move on & Huck finds a doctor for Tom. The Phelps family is extremely worried about “Sid,” but he shows up two days later with the doctor and Jim in chains as he got captured. The doctor explains that Jim stayed behind to help him with doctoring up Tom, so they chose not to hang Jim for escaping. When Tom gets out of his delirious fever, he tells the entire story of how he & Huck freed Jim to his aunt Sally. Immediately after, his Aunt Polly comes to visit Sally and explains to the family who is really who. She also says that Miss Watson (who looked after Huck) died two months ago and gave Jim his freedom, so Jim was really free. When asked why Tom wanted to free Jim, an already freed slave, he said it was for the adventure. Jim then tells Huck that his dad was the one in the house who was dead, so Huck doesn’t have to worry anymore about his father coming back. Huck & Tom talk about going to Indian Country (Oklahoma) to have some adventures, but that is basically the end of the book.
INTERESTING POINTS:
1) I intend to read the book “Tom Sawyer” when time allows. I think that will help explain everything a bit more, especially since that book was written about eight years before Huck Finn.
2) It still amazes me that Mark Twain mentions Hicksville, OH in the book – especially since Northwest Ohio was just getting settled in the mid to late 1800’s as they had to wait to drain the Black Swamp to settle there.
3) The raft that Jim & Tom are taking is supposedly 12′ by 16′. The two-man room I share with Gino is 10′ by 10′. So the raft is about twice the size of my cell in prison. That kinda puts that into perspective.
