Mark Twain Huck Finn

Huckleberry Finn

Suspense: Find examples of suspense in chapter 24-30. What do these events cause a reader to feel anxious for Huck? Is he ever in real danger?

Suspense is maintained throughout the Wilks scam by wondering whether the increasing inventions of the King and the Duke will still enable them to maintain their con game, and then whether the mounting threat of mob violence will claim their lives, or even possibly Huck's. If there is a moment when Huck may face real danger, it is when the mob forms to demand justice.

As a reader, do you feel anxious for the Duke or the king? Why or why not?

The Duke's and king's situation in these chapters is precarious. The Wilks scam seems unlikely to pan out and brings out the worst in them both -- Huck says their behavior makes him "ashamed of the human race." But the lynch mob is clearly enough to make Twain ashamed of the human race additionally, whereas the reader responds emotionally. However the overall darkness in tone that has suddenly overtaken the con men's antics makes us feel for Huck when he responds with dread at the prospect of their having caught up with him after the Wilks affair in Chapters 29-30.

Foreshadowing: What des the kings conversation on the steamboat foreshadow?

When the man that the king has conversed with descends from the steamboat with his arm in a sling, it foreshadows the fact that -- once he sees the king's face -- he will be able to recollect that he himself was the source of the con men's information about the situation regarding the Wilks family.

Dramatic Irony: A situation that involves discrepancy between the characters perception and what the reader or audience knows to be true is dramatic irony. Identify and explain an example of dramatic irony in chapter 26.

An example of dramatic irony in chapter 26 comes when Huck is asked over dinner if he has ever, back in England, seen the king. The reader and Huck both know that Huck is not from England and they know that the man claiming a false identity here is known to Huck by another false identity, that of "the king."

Theme: How does Twain continue to question the morality of SLAVERY in these chapters?

The king and the duke take a frank attitude towards Jim's status as an escaped slave by posing him with a sign reading "Sick Arab," which indicates he is an exotic foreign visitor and not a transported African slave. This underscores the bizarre system, if Jim can pose as a different non-white race and receive the assumption of liberty from onlookers.

Bildungsroman: A bildungsroman novel recounts the development of an individual from childhood to maturity to the point at which the protagonist recognizes his or her place and role in the world. How do chapters 24-30 illustrate growth on Hucks part?

Huck's mounting discomfort with the king's and duke's manipulations here show his moral growth. His decision to reclaim the gold on behalf of the family (which leads to him spying on the king and putting himself in considerable danger) shows a real conscience at work.

Motif: How does the weather in the graveyard scene chapter 29 contribute to the mood?

It follows what Ruskin once defined as the "pathetic fallacy," which is the ability to read weather features as being somehow expressive of the inherent emotional state. Obviously there is no literal connection but Twain makes the weather perfectly evocative of the mood and vice versa.

Chapter 31-33?

Character: Would you call the king nd the duke FLAt or ROUND? Do the king and duke ever feel any remorse for their actions? What traits do they exhibit? How'd they compare with characters like Huck and Jim who are round? Explain?