Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

Title: The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Author: Samuel Langhorne Clemens or Mark Twain
Date of Publication: 1884 (Great Britain) 1885 (USA) Genre:Bildungsroman, Picaresque, Adventure/Drama
Historical information about the period of publication: Twain, although he wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from 1876-1883, based the plot in the pre-Civil War era. During the slave era, there was much political unrest in the country. The Mason-Dixon line drew the line between the free states and the slave states. Many slaves attempted to escape by entering the free states as escapees. There were laws at first, like the Fugitive Slave Act, which were passed by the federal government for returning slaves to their
Characteristics of the genre: The bildungsroman novel, also known as a novel of education or coming-of-age novel, contains the conflicts and struggle of characters developing from childhood to maturity. The picaresque novel, an early form of the first-person narrative, is usually episodic in structure with the episodes often arranged as a journey. The narrative focuses on one character, who has to deal with authoritarian masters and unlucky fates but who usually manages to escape these miserable situations by using his or her wit. Huck Finn, with the help of his cunning friend Tom Sawyer, help Jim escape imprisonment in the shack.
Biographical information about the author: Clemens writes under the pen name Mark Twain, and much of the substance for his novels comes from real life experiences. After he was born in Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri. Only 80 miles from St. Louis, he grew up near the Mississippi river and large forests. His father
First, Huck prefers the easy life of the outdoors to the civilized life of the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, although he does not feel safe around his drunkard father. To escape his father's capture after his father finds he has cash, Huck decides to fake his murder by using the blood from a pig and leave for Jackson Island. Luckily, he also doesn't get beaten anymore. Huck finds Jim, Miss Watson's slave, on the island, and both escape confrontation with the searchers together. They plan to travel north into free states after connecting with the Ohio River. This plan is thwarted when a fog engulfs their raft, they float past the city of Cairo, and their raft is eventually ruined by a steamboat. Jim and Huck separate, but Huck finds his way to stay at the Grangerfords, who eventually die off during a feud with the Shepherdsons. Soon, Huck finds Jim, and they're off on their journey again until they come across two rogues who go by the identities the duke and the dauphin. They rob innocent townspeople of their money by putting on trumped-up shows, lie to girls whose father has just died to take their money, and sell Jim for profit. Huck feels he's in a mess and has to help Jim, but he ends up at the Phelps farm. The Phelpses are relatives of Tom, who arrives to visit soon. Huck meets with Tom earlier, and they decide that Huck should remain to be