1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain

2. American Realism The Civil War to 1914
A man said to the universe: “Sir, I exist!” “However,” replied the universe, “The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation.” --Stephen Crane, author of The Red Badge of Courage

3. American Realism A direct contrast to Romanticism
Writers aimed at a “very minute fidelity” to the common course of everyday life; tried to represent faithfully the environment: the way ordinary people lived and dressed and the things they thought and felt and talked about
Subjects included far-from-idealized characters: poor factory workers, corrupt politicians, and prostitutes
Realism is not just concerned with recording wallpaper patterns, hairstyles, or the subjects of conversations. It sought also to explain why ordinary people behave the way they do.
Realism also focused on emerging sciences—biology, psychology, and sociology—as well as on their own insights and observations.

4. Our Author: 1835-1910 Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens
“Mark Twain” is a river term meaning a depth of two fathoms, or twelve feet
Spent his life as a river pilot, Confederate soldier (for a few weeks) reporter, writer, lecturer
Lived abroad, which was cheaper than America then
Born and died poor

5. Mark Twain’s Wit
“When I was 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in 7 years.”
“Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.”
“In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made government.”
“Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.”
“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
“It is better to be thought a fool and remain silent than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.”
“To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.”
“All generalizations are false, including this one.”

6. Huck Finn Twain began HF as a sequel to Tom Sawyer, in 1876
It was exceedingly hard to write, and Twain published it in 1884
Considered a finer book than Tom Sawyer, demonstrating a more mature point of view and a richer strata of human experience
Set before the Civil War,
One of the most banned books in the United States
“The basis of all modern fiction.” --Ernest Hemingway

7. Huck Finn: The Basics Major Characters Minor Characters Setting Huck
Jim
Minor Characters
Pap
Widow Douglas
Tom Sawyer
Judge Thatcher
Aunt Polly
Setting
Set shortly after Tom Sawyer (Huck was in TS; in Huck he’s “or along those lines”)
Set before the Civil War—1840’s ish
Locations range up and down the Mississippi River

8. How Twain responded to censorship
DEAR SIR: I am greatly troubled by what you say. I wrote Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn for adults exclusively, and it always distresses me when I find that boys and girls have been allowed access to them. The mind that becomes soiled in youth can never again be washed clean; I know this by my own experience, and to this day I cherish an unappeasable bitterness against the unfaithful guardians of my young life, who not only permitted but compelled me to read an unexpurgated Bible through before I was 15 years old. None can do that and ever draw a clean sweet breath again this side of the grave. Ask that young lady—she will tell you so. Most honestly do I wish I could say a softening word or two in defence of Huck's character, since you wish it, but really in my opinion it is no better than those of Solomon, David, Satan, and the rest of the sacred brotherhood. If there is an unexpurgated Bible in the Children's Department, won't you please help that young woman remove Huck and Tom from that questionable companionship? Sincerely yours, S. L. Clemens

9. A word about language
Dialect: a particular way of speaking a language (accent, word choice)
Dialect is intentionally used as a characterization tool
The “N” Word is used 219 times in the novel—once again, this is deliberate to portray a message