Study Questions &
Essay Topics
Study Questions
1. Huck Finn is
a thirteen-year-old boy. Why does Twain use a child as the center
of consciousness in this book?
2. Discuss
Twain’s use of dialects in the novel. What effect does this usage
have on the reader? Does it make the novel less of an artistic achievement?
3. Discuss
the use of the river as a symbol in the novel.
Suggested Essay Topics
1. Lying occurs frequently in
this novel. Curiously, some lies, like those Huck tells to save
Jim, seem to be “good” lies, while others, like the cons of the
duke and the dauphin, seem to be “bad.” What is the difference?
Are both “wrong”? Why does so much lying go on in Huckleberry
Finn?
2. Describe some of the models
for families that appear in the novel. What is the importance of
family structures? What is their place in society? Do Huck and Jim
constitute a family? What about Huck and Tom? When does society
intervene in the family?
3. The revelation at the novel’s
end that Tom has known all along that Jim is a free man is startling.
Is Tom inexcusably cruel? Or is he just being a normal thirteen-year-old
boy? Does Tom’s behavior comment on society in some larger way?
4. What techniques does Twain
use to create sympathy for his characters, in particular, Jim? Are
these techniques effective?
5. Discuss the place of morality
in Huckleberry Finn. In the world of the novel,
where do moral values come from? The community? The family? The
church? One’s experiences? Which of these potential sources does
Twain privilege over the others? Which does he mock, or describe
disapprovingly?
6. Why might Twain have decided
to set the novel in a time before the abolition of slavery, despite
the fact that he published it in 1885, two
decades after the end of the Civil War?
