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The narrator (who is later identified
as Huckleberry Finn) begins Chapter One by stating that the
reader may know of him from another book, The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer by Mark Twain. The other book ended with Tom and
Huckleberry finding the gold some robbers had hidden in a cave.
They got six thousand dollars apiece, which Judge Thatcher put
in trust, so that they each got a dollar a day from interest.
The Widow Douglas adopted and tried to civilize Huck. But Huck
couldn't stand it so he threw on his old rags and ran away. But
he went back when Tom Sawyer told him he could join his new band
of robbers if he would return to the Widow and become
respectable. The Widow lamented over her failure with Huck,
tried to stuff him into cramped clothing and before every meal
had to pray over the food before they could eat it. She tried to
teach him about Moses, until Huck found out he was dead and lost
interest. Meanwhile, she would not let him smoke; typically, she
disapproved of it because she had never tried it, but approved
of snuff since she used it herself. Her slim sister who wears
glasses, Miss Watson, tried to give him spelling lessons. |
Meanwhile, Huck was going crazy, made especially
restless by the sisters' constant reminders to improve his behavior.
Miss Watson then told him there was no chance. Tom Sawyer would end
up in Heaven. Huck was glad because he wanted to be with Tom. One
night, after Miss Watson's prayer session with him and the slaves,
Huck goes to bed feeling very lonely. He accidentally flicks a
spider into a candle, and is frightened by the bad omen. Just after
midnight, Huck hears movement below the window, climbing out of the
window onto the shed, Huck finds Tom Sawyer waiting for him. |
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Huck and Tom tiptoe through the garden. Huck trips on a
root as he passes the kitchen. Jim, a large slave, hears him from inside. They
try to hide but Huck is struck by an uncontrollable itch, as always happens when
he is in a tricky situation. Jim says aloud that he will stay put until he
discovers the source of the sound, but after several minutes falls asleep. Tom
plays a trick on Jim--putting his hat on a tree branch over his head--and takes
candles from the kitchen, over Huck's objections that they will risk getting
caught. Later, Jim says that some witches flew him around the state and put the
hat above his head as a calling card. He expands the tale further, becoming a
local celebrity among the slaves, who enjoy witch stories. Meanwhile, Tom and
Huck meet up with a few other boys and take a boat to a large cave. There, Tom
declares his new band of robbers, "Tom Sawyer's Gang." All must sign in blood an
oath vowing, among other things, to kill the family of any member who reveals
the gang's secrets. Tom says the gang must capture and ransom people, though
nobody knows what ransom means. Tom assumes it means to kill them. But anyway,
it must be done since all the books say so. When one boy cries to go home and
threatens to tell the group's secrets, Tom bribes him with five cents. They
agree to meet again and Huckleberry makes it back into bed just before dawn.
Meanwhile, a rumor circulates that Huck's father, Pap, who has not been seen in
a year, is dead. A corpse was found in the river, thought to be his father
because of its ragged appearance, though the face is unrecognizable. At first
Huck is relieved. His father had been a drunk who beat him when he was sober,
though Huck stayed hidden from him most of the time. Soon, however, Huck doubts
his father's death, and expects to see him again. After a month in Tom's gang,
Huck quit along with the rest of the boys. There was no point to it, without any
robbery or killing, their activities being all pretend. Once, Tom pretended a
caravan of Arabs and Spaniards were going to encamp nearby with hundreds of
camels and elephants. It turned out to be a Sunday school picnic. Huckleberry
declared that Tom's stories were only lies, and nothing else.
Huckleberry slowly adjusts to his new life and even
makes some progress in school. One winter morning, Huck notices boot tracks in
the snow near the house. Within one heel print is the shape of two nails crossed
to ward off the devil. Huck runs to tell Judge Thatcher. That night Huck goes to
Jim, who has a magical giant hairball from an ox's stomach. Huck tells Jim he
found his father’s tracks in the snow and wants to know what his father wants.
Jim says the hairball needs money to talk, and so Huck gives a counterfeit
quarter. Jim puts his ear to the hairball, and says that Huck's father has two
angels, one black and one white, one bad, one good. It is uncertain which will
win out. But Huck is safe for now. He will have much happiness and much sorrow
in his life, will marry a poor and then a rich woman, and should stay clear of
the water, since that is where he will die. That night, Huck finds his father
waiting in his bedroom! Pap's long, greasy, black hair hangs over his face and
his skin is a ghastly, disgusting white. Noticing Huck's nice slothes clothes,
he promises to teach Widow Douglas not to interfere and make a boy put on airs
over his own father. Pap is outraged that Huck has become the first person in
his family to learn to read. He threatens Huck not to go near the school again.
He asks Huck if he is really rich, as he has heard, and calls him a liar when he
says he has no more money. He leaves to get whiskey, and the next day, drunk,
demands Huck's money from Judge Thatcher. The Judge and Widow Douglas try to get
custody of Huck, but give up after the new judge in town refuses to separate a
father from his son. Pap lands in jail after a drunken spree. The new judge
takes Pap into his home and tries to reform him. Pap tearfully repents his ways
but soon gets drunk again. The new judge decides Pap cannot be reformed except
with a shotgun. Pap sues Judge Thatcher for Huck's fortune. He also continues to
threaten Huck about attending school, which Huck does partly to spite his
father. Pap goes on one drunken binge after another. One day he kidnaps Huck and
takes him deep into the woods, to a secluded cabin on the Illinois shore. He
locks Huck inside all day while he goes out. Huck enjoys being away from
civilization again, though he does not like his father's beatings and his
drinking. Eventually, Huck finds an old saw hidden away. He slowly makes a hole
in the wall while his father is away, resolved to escape from both Pap and the
Widow Douglas. But Pap returns as Huck is about to finish. He complains about
the government, saying Judge Thatcher has delayed the trial to prevent Pap from
getting Huck's wealth. He has heard his chances are good, though he will
probably lose the fight for custody of Huck. Later, Pap wakes from a drunken
sleep and chases after Huck with a knife, calling him the Angel of Death,
stopping when he collapses in sleep.
Click here for part 2 of the summary
of Huckleberry Finn |
