American Literature

Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)

The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900)

This collection uses primary sources to explore Mark Twain&#39;s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Teaching Guide: Exploring *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn*

A lithograph of a drawing by Henry Lewis showing Hannibal, Missouri, home of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1854-1857.

A photograph of Hannibal, Missouri, home of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, ca. 1880.

A reward poster for a runaway slave in Missouri, 1820-1860.

A photograph of a plantation house in South Carolina, ca. 1960.

A letter describing the life and times of a plantation owner before and after the Civil War, 1944.

An excerpt from *The Black Man’s Burden or The Horrors of Southern Lynchings* about an Arkansas lynching as related by Mr. Gardner, 1902. 

A 1959 pictorial map of events in *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn*.

An excerpt from a 1985 lecture titled “Born to Trouble: One-Hundred Years of Huckleberry Finn.”

An essay by David Cazarez regarding the use of the n-word in Huck Finn, 2011.

An original 1884 illustration by E.W. Kemble from chapter twelve, “On the Raft,” in *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn*.

A poster advertising a lecture in Brooklyn, New York, by Mark Twain, with a caricature of the author, 1873. 

A photograph of Samuel Clemens in his iconic white suit, ca. 1909.

A photograph of steamboats on the Mississippi River, ca. 1860.

An illustration of the levee at Cairo, Illinois, 1874.

An excerpt from a book that includes an extensive list of superstitions, 1907.

Resources

1. [The Mark Twain House & Museum](https://www.marktwainhouse.org/). 
2. [Culture Shock: Huck Finn in Context Teaching Guide](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/teachers/huck/index.html), PBS. 
3. “[Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn: Controversy at the Heart of a Classic](https://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2013/11/mark-twains-huckleberry-finn-controversy-at-the-heart-of-a-classic/),” Teaching with the Library of Congress blog. 
4. [The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn](http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/huckfinn/huchompg.html), Mark Twain in his Times digital archive, University of Virginia Department of English. 

Overview

Published in 1885, Mark Twain’s *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn* remains an American classic taught in thousands of classrooms across the country. While the book seems like a novel of adventure, *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn* is at heart a satire in which Twain examines “civilization” and freedom in the pre-Civil War South. *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn* was first banned a month after its publication as “not suitable for trash” and it remains number fourteen on the most banned list. Twain’s prolific use of the n-word is especially controversial. However, Jim—Huck’s companion and a runaway slave—is arguably the hero in the novel because of his leadership and sacrifice, despite the fact that Twain narrates his story through Huck’s voice. From the perspective of Huck, a poor, uneducated orphan, Twain’s commentary on race relations, the Southern justice system, class division, and senseless violence has resonated for over 130 years. This primary source set includes portraits, illustrations, documents, and photographs that provide context for historical and thematic elements in *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn*.

English

*The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn* by Mark Twain

adventures-huckleberry-finn-mark-twain_02_cbfe0ff399c501e371e58daa9542bd80.jpeg

Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society via Minnesota Digital Library.

Goss, Frank, “Hannibal, Missouri (?) on the Mississippi River,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/61901655158b0c67ffd80a6ed43465a6.

A photograph of Hannibal, Missouri, home of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, ca. 1880.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 2 of 15 in the Primary Source Set The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain