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.

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. 

Mark Twain went on lecture tours around the world. At this particular venue, he gave his “Sandwich Island” lecture. The “Sandwich Island” lecture was a favorite of Twain. He gave it over one hundred times.


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

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

Samuel Clemens was fascinated by steamboats. He even took his pen name “Mark Twain” from the Mississippi River phrase that meant “mark two (fathoms),” the safe depth for steamboats.


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

This is the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. The Ohio River leads north and the Mississippi River leads south. Had Huck and Jim not passed this point, the novel would have had a very different ending.

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

Questions

1. Look at the [map](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1006). Match each scene on the map with a quotation from the corresponding chapter in the novel. Why do you think the artist chose to include these scenes?
2. The [photo of a plantation](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1003) shows a building similar in style to the plantation Huck visits in the episode between the Shepherdsons and the Grangerfords. Read the [letter](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1004) regarding the plantation owner known as “Uncle Sam.” How do experiences recounted in this letter compare to Huck’s experience with the Grangerford family? The author of the letter states that “...in reality the slaves were not freed but handed over to a worse slavery in which their Masters for the most part had no interest in them except to get out of them a maximum amount of work for a minimum wage.” What do you think this means? Do you agree with this? Why or why not?
3. Many people argue that Colonel Sherburn’s speech in chapter twenty-two, condemning Southern justice and the myth of Southern bravery, is the voice of Twain. Read [Mr. Gardner’s description of Southern lynching](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1005). How does this compare to Colonel Sherburn’s speech? What do you think Twain was trying to accomplish by including this episode in *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn*?
4. Read the [lecture](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1007) “Born to Trouble: One Hundred Years of Huckleberry Finn.” Why do you think Twain stopped writing Huck Finn for several years after the Cairo episode? What do you think about the ending of the novel? Do you agree with Kaplan? Furthermore, do you agree with Twain’s comment that banning the book encouraged more people to read it? How does this comment compare to the Royal Nonesuch episode in the novel?
5. Look at the images of Hannibal, Missouri, Twain’s hometown. How do these images compare to your idea of what St. Petersburg, the setting for the beginning of the novel, looks like? Are they similar? Are they different? Find an excerpt from the novel to support your claim.
6. Twain uses superstition to draw Huck and Jim together and both find comfort in superstition’s ability to explain why bad things happen. For example, the spilling of the salt leads to Pap’s return. Look at the excerpt from a classified [list of superstitions](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1014). Why do you think people believe in superstition? In the novel, Huck is not educated. The less educated someone is, the more likely they are to find answers in superstition. What might Twain be saying about the role of superstition and education? Find an example in the novel to support your answer.


Activity

After having read the [essay](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/1008) “N-word in ‘Huck Finn’ Starts a Conversation We Need to Have” by David Cazares, hold a class debate on whether or not the *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn* should be banned based on language and/or how it portrays black Americans. Each side should: have a solid background regarding all material, have plenty of evidence to back up claims, use teamwork, be creative, and give clear, direct responses at all stages of the debate. 


Teaching Guide: Exploring *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn*

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_11_1f8c36442408800567881b38e963daa0.jpg

“Samuel Clemens (caricatures),” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/1f8c36442408800567881b38e963daa0.

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

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 11 of 15 in the Primary Source Set The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain