Unkempt, Uncombed and Clad in Rags
A review of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
By Julia A. Keirns
This review is also published at medium.com.
I knew I would love this book since I so enjoyed The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Huck Finn is Tom Sawyer’s partner in crime and comrade. It took Mark Twain years to complete this manuscript. Several other authors and critics have claimed it to be one of the best books ever written and I would have to agree. I have not read tons of books, but of the ones I have read, this is one of the best.
The note from the author at the beginning of the book states, “Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.” Sometimes it is good to just sit and write with no real motive, moral or plot in mind. And when you do that, you end up with a masterpiece like Huckleberry Finn.
The authoritative text volume I purchased contains 663 extra pages found in a Los Angeles attic. The editors included all the original illustrations, historical notes, glossary, maps and selected pages, making this volume the new standard edition of Huckleberry Finn.
In this book, we get to know so much more about Huck Finn. Mostly because he is the one who tells the story himself. He talks about how he gets used to living with the widow Douglas in a real home, wearing real clothes, and going to church and school. But most of the time he just wants to go back out into the world and be free.
Huck’s alcoholic father finds out about the money he and Tom found and comes after him. Huck gets beaten, runs away and makes everyone believe he drowned in the river. While everyone is looking for him or his body, he meets a slave named Jim and hooks up with him. It is quite difficult to read Jim’s dialogue. Twain used a very southern negro dialect that takes some serious thinking to figure some of it out. The book surprised me with so much use of the “N” word, but back in the time it was written maybe it wasn’t so negative as it is now. It is just what they said. The book, by no means, encourages slavery or racism though. It is probably one of the more anti-slavery and anti-racist books out there. Huck was raised in a time of racism but goes against the norm and he himself is the farthest thing from it. It is a powerful book against racism and prejudice. The book also tackles the issue of child abuse and alcoholism.
While Huck and Jim are floating down the river on their raft, there are some beautifully written descriptions of the sunrises and sunsets on the river. Huck and Jim meet some “characters” on their journey and get caught up in quite some ordeals. This book is exciting and thrilling to read. I understand why it cannot be read in schools due to the language, but it needs to be read by everyone as an adult.