Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Key Characters

• Huckleberry Finn: The novel's protagonist and narrator, Huck is a young boy in pre-Civil War Missouri who has been raised without conventional rules of society. His abusive, alcoholic father and deceased mother left him to grow up largely on his own until the Widow Douglas took him in. Practical, adaptable, and ultimately guided by his innate moral compass rather than social norms, Huck undergoes significant moral development throughout the novel, culminating in his decision to help Jim escape slavery despite believing it will condemn him to hell, one of literature's most powerful moments of moral awakening.
• Jim: A runaway slave owned by Miss Watson, Jim escapes when he learns he might be sold to New Orleans. Intelligent, caring, and loyal, Jim becomes a father figure to Huck during their journey down the Mississippi. Though portrayed with some racial stereotypes typical of the era, Jim's humanity, wisdom, and emotional depth contradict the dehumanizing assumptions of slavery, making him one of the most complex and sympathetic Black characters in 19th-century American literature.
• Tom Sawyer: Huck's friend and the protagonist of 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,' Tom represents society's romantic notions and impractical adherence to convention. His unnecessary complication of Jim's escape plan highlights the contrast between his book-derived, fantasy-based approach to life and Huck's practical, experiential wisdom.
• Pap Finn: Huck's abusive, alcoholic father who embodies the worst aspects of the society Twain criticizes. Violent, racist, and motivated purely by self-interest, Pap kidnaps Huck to gain control of his money, keeping him imprisoned in a cabin and regularly beating him. His character serves as both a plot catalyst and a symbolic representation of the brutal, irrational prejudice that permeated American society.
• The Duke and The King: Two con men who join Huck and Jim on their raft and involve them in increasingly cruel schemes. These fraudulent characters, who claim to be a dispossessed European duke and the lost Dauphin of France, represent the hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy Twain observed in 'civilized' society. Their escalating cons reveal the gullibility of the public and the exploitation inherent in much of human interaction.