Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Chapters 1-5 Study Guide

Chapter One: 1. What do we know about Huck from the way he talks?

2. Why does Mark Twain begin Huck Finn with a reference to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer?

3. How does Huck feel about being “sivilized”?

4. “Pretty soon I wanted to smoke and asked the widow to let me. But she wouldn’t. She said it was a mean practice and wasn’t clean. . . . And she took snuff too; of course that was all right, because she done it herself.” What is the object of Twain’s satire?

5. Why does Huck prefer the “bad” place to the “good” place?

6. What does Huck’s reaction to the burning of the spider show us about him?

Chapter Two

1. What trick does Tom play on Jim? How does Huck feel about it?

2. What difference between the two boys does this suggest?

3. How does Jim work the trick to his advantage?

4. If you were going to join Tom Sawyer’s gang, what would you have to agree to do?

5. Why is Tom so confident that he knows how to run a gang of robbers?

6. What does Tom’s explanation of ransoming indicate about the plot of a typical romance novel? 7. Why do the boys refuse to hold meetings on Sundays? How is this ironic?

Chapter Three 1. What does Huck dislike about praying? What does Huck decide that there must be two Providences (Gods)?

2. What does Huck think of Pap?

3. Why does Huck resign from the gang?

4. Huck and Tom have very different outlooks on “A-rabs” and on “rubbing lamps” etc. What does this show about their differences?

Chapter Four 1. Why does Huck “sell” his fortune to Judge Thatcher?

2. What does the “hair ball” tell Jim about Huck’s future? What point is Twain making with this satire about fortune tellers?

Chapter Five 1. Describe Pap. Give specific details from the text.

2. Is Pap realistic? (believable)

3. How does Pap feel about Huck going to school? How is this ironic?

4. How does the new Judge find out how Pap really is? What point is Twain making with this satire about people who do good deeds?