The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), the sequel to Tom Sawyer, is considered Twain’s masterpiece. The book is the story of the title character, known as Huck, a boy who flees his father by rafting down the Mississippi river with a runaway slave, Jim. The pair’s adventures show Huck (and the reader) the cruelty of which men and women are capable.

Another theme of the novel is the conflict between Huck’s feelings of friendship with Jim, who is one of the few people he can trust, and his knowledge that he is breaking the laws of the time by helping Jim to escape. Huckleberry Finn, which is almost entirely narrated from Huck’s point of view, is noted for its authentic language and for its deep commitment to freedom. Huck’s adventures also provide the reader with a panorama of American life along the Mississippi before the Civil War.

Twain’s skill in capturing the rhythms of that life make the book one of the masterpieces of American literature.