What you said about "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"

his book was written over 100 years ago, 1884 I believe. I thought it was a great book for three reasons: One, because of it's history, another, because of it's humor and lastly it's humanity. When I went down the Mississippi again [when reading the book], this time it was a geography lesson. Huck mentions the cities they are passing as they travel by night.

For 8th graders and 11th graders studying US history, one of the big issues is slavery. Here is a sketch of slavery that I don't think you can beat. Like the time when Hucklberry felt guilty he was helping a ''nigger'' to escape so he was going to write a letter, and he wrote the letter. He was all hung up on this decision and felt good after writing the letter. He was actually thinking he was going to go to hell for helping a slave to escape.

Then after thinking about it and thinking of Jim and their conversation, and their friendship, he couldn't think of any reason to harden himself against Jim. He then tore up the letter he had written. To me this was the turning point of the book, a crucial moment. Huckleberry personifies us - American white folks - even though he is only 19 years old. He personifies the white world, and yet he is a good enough and smart enough man to do what he thought was right and he wasn't going to turn the slave in and was willing to go to hell for his principles....

Of course there is the humor. I don't know if [everyone] enjoyed it as much as I did. ...

Huck got snowed by Tom. He really felt a little inferior to Tom knowledge-wise and he let himself be hornswaggled. At some point even Jim was smarter than Tom. ...

I think what you would call history was a serious section of the book purposely put in about the feuding. The descriptions Huck gave of the family was a marvelous sketch. No one really knows why anyone is feuding. Walter Egan
''Lively Minds Book Club''
Hingham

It is a wonderful adventure, it makes you wish you could have done it yourself. ...

I did have a thought that when we today look at slavery, and back then, they thought more of the plantations of the south and all the misery that went on. I didn't think that they thought of each individual person, like Jim, having to undergo so much because of his color. They thought of them as a group, not an individual. Here we saw a real individual reaction of the white man's inhumanity. ...

I don't think this was written for children. I was wondering where Mark Twain was in his life when he wrote this. I really think that this written to get his views out to the people.

I related [to the book] because I am a midwesterner. I saw it as a midwestern saga. It was rugged territory at that time and it all seemed possible. ...

I would recommend this to some young person who was wondering about slavery. I think that even today we have come so far from that that not everyone has an understanding of it. We have no knowledge of how each individual black person was treated, this is very important. It might even lead to some further understanding why we have not come to some agreement between black and white today. We still are separate even though we try to be equal. I think this would help them see that there was Jim, he had no education but he was intelligent, but no where was he accepted by anyone but Huck.
Ione Siehr
''Lively Minds Book Club''
Hingham

When I read this book way back and when I read it this time, I also got a book which pointed out a critique of his symbolism of the Mississippi, its role and how does this show his belief in God. That never had occured to me. I have the book with the dialect. It sounds like the rap artists of today. ...

We are really critiquing it in our modern knowledge and putting our values today on to what was written over 100 years ago. ...

[Reading the book] brings to my mind that certain groups have banned books that were written a long time ago because of things like violence and language. ...

[Twain] had a fertile mind. In an uneducated way Huck was ahead of his time in the way his moral evaluation of the human race came out. He had lots of debates about the pros and cons of it but he always seemed to come out on, what I consider, the right end.

It was uncommon that Huck didn't travel with the pack. He always was very compassionate and wanted to save everybody - the pirates, the ones trying to put the Shakespeare play on and even his own father. He was so forgiving of everybody. ...

I don't think that Mr. Twain was too enamored with the human race as it existed at his time. I think he was a moralist and searching for something and I wonder if he ever found it. I think he was disappointed in the way the human race behaved. I get the opinion that he was anti-religious, along those lines. ...

Tom Sawyer was supposed written for children, while Huck Finn may be read by children, but it takes an adult figure out how good it is and to get the proper perspective that he was writing about. You had to be an adult to read him.

I have often wondered, that the human race has different levels of understanding and education. I can't see how you can put a book like Huck Finn into a learning disabled class to read because it is good literature. I think that with all good literature it has to be targeted to the person who wants to absorb it and is interested in not only learning but also seeing that the tradition is carried on.
Adelaide Gaertner
''Lively Minds Book Club''
Hingham

I enjoyed the dialect part very much. It took me a long time to read it because I had to figure it out and I really didn't want to miss anything. I enjoyed the book that much that each episode and each adventure ... were so interesting that it wasn't something that I wanted to skim through. I enjoyed the dialect. ... Once you had read enough, it became clear and easier. ...

This shows that things haven't changed all that much. It is more exagerated today because there are more people, but it has always been there.

Huck was ... concerned what other people would think of him for helping out a slave. He was afraid of that.
Beverly Tilden:
''Lively Minds Book Club''
Hingham

I have a whole different perspective from when I read it as a child and reading it now. When I first read it, it was very adventuresome. I didn't see it as adventuresome as much now. Back then, I was thinking what a great deal this guy had and how I would have loved to have done the same, I don't feel that way now. ...

I think it is important [for Americans to read this book] because it shows what you can do with you life if you are having an experience like this and are thinking ahead enough to make the best of the situation and hopefully make some good decisions.
Reta Sweeney:
''Lively Minds Book Club''

Do you think that Mark Twain felt that many people had the desire to get on a raft, go down the river drift away from civilization? I felt, that without saying so. If this was written for children, he gave a message in a somewhat humorous way, the serious subject of how blacks were treated, rather than dictating what we should do. ...

There are other books I have liked better. I like books that are more real to me. These characters in Huck Finn are from way back.
Dot Robinson
''Lively Minds Book Club''
Hingham

If they're looking for something to bring about a point, Huck Finn is not the book to read. I got the point of his [Twain's] comments about slavery, but I didn't get anything deeper. It exposes people to what could happen and what was.

I think I can relate to ''Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry''[by Mildred Taylor] more. We've seen segregation and racism more than slavery. Huck Finn doesn't really affect anything we do in society today. Slavery isn't an issue in thiscountry anymore. Meghan Smith-Hefy Waltham High

I read ''Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry'' and I think we should read that instead of Mark Twain. I didn't really understand the language [in Huck Finn] and ''Roll of Thunder'' is more current.
Anaica Joseph
Waltham High

The book doesn't phase someone dramatically. I don't think it's vital for us to read it.
Liz Kenney:
Waltham High

You have to be an educated citizen to read the book. Reading the book doesn't make you educated.
Shannon Petrie:
Waltham High

You can read a book and not understand the themes or not like it and someone else can read it and get a life message out of it. It's your perspective. Huck Finn was something good to read but there was no lesson.
Meghan Conners:
Waltham High

I just wanted to thank you for starting this club. I am a 37 year old father of two who never did much reading. Certainly nothing as wonderful as the books on your list, which i have already read most of. You have really opened my eyes. I thank you.
DAVE

There are two ways that Twain's works can be read. One way is to search for hidden messages about morals and ethics, to compare the work to the history of the time and to examine Twain's political standing on current events. The other is to simply enjoy the work.. Unlike the story it is based on ''Tom Sawyer'' in which there are no political statements, ''The Adventures of Huck Finn'' is bursting with them. Having read the book twice, once for enjoyment and again toexamine its message on slavery, I am firmly convinced that this is not a book to be dissected.

I originally read Huck Finn when I was ten or eleven. The characters were outrageous and funny and the events that occurred fascinating to me. This book had everything! Action - with Huck escaping from Pap's log cabin; drama - with Huck encountering a feuding family and the tragedy that followed; comic relief - with the king and duke. And possibly best of all is the final segment with Tom's elaborately contrived plan for Jim's escape.

As I read these little adventures, I considered them no more than that adventures. I was stunned that several of the best sections were cut out when we were assigned to read the book this year in high school.

''You can't take out the part about the king and the duke! That's one of the best!'' I complained to the teacher. His response was that the section didn't have anything to do with what we were studying Twain's message on freedom.

Reading Huck Finn the second time was more a chore than anything else. My knowledge of the book helped little since the sections we focused on in class were far from the most eventful passages. We were no longer reading and discussing my favorite book!. I went along with the expected format and passed in a rather mediocre and uninspired paper. My teacher wrote on my essay that it seemed that I could have gone a little deeper into my examination of the material. I felt deflated and discouraged.

Recalling the novel now, I have trouble remembering the parts we focused on in class. Even though I didn't read the king and duke section the second time, I can still recall what happened far more easily than any class discussion. Some books can be only read for enjoyment and others have meanings that should be discussed. Granted, one could spend days discussing Twain's underlying motives, but as for me I would be far more content to read this book with a grin on my face, and when finished, put it down and say, ''What a great book!''

Call me shallow, call me ignorant, but the essential point is that this is one of the greatest works of American literature. Is it great for its statement or its content? For me the answer is obvious--this book is a great one because it is a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Kevin Donovan
Souhegan High School
Amherst, NH

There is one particular element of this novel that disturbed me, whose relevance could not simply be dismissed on the grounds that Twain lived long ago in a world quite different from ours. Twain's treatment of Jim after the raft episodes may well have cost him ''the great American novel''. During Jim's time on the raft with Huck, Jim evolves as a heroic character, nay perhaps more importantly, he evolves into a real human being. Twain constructs a Jim who courageously risks his life for freedom and enfranchisement. He seeks liberty and security not only for himself, but as we read, for his wife and child. Jim becomes not an object or property to be whipped, worked, enslaved, but a man as human and divine as any of us. However, something went terribly wrong with what was supposed to be Twain's masterpiece.

My first compaint: though Jim seems to sprout a soul and human hopes and emotions, no sign of intellectual growth is recorded. I do not ask that Jim suddenly begin quoting Socrates as he and Huck float down the river toward freedom. I would only expect that, this being such an important adventure to Jim, you know, life and death and all, that he would at least know where the hell he was supposed to go to gain this freedom. Rather, Twain creates a black hero with whom his white readers can feel safe.

Despite all of Jim's heroic attributes, Twain creates a Jim who would make his route to freedom far more complicated than it had to be. Rather than simply cross east into Illinois (a free state), Jim elects to float south to Cairo. Soon we see that, not only is Jim ignorant and illogical, but he is far too stupid to successfully carry out this already convoluted plan. Jim passes Cairo unaware. Jim's inferior intellect is fully revealed when, after passing Cairo, he continues further SOUTH, deeper and deeper into slave country! This is the ''black hero'' that Twain gives us. This is Twain's failure. The fact that readers have accepted this without expecting more from Jim is our failure.

For us to read of Jim's escape attempt, see the flaws in it, but not be too suprised that Jim cannot, speaks volumes of the intelligence (or lack thereof) that white readers expect from blacks.

Twain goes on to cheapen the heroic value of Jim and so further reveal his own racist preconceptions. The raft that Jim and Huck share is supposed to be, as Justin Kaplan writes, ''a near perfect state of intimacy and equality ... a fragile island of freedom between two shores of society.'' It is ironic that in this perfect island society, the most equality that a black man can hope for with whites is equality with a child - a BOY. This word rings with the same malicious, degrading implications as does ''nigger''.

Twain gives us a haven where some men are created equal, and the rest are children. Jim could never really be free because he could never be recognized as a MAN. This is Twain's feeble attempt at compassion for blacks. Twain loftily acknowledges blacks' dreams of freedom and equality and inadvertently mocks them in creating this paradigm of equality between boy and man.

Remember also that it is the man who is dependent on the boy in this situation. Jim needs Huck's help to escape. My full disappointment with the novel came during the escape episode at the Phelps' farm. Tom Sawyer is reintroduced and he and Huck concoct a most ridiculous scheme to free Jim from his oppressors. However, these ''saviors'' are actually Jim's most evident oppressors. Their thoughtless, insensitive games rob Jim of his dignity and cause Jim to make a rapid regression from heroic and human, to a minstrel-like caricature of a character.

The hero that was Jim, courageously seeking liberty and enfranchisement, risking his life for the love and security of his family and self, degenerates to a submissive, minstrel-like ''stage negro'' (Leo Marx), who is obliged to humor each absurd whim of his white child-equals. This is Twain's most shameful failure: that he could willingly discard the idyllic black hero for the thick-lipped, wooly-headed laugh factor. Twain mocks Jim's quest for freedom and mocks the condition of the blacks that Jim represents.

The true depth of Twain's racist insensitivity is revealed in these final chapters. Huck's uttering the word ''nigger'' does not make the novel or its author racist, but Twain's subtext CALLING Jim ''nigger'' does. For Twain, a Southerner and former Confederate soldier, to show so much empathy for blacks as he had was fairly heroic in itself. But Twain lost his masterpiece when Jim lost his humanity.
Benjamin Dei

Hey, I am a 10th grader at Malden High School and we recently finished reading ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.'' The book has a good plot, but is too out of date. The way Huck treats Jim is disgusting - e.g. the time when he pretended to be dead and made a fool of Jim. Many of my friends also had a hard time understanding what Jim was saying, so we missed out on many of the main plots. The book, in today's society, has really no meaning to the people, except that some are angered by the way Mark Twain wrote about the blacks. I see no reason why students should be forced into having this as a required reading book.
Karen Diep
Malden High School

Huckleberry Finn has no ordinary adventures. The quick-thinking protagonist intrigues the reader from begining to end with his humorous predicaments and his cunning solutions. Huckleberry Finn narrates his story in a deep southern accent which is both appealing and captivating.

Huck's adventures begin when he fakes his own death to trick Miss Watson, (the kind woman who was taking care of him), the Widow Douglas (her nosy sister) and his alcoholic abusive father. In fact, Huck has only run away, and by coincidence he runs into Miss Watson's runaway slave, Jim.

For 352 pages, Huck and Jim happen upon abandoned places and interesting characters, such as the duke and the dauphin. Thrilling adventures.

However, Mark Twan's title, ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'', does not tell all. There is another story being told. Huckleberry Finn is also faced with the issue of slavery. At first, Huck does not even consider the position of slaves, but soon enough he is keeping Jim's escape secret, and later he is fighting for his now-close friend Jim.

This book teaches much about the cruel times of slavery, and how words like ''nigger'' were once common and accepted. While our government outlawed slavery over 130 years ago our society today still has racial problems. This book shows how one person was ahead of his times and that one person can make a difference.
Tara McKenzie
Hampton Academy Junior High
Hampton, NH

I have been reading ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' in my English class. I've been enjoying this book because of the way Huck treats his problems. Huck makes up many lies to either avoid people, to escape from getting into trouble and to help other people. Huck's first and most important lie was when he escaped from his father's cabin. Huck set up many different deceiving tricks to make it seem that he is dead. Huck is also very smart because he is able to tell that the two con men are lying when they say that they are kings and dukes.

Over all I believe that Huckleberry Finn is a great adventure story about two young men on their own road of life. They are trying to find freedom and they are ready to start their own life.
Aron Jacobson
Duxbury High School

In my English class we have been reading ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' by Mark Twain.

When the book started I found it easy and fun to read. It was actually one of the only books I have enjoyed, but I found that when Huck and Jim meet the two con men, the book became hard to follow. I feel that there was way too much detail in the performance after the circus. I liked the book up to this point and think that if there was a little less detail in unimportant places I would have enjoyed the book more.
Brett Hungerford
Duxbury High School

''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' is considered a classic because of its famous author, Mark Twain, and its moral value but I think it is a well liked classic because it is the story of a young boy who has many mischievous adventures. I find it very easy to read and a page turner not because of on the edge of our seat suspense but because it's just interesting.

My favorite part of the book is when Huck dresses up as a girl. He goes into a town along the river and has to find out what town it is and whether or not everyone was still trying to find him and Jim. Huck lied profusely to the woman he encountered on his way. He then got caught up in his lies and the woman was able to see right through him. I just thought it was so funny because he couldnt escape this woman after she found out he was lying.
Sara Trayser
Duxbury High School

Although I have not fully completed ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' by Mark Twain, it has so far been an action filled novel. The novel, in my opinion, is generally a book based on action and adventure. Many including myself have found this story to have strong moral lessons.

From the first page we are thrown into the life of a young boy who experiences adventure, fright, loss and a bond between his peers. Huck, who has been remembered as the sidekick of Tom Sawyer, is a character who teaches lessons on life not only to himself but also to the reader. In my opinion, Huck is a character who many can relate to. He is a young energetic boy who lives for adventure and has a nasty habit of stretching the truth. But its not just Huck that brings the story to life. With his new adventure unfolding, we find Huck with a new sidekick. His name is Jim and, surprisingly, this new found friend of Huck is a slave and an African American. He and Huck travel down the Mississippi River for a time in their life when they will count on one another to get through hard times.

In his novel, Mark Twain brings his childhood into the limelight and describes the world in which he once lived. I feel that this just adds to the clarity and excitement. Although it seems cruel, I find the times when Jim is mistreated to be a good history lesson and is a lesson on what life was like for so many in that era. Huck and Jim come across many problems - from murders to pirates to kings and dukes. And even though I have yet to complete the novel, I have found it leaving me with strong beliefs and a vision of what life was like for many in its era compared to our time.

Mark Twain's reputation as a good novelist remained strong with ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn''.
Brian Moylan
Duxbury High School

From the reading thus far of the story ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'', I have several thoughts on the book. I feel that the book is mainly an adventure story that is based on Mark Twain's life. Although some of the adventures are fabricated for entertainment value, in some cases one can tell the story is real. I think that the value of this story is how Twain writes this novel. He writes with great detail on the characters and the plot of the story.

The story is basically a sequel to ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer''. I think that the style of the writing is the same. Twain has a reputation of having a very good sense of humor. He also goes into great detail when describing things. This is one of the fundamental elements that make his stories unique. He also sharpens characters by what their action in the story is. For instance, he shows that Huck is adventurous by having Huck go on an adventure.

The book is mainly a classic because its one the first books of its kind. A firsthand story of the adventures of a boy. Twain wrote this book to symbolize childhood, but also for elders to relate to what their childhood was like. Also, there were never any other books that had this type of account with adventure. Another unique thing about this book is that it is taking place pre-civil war. It explains the account of the slave, Jim. In fact, most of the adventures take place because Jim left his master. There are also some instances in the story where examples reflect the intelligence of Huck. He is able to make very clear cut decisions.

In conclusion, the story is mainly an adventure book which became a classic because of its unique style with an account of a slave, descriptive writing, and a well developed plot. I think that this book should be continued to be read and studied by students across the country. Students should mainly study and learn the style of Mark Twains classic writing style.
Kevin Dunn
Duxbury High School

''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' is a very adventurous story. Huck starts out fleeing his drunk and abusive father, and finds himself living alone in the wilderness of the Mississippi River. Huck continues to live alone until one day Jim, the slave of Miss Watson, finds Huck on an island. Knowing that Jim has run away, the two head for the free states to let Jim free. Traveling on the Mississippi isn't as easy as riding a boat down a river. The two come across bandits, con artists, slave hunters, runaway steamboats and many more problems which keep Jim from freedom.

To me ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' is the type of story which keeps developing into a bigger and bigger adventure. It is the type of book which is too hard to put down. It amazes me how Mark Twain can describe everything in full detail, but in an exciting way.

My favorite part of the book is when Huck sets up his own death. Twain's ideas at this part of the story are so exact and complete that I could have fallen for it. This story will definitely be one to remember in the years to come.
Dan DeLorenzo
Duxbury High School.

In my English class we have begun the book ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' in which we are now on chapter 29. I have since then become interested in the personality of the main character, Huck. He seems to be quite mature for his young age of 13 or 14. He thinks things through for himself and is many times out helping others on his travels down river with his friend and former slave, Jim. The two together encounter many different obstacles and adventures in their journey.

Huck has an amazing quality to help others even when he sees that what they do is wrong. In these last few chapters, he has put both himself and Jim in a situation that they are finding hard to get out of. The two have taken aboard two frauds who have managed to con money out of nearly every town along the river. The situation deepens when Huck gets caught in the middle of the crooks biggest scam. The frauds have talked to a young boy telling them how the old Peter Wilks had died, leaving $3,000 for his two brothers who were coming over from England to say good-bye. The boy was sad to say that the brothers hadn't come in time and he had mistaken these two frauds for them. The con artists found out all the details before leaving the boy and decided to pose as the two brothers for the cash. When things got complicated Huck felt obligated, (because of his good nature) to help right the situation and rid himself of the con men.

Without the personality that Huck has, he would have never caught my interest in the book. But, because of his thoughtfulness, and simple graciousness he has showed to me the fun reading that I have enjoyed this past month.
Tedra Heidenreich
Duxbury High School

My English class is reading the book ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn''. We've been asked to write something about it or what we think about it. I decided to write about both.

This book is honestly one of the few books I've read throughout high school. For some reason it's just drawn my attention, and I enjoy reading it. Normally we read very long and eventful novels. The good thing about Huck is things keep happening that make me want to keep reading.

In the beginning, the only reason I willingly read the book was because I knew it had something to do with Tom Sawyer and everybody knows who he is so for some reason I just read it!!!!

Well, there have been many parts that I've found myself getting into and really wanting to know what happens. For instance, when Huck's dad brings him into the woods and locks him in a cabin, for some reason I really wanted to know what he

would think of to escape. I also like how Huck has the unique trait of being able to lie on the spot and come up with clever and believable stories that keep him out of trouble. Except for the time he visited that old lady while he was pretending to be a girl. That was good part too because it made the story more realistic because it proved Huck wasn't perfect and inhumane like most characters in books.

I don't have much time to tell you all the parts I've especially enjoyed because there are truly a lot more. We haven't finished reading yet, but were at a very exciting part. It's when Huck tells Mary Jane the truth and they are planning how to get rid of the king and the duke (I've been waiting for Huck and Jim to leave them for a while!!) But this is a great book and I've really enjoyed reading it. it doesn't seem to be reading for school, it's more like fun reading!!!!

Melissa Kiniry
Duxbury High School

My English class is currently studying the book ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn''. We are only on chapter 30 but we are well into the book already. This is definitely an adventure story with a lot of action. It is also a very easy book to get into and keep reading. It is very hard to put down.

There is also some very hard dialect that can be hard to interpret and understand but most of it is easily written.

One of my favorite parts of the story was when Huck plans a scheme to escape from his drunken father, Pap, after being kidnapped and taken to a small cabin in the middle of the forest. He knows that he has to make a plan that will make his father believe that he is totally gone. He then decides to fake his own murder by using pig's blood and putting it all over the cabin with broken things to look like there was a struggle. Huck does a very good job fooling Pap, which would never even think that Huck was still alive, this part just shows how smart and clever Huck really is.

I think that the story really starts to take off after that part. Huck and Jim meet up which turns into an action packed adventure and during their journey they then meet up with some bandits who claim to be a king and duke. They also experience some major adventures and dilemmas with them. And the book goes on.

I'm very much interested in what happens toward the end of the story. I'm sure it will be very exciting and surprising. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes to read a book that is hard to put down.
Melissa Lansing
Duxbury High School

I'm not done reading ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' but what I've read so far I have enjoyed. I liked it when Huck made up his brilliant plan to get away from his father. I think he's a brilliant young boy who likes to go on adventures when he feels like it. I liked reading the part when Huck left his town and went to the island where he found his friend Jim. He goes on a lot of adventures with Jim. He went into the house with the dead man, got separated from Jim when the raft was torn apart by a ship and found Jim again. I think that would be really scary to be in a house with someone who was dead and to be separated from a friend. I wouldn't want to be all by myself on a deserted island. Who knows what kind of animals are on the island that are dangerous.

I felt bad for Huck when he lost his friend Buck in battle. He became good friends with him and then learned that his family was in a feud with another one. He almost got caught in the middle but luckily he got away. If I knew someone who had been in a feud with someone else, I would try to stay away as much as possible from that person. I know I wouldn't want to be caught in the middle. I'm glad Huck got away when he did or else he probably would have gotten killed.

I also liked the scene where the king and the duke came upon the raft. I thought it was sort of funny how they told Jim and Huck how they were royal people. I never really believed them. It was just some dumb excuse to get attention. After a while I probably wouldn't want to be with them anymore. I can tell that Huck certainly doesn't like them any more. Im glad that he took away the money from the king when he did. Unfortunately his plan to get the money back to the sisters backfired. Peter Wilks was buried with the money in the coffin. He couldn't write a letter to Mary Jane telling her where the money was because he wasn't sure if it was there. I felt bad for Huck here because he was caught in a dilemma. Then he almost got caught by the king. The king had asked Huck if he knew where the money was but Huck lied. He still got in trouble though. I felt bad here because he almost got caught. He almost got caught by the harelip when he was telling her stories. He kept getting stumped by her. He did get out of it though. I hope Huck doesnt experience any other dilemmas later. But this is Huckleberry Finn so you never know what can happen to him.
Meredith Barrett
Duxbury High School

My junior class at Duxbury High School is reading the novel ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' by Mark Twain. ... We read and go over the situations that Huck and others face in each chapter. I think the novel has a lot of adventure but is easy to get into.

My favorite part of the book is when Huck starts to understand blacks by talking and becoming close with Jim. When Jim tells Huck how he feels about his daughter and how much he misses his family, Huck starts to realize that blacks love their families the same way that whites do. Huck thought that blacks had no feelings because he was brought up thinking that way. Blacks were slaves and owned by whites.

The way Huck felt may be felt by others today, but Huck got to know Jim and understand that they are equal and both have feelings. This part can really make people think and realize that you can't judge somebody that you don't know too well, but get to know that person then look at the way you feel. A lot of people realize that they were wrong about what they thought before they got to know the person.
Anna Pina
Duxbury High School

I have been assigned to read ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' in my English class. I did not think that I would like it, I thought it would be just another boring classic book that was part of our curriculum. Once I started reading Huck Finn, I really started to get into it and enjoy it. The first couple of chapters were pretty boring but once the action started to roll in, I was really interested. I like how Huck is such an individual and lives his life the way he wants to. He is such a unique and mature character for a boy his age. As the book went on it kept me on the edge of my seat awaiting what was going to happen next. I thought it was good how the book talked about Huck's dad being a violent alcoholic because that is such a huge issue in today's society.

When teenagers read classic books, they assume that it will be boring and will not relate to anything in todays world. I have found many issues and events that relate to today's world. How Huck lies and doesn't know when he should or shouldn't, he is a pathological liar. There are many people like that today. People lie to make themselves seem better than they are. That is just like what Huck is doing except he often lies to help someone else. Another example is the two con artists that Huck and Jim picked up on their way down the river known as the king and the duke. So many people today con people out of money etc. You hear of so many frauds that it is ludicrous.

I have not yet finished reading Huck Finn, but so far I have been enjoying it greatly. I am excited to find out what will happen. I have a lot of questions that need to be answered and won't be until I finish reading.
Julie Hartley
Duxbury High School

The book ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' is one of the books selected on our English class curriculum. Mostly I don't like to read, but in some cases the books are not so bad. The books you have to read for English are not usually your favorites, that's not the case with this book. This book is filled with adventure, action, mystery and suspense. Those are the qualities of a good book.

I think that most kids could relate to some of Huck's life problems. Problems like: dealing with an abusive father who also is an alcoholic. They could understand how Huck runs away from some of these problems.

There is a part in the book when Huck comes across a river boat that has been abandoned. His first instinct is to go exploring looking for treasure. That is something a normal kid today would do. Even though this book was written over one hundred years ago some of the things Huck did, kids do today. Many of the problems that happen in the book, are happening today. Many families today have to deal with an abusive or alcoholic parent. Like Huck many kids run away or from the law.

While I am reading all about the things he did and got into, I some how can relate it to some of today's issues and what kids do.
Marshall Daley
Duxbury High School

''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' is a tremendous work of literature. Huck is a character that everyone - boy or girl, old or young - can enjoy reading about. His adventures with Jim down the river have a little for everyone - action, suspense, humor and danger.

Huck and Jim's voyage down the Mississippi River reminds me of my recent experience down the Colorado River this past summer. I can only imangine the adventure of actually setting out to explore the country on a raft, but Twain gets my imagination running when he describes what its like out there. I can't help but think that it's me on that raft, floating down with no worries, no one hassling. What could be better?

For a book that you have to read for school, Huck Finn is one fo the few that not only will I actually read it, but I will enjoy it as well, as long as I do good on the test.
Andy Arnold
Duxbury High School

My English class is reading ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' and we have been asked to respond to the weekly book club. So far I have enjoyed this book. Huck is a very interesting individual. It is fun being able to enter his mind and his ways of thinking. There are many instances where Huck is faced with the moral issue of slavery. Huck has befriended Jim, a runaway slave and is now realizing that he isn't just black, he is a man. Huck is learning very, valuable, life lessons about himself. He is able to discover who he really is and what he believes is right or wrong. For instance, when Huck and his so-called friends, the duke and king, are conning the Wilks girls Huck feels incredibly guilty. Huck states that when he decides to tell Mary Jane of her fraud uncles it was the first time Huck had gone with the truth and not a convenient lie. Huck is realizing that others have feelings and he just couldn't let the king take such advantage of the girls that had shown them great hospitality.

Huck has a very vivid imagination and is quite capable of developing a lie to save his behind. He is truly enjoying what every little kid dreams of at one point or another, a life that is carefree and full of mischief. The parts I like best about this book are when Mark Twain fully describes life on the raft. He talks about the openness of the river and there is a very comfortable feeling that accompanies the mood he has set. It is extremely interesting to look at the book not as a story but really focus on the detail of description and thought that has been put into each character and scene. I have achieved a greater appreciation and respect looking at Huckleberry Finn the same way I would look at an art form.
Laurie Driscoll
Duxbury High School

As with ''A Tale of Two Cities'', I first read this book far away and long ago. At that time it was read as a sequel to ''Tom Sawyer'' and the sort of thing that captivated me was Tom Sawyer's cleverness in getting his friends to whitewash the fence. Huck Finn was then less comprehensible, being outside the framework in which most fourteen year olds live.

Now I see it as the story of the struggles of a basically decent but untutored person made to deal too young with the very worst of society's dregs.

I could not comment on the author's claim that he distinguishes four separate dialects in the book but I did enjoy Huck's fresh and direct observations on the behavior of all the people he met.

The author's straight forward style suits the narrative of life, usually low life, on the great river and the continual necessity to deal with danger and to think up ploys to manipulate people.

The narratitive flows like the river, one incident after another. The expected outcome would be that either Jim would be recaptured and sent back or that he would escape. The news that Jim had already been set free comes rather like an artifical happy ending. Tom Sawyer's elaborate meaningless games in freeing a prisoner were childish and jarring after reading about real serious life in the body of the narrative.

Huck was rather the victim of circumstances. He had been adopted by a well meaning widow but his own father objected to him bettering himself, though he did wantmoney from him. Like many today, his family circumstances were against him.

When the con men who had landed on their raft (the king and the duke) were in trouble, he knew he was also in trouble since he consorted with them. In fact, he did not expect justice. Many today feel they are being put in a similar position.

However, Huck was not insensitive. He was awed at times by the beauties of the river. He was sorry for people being cheated or misled. He realized gradually that Jim, the escaped slave, was basically a good and kind human being.

The description of the upper class family and the sentimental furnishings of their home followed by an account of the bood bath caused by their meaningless feud with another family is by its very baldness extremely biting social satire.

Huck knew that since a slave at that time was officially regarded as property it was a crime of theft to help him to escape. Thus it surprised him that Tom Sawyer, who was also respectable, was willing to help Jim to escape. But then Tom knew he was already freed so Tom was not really staeling. Many people must have thought like that in those days. Happily this way of thinking is now historical.

This book has been banned in various places at various times. Was it because it described by a white boy socializing with a black slave. Was it because it depicted low life? Was it because it was an enormous criticism of the institution of slavery?
Helen Harris
Acton

As it happens, I've been reading Huck Finn aloud to my nine year old son for the past several months. I love the characters, the rich description and the humor. Moreover, I've found the story to be one that speaks to our society's continuing struggle with the racial divide and the legacy of slavery. One episode which brought me to tears, struck me as a possible metaphor for the racial reconciliation we are grappling with today. I'll recap the scene briefly.

During a period of traveling down the river through dense fog, Jim took Huck for lost and eventually concluded that Huck was dead. Huck was indeed missing, but when he returned he tricked Jim into thinking he had dreamed up the disappearance. During this prank, Jim poured out his feelings of caring and loss to Huck. When he realized that Huck had tricked him, Jim expressed great anguish at the betrayal. Overcome with remorse for his deed, Huck took ''15 minutes'' to think over what he should do, whereupon he issued a heartfelt apology to his companion. During this scene of love, betrayal, remorse and forgiveness, Huck, for the first time, fully acknowledged Jim as a fellow human being - his equal, someone whose feelings he was capable of hurting. It was an irrevocable moment of truth.

When I read this passage I wondered, is this the kind of America needs to feel and express about slavery and its aftermath so that we can move on ''down the river'' as a nation indivisible?
Nancy Ahmadifar
Boston

''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' and its author are great sacred cows in the minds of many Americans and disparaging either of them amounts to cultural treason. Elevated to prominence by distinguished authors who claim the tale as their inspiration, Huck Finn presents a wealth of American values that are present today, for better or worse. It captures the restlessness of our mobile society and has resurfaced in any number of stories that accentuate the importance of 'the journey.' Americans also love to reinvent themselves, as Huck frequently does, and this practice allows Huck and the rest of us to leave problems behind in the last identity or location. Probably more American than anthing else in the book is the uncertain race relation between Huck and Jim. Lastly, Huck's attitude - independent, and essentially anti-intellectual - is consistently reflected in our celebrities, who generally evidence the same traits.

Taken altogether, these characteristics of the story make it endearing and enduring, and I think it makes Americans feel good about themselves. Furthermore, since many academics regard it as a significant piece of literature, and it has the sanction of school systems across the country, Huck Finn has carved itself in our cultural stone.

For all of its ability to capture these essential American values, and in spite of the staunch support of educators, I don't like the book. Nearly any high school sophomore can cite its compositional flaws, its unevenness of characterization, particularly of Jim, and its tedious conclusion. It is essentially a picaresque tale, like Candide, but Twain lobs spitballs at obvious foibles of humankind, rather than incisively directing sharp satire at intellectual bubbles. In terms of advancing American literature, I think Twain brought us a few steps backwards, rather than moving us toward the twentieth century, as, for example, Dreiser and Crane did. Twain's skillful use of dialect grows tiresome and nearly unintelligible at times.

Furthermore, the issue of Twain's own racism, and the underlying racist content of the book gnaw at me. I suppose white Americans identify with an ignorant but well-meaning youth attempting to come to terms with the humaity of a black slave, and in fact making some steps down the path toward fair treatment. But I don't imagine too many black Americans are thrilled with the disposition of Jim, whose most human qualities ar submerged in favor of the escapades of con-men, and Tom Sawyer's imaginative escape plans. Ultimately the value of Twain's ideas does not exceed the volume of excuses required to accomodate them.

Finally, at the risk of sounding unpatriotic, I find the peculiarly American values incorporated in the tale to be detrimental instead of virtuous. We have had rather too much of independent attitudes, which have made us as a people self-indulgent, careless, and addicted to innovation. Recreating ourselves with new identities has made us uncertain, unsubstantial citizens. Like Huck, we can leave whenever the going gets tough and hit the road. We put on new personas so frequently we have become a nation of haircuts on sticks. Anti-intellectualism has made our schools mediocre and our national achievement crass and materialistic.

Of course, ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' is not responsible for all or even any of these problems. In fact, we might wisely study it as an allegorical representation of the American psyche, to which we might then trace our difficulties as a people. However, I don't think people think of that when they read the book. Most readers see it as a wistful tale of bygone days when men were slaves and noble poor boys tried to free them, having a series of midly funny adventures along the way. That is not enough for me to recommend it.
Anthony Rizzitano
Plymouth