Resumo de Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

American Samuel Clemens (who wrote under the penname "Mark Twain," a
riverboat term) published Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn in 1885, a followup to his successful
Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The novel has been widely
considered a landmark in American literature; Huck
Finn was one of the frontrunners of American Realism.
Controversial in a social context, it has remained debated by critics
ever since its publication.

Huckleberry Finn, the protagonist, is initially in the care of a widow
("Widow Douglass") and her sister, known as "Miss Watson." The
mostly-abandoned son of a violent alcoholic ("Pap"), Huck has been
adopted in an attempt to insure his "sivilization." Unfortunately, Huck
is recaptured by his father and held, to some degree, captive in a
cabin by the river. The will to escape eventually finds Huck faking his
own death and setting out down the river.

Circumstance brings Huck into contact, and eventual friendship, with
another runaway -- Miss Watson's slave, Jim -- and here the essence of
the novel begins. As Huck and Jim float along the Mississippi on their
raft, Huck must discover, and cope with, the very real humanity of Jim,
despite his own conflicting upbringing. A personal relationship with a
black man invalidates Huckleberry's notion of Jim's (perceived lack of)
worth and forces him to reconstruct it. Jim's emotion, perception, and
obvious concern for Huck makes it impossible for Huck to deny his
credibility as a human -- and also as a friend. In a final momentous
step forward, Huck defends his friendship, Jim's right to free will,
abandons his "morals," and even condemns himself to hell to allow Jim
freedom.

The concept of freedom is iterated by more than just Jim's journey
toward a "free state." Disattachment from society renders both Jim and
Huck a new level of intrinsic comfort and flexibility. The raft and the
river that carry the men offer a "no-man's land," ultimately providing
an escape and objective reevaluation of society from both the narrator
and reader's perspective. The employment of a child narrator is
similarly enabling in Huck's general neutrality and innocence.

Twain's style symbolizes a stark departure from what he likely
considered the confines of Romanticism, the predominant literary
movement of his day. The wrecked "Walter Scott" is a grim allusion to
Twain's attitude toward the movement. The characters in Huck
Finn are nowhere near glamorous -- many are course,
unlikeable, ignorant; they are often exposed as frauds. The "river
life" exposed in the novel is closely aligned with Clemens' personal
experience living on the Mississippi. The novel is careful not to
curtail a plot that is at least believable -- if not desireable -- a
tribute to Twain's personal style and trademark "American Realism."

Liberal use of the word "nigger" in dialogue and lack of any
straightforward condemnation of slavery has, at times, branded
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn "racist." Most
scholars, however, recognize the novel as one of the most vital
commentaries against slavery in light of its
characterization of Jim, ill portrayal of the more racist characters,
and obvious alignment between typical ignorance and racial bigotry.
Debates, however, still rage, and the book is still one of the "most
banned" of all time.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered an
American classic and both read and taught throughout the country.
Justifiably, it is lauded as one of the most influential and important
books of the last few centuries. It has been read by many generations,
printed worldwide, and is still just as well-recognized (and maybe even
better) today.

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