Boekverslag : Mark Twain - The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn
De taal ervan is Engels en het aantal woorden bedraagt 2528 woorden.
De taal ervan is Engels en het aantal woorden bedraagt 2528 woorden.
General information
The book is named 'The adventures of Huckleberry Finn' and Mark Twain has written it. I think this is the first time the book is published by the firm Blackbirds. The book itself was published for the first time in 1884. It's a novel and the story goes back in time to the late 19th century.
Summary
The boy who's telling the book is about 14 years old and is living with a widow. She isn't his mother but she takes care of him and is trying to civilise him by sending him to a school. He doesn't have a mother and his father is full-time drunk. One day he has found 6000 dollars captured by some robbers who hid it and never took it back. The judge who lives in the near, will store the money for him and gives him a dollar a day. He seems to have a peaceful life but at one day he's kidnapped by his dad who doesn't want to have a son that visits a school. He and his father are going to a cabin back in the woods where nobody will find them. One day he's able to get out of the cabin and he is walking to a little stream. He's very lucky and he finds a large canoe. He's hiding it and goes back to the cabin. When his dad is in the city, for getting drunk, he sets his own dead in scene. When he escapes nobody will try to follow him because they think he isn't alive anymore. Under these circumstances he is able to stay a couple of days at a island in the big river. After a couple of days he finds out that he isn't the only person at the island and he tries to hunt the other person up. He finds out that it's the very friendly, old nigger Jim, who tries to run from slavery. Together they'll continue their journey at a raft. Because Jim is a runaway nigger they mustn't be spotted so they only travel at night. Because they don't have money to buy, they'll 'borrow' things of some people. Borrowing is his father's word for stealing. They become mixed in lots of problems like fog, bad navigation and loosing the raft. But they bring it every time to a good end. After lots of adventures at once a very big steamboat aims towards them and hits their raft. They both now to escape from dead but they loose each other. Both floating on a piece of wood they swim (apart) to the side. Huck starts to walk ashore and comes at a nice house with two very mean dogs and a suspicious family. After the family is trusting him they let him rest in their house. It's a very well mannered family who is struck in a sort of rich-family-war. One day it is coming to a major shooting and all the men of the family are being shot and die. This way he's able to escape from the family and when he wants to walk away his personal assistant-nigger is coming to him and shows a hiding place where Huck finds Jim. Jim has also found the raft and made it like it was new. So they are able to continue their way. Again travelling at night they are getting mixed in lots of adventures. At a certain moment they decide to travel at daylight and after a few days they are seeing two men, hunted up by dogs. Huck and Jim will give the two men a ride and the two men are telling their story. They don't know each other and are telling lie after lie. The first man tells that he is a Duke, but has been casted off by his family. Because the other man gets jealous, he tells his ancestors where the King of France. Huck seems to disbelieve the two but doesn't say anything against Jim. The King loves the story 'Hamlet'. Because the for men are getting out of money the King is suggesting to perform with the Duke the story Hamlet. In a village where there is a circus, they rent a tent and are advertising the performance. While the performance, all the spectators, only 7, left the tent and the Duke and King are very disappointed. They think about another performance and they're advertising with the idea that it will be a perfect show. The show will be in the town for only three days so everybody must be quick. The two frauds are performing a show for two minits and then will say: The End. All the spectators are very angry, but they don't want to be the only people who are fooled. So they are spreading loving critics about the performance and the next day it's again sold out. And again are all the spectators going mad. The third day they will take revenge and they do all come with rotten fruit. But the Duke and the King have predicted that it would happen and they are already by the raft. When the spectators are getting to know the four men are already five miles further. Because of the frauds the men are having money again and they can take it easily. But the King and the Duke can't rest before they'll have more money. One day they take a passenger with them for a couple of miles and the passenger is telling them that somebody has died and that he thought the King was his uncle. A new plan was born. The Duke and the King are making themselves out to be the uncle and a friend. The whole fortune of the dead man will be theirs and when they want to leave Huck is getting regrets and tells the whole story to one of the dead men's daughter. So after a while it all comes out and the village is very angry. They want to hang the Duke, the King and Huck but they all know to escape. Back at the raft they are getting away as quick as possible without money. But the Duke and the King still haven't learnt their lesson and are trying to do the same performance as a couple of adventures ago. In this village the people are not so dumb as in the past villages and the two men are being busted. When Huck, glad or not, returns to the raft he is noticing that Jim isn't there anymore. He has been captured by a family and is locked up in a small cabin. Huck is walking into the garden when the dogs are trying to attack him. A woman is hunting the dogs away and is taking Huck very joyful inside of the house. She thinks it's her nephew Tom who she hasn't seen for a while. After a couple of minutes he finds out that she is meaning Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer was a friend of Huck when he was living with the widow. He has only one problem and that is that Tom Sawyer himself will also come within a few days. When he walks at a day outside he is seeing a person and that person is Tom. He tells Tom the whole story and Tom will play a stranger against his aunt. So now they are both in the same house and Jim is in the garden in a locked cabin. After a while they know how to get Jim out of it and they are working the plan out. It's seeming to work and they get at the raft but there Huck and Jim notice that Tom has been shot. Again they are getting busted and they expect to be punished. This will not be the case and with some negotiation off Tom's mother Tom's aunt decides to release Jim and Huck. This is the point the book is ending but they'll travel further.
Place and time
The story goes backs to the late 19th century in the time when runaway niggers are hunted up badly. Huck tries to escape from a drinking father and Jim from slavery. In the story they are travelling down the Mississippi River in the United States of America.
Structure
The story is written by Huckleberry Finn's thinkings, this is because it'll give you a better idee of the trouble and pleasures. He tells the whole story in the present time and the writer doesn't use many flashbacks.
Characters
The main character is Huckleberry Finn, he's a fourteen-year old boy who tries to run from a civilised life at a widow and from his father who's addicted to alcohol. He wants to do everything as easily as possible and has a good hart. His father taught him that stealing isn't bad, but Huck seems to disbelieve him. He thinks that superstition is stupid but during the story it seems that he is changing his meaning a little.
Other characters
Jim is an old and friendly runaway nigger who is very superstitious about everything. His dream is to be a rich and free man, he's very loyal to Huck. If you tell this old man something he never disbelieves the teller. (Jim isn't really the main character but he's more important then other persons)
Tom Sawyer is a friend of Huck who always sees an adventure in something. He solves a problem always the hard way. He doesn't hate slavery but on the other side he tries to get out Jim alive with Huck.
The King's a very old man that says he is a king by law, he and the Duke (who's saying that he's a Duke by law) are very 'good' frauds and they try to make money out of everything. The King has a bald head and grey whiskers, his cloths looked very poor. The Duke was a young man around the thirty and was also dressed up very common.
The widow is an old woman who tries to socialise Huck. She sends him to school and protects him against his own father.
Huck's father is addicted to alcohol and doesn't want that his son will be better then he is. Because the Father never went to school he also doesn't want his son will visit a school. The father teaches his son that stealing isn't a bad thing. After Huck escaped he probably killed himself.
Buck is a member of the well-mannered family and is very kind against Huck. He got shot in the major shooting.
Mary Jane is one of the dead man's daughters and she is the only one that stays cool and remains thinking. She trusts Huck and would have become a good friend of him, if he wouldn't leave.
Aunt Sally is very kind and she feels lots of affection with Huck and Tom. She's Tom's aunt, but doesn't know who the really Tom is. She goes mad very often when she finds out lots of stuff is missing.
Theme and motives
There isn't a real theme, I think. It's just a report from day to day. When I should say a theme I'd say slavery, mistrust and stealing are not the best thing you can do or have. Their motive to escape is for Huck his dad and for Jim slavery. They'll have to help each other because they are both committing a crime: Helping a slave to escape and being a runaway slave.
Time
It's been written in the time with a discussion about more freedom, rights and abolishing slavery.
My own opinion
I think it's a nice book but I do miss exciting. Maybe this is caused by the fact that is has been written in the 19th century so it's very old. But I've never thought about putting the book away and starting another one. All the different dialects don't make it easier to read.
Subject
I think that the book about two runaways isn't dull but I can't recognise anything. At the other side, the theme is very interesting. This is maybe the first book that makes me think about slavery. Jim had a relative good life at his old owner, but still he tries so hardly to become a free man. You can conclude that slavery must be a disaster. The book is very profound to Huck's thoughts.
The events
The stress in this story is put on the events itself, I think that the story isn't very reasonable because there is so much luck and bad fortune in this store, it isn't possible anymore. The events aren't very excitement nor dull. Sometimes it seems like the story will end very dramatic but it always turns to a good end. The atmosphere in the book isn't threatening like they won't make it alive, there is always a kind of gay atmosphere. The events don't impress me, but they are fascinating me enough to read the story on. The end can be predicted but that doesn't bother me. The whole story is well built-up and everything is in the right proportions. All together the end can go on with it!
Structure
The structure is very easy because the story has been written in chronological time without lots of flashbacks. There wouldn't be sense to use more flashbacks because everything that counts is the present time.
Language
The language itself (English) isn't hard to understand, but all kinds of dialects don't make the story easy to read, in particular when a nigger talks, half of the words are left unspoken. Sometimes there is a very long description but another time you will have to imagine everything yourself. There are lots of dialogues in the story. The alternation of thoughts and dialogues is very good and makes it a good story to read.
Persons
I think that the persons are true to life for that time. In our present world they'd look like a fool. They all fit very well in the story. Because the story is written a long time ago I can't really say that you're able to recognise the whole character, only some parts of it like the concern of Aunt Sally. The characters aren't always predictable in their behaviour, sometimes they act like you wouldn't suspect. Not all the persons are sympathetic I think. For example; I couldn't stand out the King and the Duke, they where very unreliable. But I found persons like Jim, Huck and aunt Sally very reliable. But it is good this way because there must be a person you dislike. The persons I liked had a positive effect on me and the other way round. I didn't care when the Duke and the King got busted, but I took care when Jim got busted.
Conclusion
All together it's a very good book with a nice story. The persons are very true to life and I liked the personality of most persons. The story keeps going on and never fades away. I think that more people will like the book, but will dislike the different dialects that are used.
I'll advise this book to other students
Home - Contact - Over - ZoekBoekverslag op uw site - Onze Boekverslagen - Boekverslag toevoegen