The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Chapters 19-30

2. Chapter 19 • Huck & Jim are joined by 2 con-men who have been run out of a nearby town • One claims to be a Duke to get special treatment • The second one claims to be a long-lost King to get even better privileges • The two are only known as the King & the Duke • Jim is fooled by their story but Huck is not • Chap. 14 foreshadowed this with the discussion of kings

3. Chapter 20 • K&D pose a threat to H&J since they are white adults -shift of power • Huck tells K&D that Jim belongs to him but that he lost his papers - so the K&D won’t try to turn Jim in as a runaway slave • Jim takes on a father role: lets Huck sleep-takes his night watch • K&D go ashore to pull a scam - King pretends to be a pirate and takes in $ from a poor community at a revival • Duke prints a runaway slave flyer so they can claim they captured Jim for the reward $ - supposedly so no one questions Jim being w/them - flyer is worrisome

4. Chapter 21 • K&D practice really bad Shakespeare scenes & plan to put on a show soon • Further south K&D go ashore in Arkansas & make a handbill advertising their upcoming show • They leave Jim alone, tied up on the raft so people will think he’s been captured – uncomfortable & cruel treatment for Jim • Huck witnesses a man (Colonel Sherburn) shoot and kill a drunk and disorderly man (Boggs) in cold blood

5. Chapter 22 • A mob attempts to lynch Col. Sherburn for killing Boggs but he shames them with a speech about the cowardice of mobs – Twain’s commentary on mob mentality • Huck sees a circus • K&D’s show flops so they make the handbill more enticing by adding the line “Women and children not admitted” knowing that the men would be curious to see what was forbidden -Twain’s commentary on human nature

6. Chapter 23 • We’ll read this short chapter aloud – two major scenes: • Nonesuch Play (scam) • Jim’s fatherhood role

7. Chapter 24 • On their next stop ashore, so they don’t have to leave Jim tied up, they dress him as a “sick Arab” so people will avoid him • The King goes to scout ideas for his next scam • The King gets to talking to a man on a steamboat who tells him of Peter Wilks, a rich man recently dead, whose brothers are coming from England to take care of his estate & their 3 nieces

8. Chapter 24 continued • No one has ever seen these brothers • One is “deef & dumb” and they have been delayed in their trip • King decides he and the Duke will pretend to be the brothers and steal the girls’ inheritance • King pretends to be Harvey Wilks; Duke pretends to be William, the deaf/mute brother • Huck is forced to participate as their servant

9. Chapters 25-29 • In these chapters, K&D carry out their scam • Only one person in town suspects K&D are lying – the doctor who was good friends with Peter Wilks, the dead man • The nieces are totally convinced that K&D are their uncles from England • K&D could’ve gotten away early with $6000 but the King got greedy, wanted to sell all the property to get more money

10. Chapters 25-29 • Huck feels guilty lying to the Wilks girls so he tells the oldest Mary Jane, takes the $6000 back from K&D, then hides the money in the dead man’s coffin • Ultimately the real brothers show up and the town is ready to lynch the King, Duke & Huck-first time Huck shows real fear in the novel • Huck is able to escape to the raft; he and Jim go onto the river thinking they have finally left the King & Duke behind • At the last second, K&D come running to raft

11. Chapter 30 • K&D are left with no money after their failed scam • The King blames Huck for the missing $6000 • But the Duke thinks the King took it & threatens and chokes him until he ultimately confesses to hiding the money even though Huck had done it • K&D both get drunk & pass out • Huck tells Jim the whole story