Huck Finn, a boy of about 12 years, is the son of the town drunk. Widow Douglas adopts him so that she can civilize him and raise him to be a gentleman. He does not like going to school, attending church, or wearing neat clothes. Neither does he like being tutored at home by Miss Watson. When he is no longer able to put up with the Widow's ways, he runs away; but Huck is found by Tom Sawyer, who convinces him to come back.

Huck and Tom have earlier found a hidden treasure, which they are allowed to keep for themselves. Huck's father comes to know of his son's prosperity and returns to St. Petersburg. He wants to take away Huck's money. One day, the father waits for him, catches him, and takes him away after a short brawl. He locks Huck in a cabin in the woods three

miles down the river and regularly beats him.

A couple of months pass. When the beatings get unbearable, Huck decides to run away from the

cabin. He plans escape and waits for an opportunity. He saws off a piece of the back wall, escapes through the hole, and leaves traces of pig blood to deceive his father into thinking that he is dead. He takes the canoe and goes to Jackson's Island, where he spends three idyllic days. He meets Jim, the Widow's slave, on one of his explorations of the island. Jim has run away from the widow when he overhears her intention of selling him down the river for eight hundred dollars.

Huck wants to know the reaction of the people to his disappearance. He dresses up like a girl and goes to the mainland. He learns from Judith Loftus, a newcomer in the village, that the people are convinced that Jim has killed Huck, since he had escaped the same day that Huck disappeared. Upset by the revelation, Huck rushes back to the island and tells Jim. The two of them board a raft and head down the river to New Orleans.

Huck, in an attempt to rescue Jim, after being sold by con men, makes his way to the Phelps farm. To his joy, he discovers that Mrs. Phelps is Tom's aunt, and she is expecting Tom to come visiting anytime. She mistakes Huck to be Tom and welcomes him. Meanwhile, Tom also comes to the Phelps farm, but Huck meets him and narrates all that has happened. He tells him that Jim is being held a prisoner by Mr. Phelps, and he intends to rescue him. Tom immediately jumps at the opportunity of having some excitement.

Tom sets up an elaborate plan to free jim, but gets injured during the process and falls sick. Later on, Huck realizes that Jim was a free man all the while, for Widow Douglas had set him free in her will. He also comes to know that Aunt Sally is thinking of adopting him so that she can civilize him further. He runs away to the west so he can be "free".