“The San Francisco Chronicle” pronounced Mark Twain’s Adventures of

Huckleberry Finn his most notable and well written books. The Mississippi region is

far better depicted in this novel than in his earlier Life on the Mississippi. An

accurate account is made of the lifestyle and times of the Southwest nearly fifty

years prior to the construction of the novel.

Twain does a remarkable job enticing the reader into the adventures of two

boys, Huck and Tom, and a runaway Negro, Jim, while also covertly implanting his

messages and morals in the text. The most pleasing parts of the story are those Twain

describes in detail. Detail is also exceptionally displayed in the illustrations he

paints of the characters. Pap, Huck’s father, is one of the prime examples. Twain has

the ability to create a portrait in short sketches as well as long. It is this ability that

pulls the reader into the great American story.

Along with detail and concise character depiction, Twain intertwines humor.

The Duke and the King contribute to some of the most amusing humor throughout

the course of their “work” trying to imitate heirs of the late Peter Wilks. It is “fertility

and luck” that salvage them from exposure. It is all the close calls of near discovery

from each character’s fraud that moves the story along. With out the suspense the

plot would be dull.

Every person who endulges in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn will

commend the story as exceptional literature. The humor and precise depiction of the

time, life, place, and people will all contribute to this conclusion. The story is “well

gotten up” and “fun.”

Word Count: 273