Huck Finn Chapters 22-32 – Flashcards

Buck Harkness: man who leads the lynch mob

After the shooting, someone in town suggests that Colonel Sherburn should be lynched, and the people, led by Buck Harkness, suddenly go wild. The crowd turns into an angry mob, stopping at nothing in pursuit of revenge against Sherburn. Even children run for their lives to get out of the way of the raging mob. In a frenzy they tear down Colonel Sherburn's picket fence and pour into his yard, ready for action. The crowd suddenly calms down, however, when Sherburn steps out onto the roof of his porch flashing a double-barrel gun. At first he simply stares at them, saying nothing, but then he laughs scornfully, and stages a long diatribe criticizing the mob for its cowardice. He accuses them of hanging on to the coattail of Buck Harkness who is only "half a man." Sherburn orders them to leave, and the crowd breaks up with Buck Harkness on their heels. After the excitement Huck decides to go to the circus. To avoid paying, he slips under the tent on the back side. With wide-eyed amazement, he watches the beautiful women on horses with their million-dollar outfits, the men showing their acrobatic skills, and the clowns cracking the funniest jokes Huck has ever heard. A supposed drunk comes along and insists upon riding the horses. The ringmaster finally gives in. At first the crowd laughs at him, but he turns out to be an accomplished rider and a part of the act. The king and the duke stage their Shakespearean show, but they only attract twelve people who laugh inappropriately throughout the performance. Since these "lunkheads couldn't come up to Shakespeare," the duke decides to change to low comedy. He advertises their next show as the tragedy of The King's Cameleopard, or The Royal Nonesuch with a caption at the bottom that reads, "ladies and children not admitted." He thinks this would surely draw a crowd. The first night the house is packed, but the show is a fraud, consisting of the king displaying his painted body and demonstrating a few of his ludicrous antics on stage. Too embarrassed to admit they had been taken in, the townspeople speak favorably about the show in town the next day. The second night the house is again full, but the third night the king and duke hustle down to the raft and take off down the river to avoid the anger of the crowd. They have successfully conned the townspeople out of four hundred and sixty-five dollars.

Mary Jane Wilks: nineteen-year-old daughter of Peter Wilks Susan Wilks: her sister, age 15 Joanna Wilks: the youngest sister, age 14 Dr. Robinson: Peter Wilks' friend before Wilks died

The king and the duke waste no time making plans to "work the towns" again for more money as soon as an opportunity arises. Their escapades into town have been difficult for Jim, however. He has been posing as a runaway slave who needs to be tied up while they are gone. To avoid any further discomfort for Jim, the duke devises an ingenious disguise so that people will think he is a sick Arab instead of a runaway slave. He dresses Jim in a King Lear outfit with a white wig and whiskers and paints his face, hands, neck, and ears a dull blue to make him look sick. The idea is to scare people away with his sickly, offensive appearance, but if that doesn't help, the duke advises him to step out of the wigwam and howl "like a wild beast." They had all bought new clothes in the last town, and the king and Huck dress up and head for the steamboat in the canoe. The duke wants to try his luck in a village on the other side of the river, however. On their way to the steamboat, Huck and the king pick up a local young man who is taking a trip to South America. He leads the king into a conversation about Mr. Peter Wilks who has just died and left a small fortune. They are expecting his two brothers, Harvey and William, from England any day now. The king subtly prods him for more information until he not only knows the details surrounding Peter Wilks' death, but also the names of most of his family and close friends. When they drop the young man at the steamboat dock, the king decides to stay in the canoe. As soon as they are alone, he instructs Huck to drop him off in a town a mile upstream and bring the duke back promptly. When he arrives, the king tells the duke the whole story and asks him to pose as the deaf and dumb brother of Peter Wilks while he acts as the other brother. They flag a steamboat to the next town, and when they arrive people flock to the shore to meet them. The king asks directions to the place where Mr. Peter Wilks lives. One of the townspeople gently breaks the news that Mr. Wilks has died, and the king begins to moan and cry, making signs to the duke, his supposed deaf brother. The behavior of the two frauds convinces the townspeople that they are, indeed, the true brothers of Peter Wilks. The news of their arrival spreads like wildfire and people come on the run to join them on their way to the Peter Wilks' house. When they arrive at the house, Mary Jane, Susan, and Joanna, Wilks' daughters, hug them and cry for joy. When the king and duke spot the coffin in the house, they see further opportunity to put on a convincing act with their sobbing, causing everyone in the room to break down and cry. Calling them by name, the king invites Peter Wilks' closest friends to have supper with the family that evening. Remembering the names given to him earlier by the young informant, he calls out an impressively accurate list of names. Mary Jane, the oldest daughter, produces her father's letter that specifies the terms of the inheritance. His daughters would receive the house and three thousand dollars in gold. Six thousand dollars in property and gold, along with the tanyard, was designated to go to Harvey and William, his brothers. The letter also reveals the hiding place of the six thousand dollars, which provides the king and duke an opportunity to get their hands on the cash. There is four hundred and fifteen dollars missing, however. To avoid suspicion they add their own money to make up the difference. They hand all the money to the girls, planning to steal it back later. They manage to deceive all the townspeople until Dr. Robinson, one of the late Peter Wilks' closest friends, speaks up calling the king a fraud. He criticizes his fake English accent and accuses him of being an imposter. Mary Jane responds defiantly to the accusation by handing the king all of the six thousand dollars. She asks him to invest it for them, demonstrating her complete trust in the king.

After Dr. Robinson leaves, Mary Jane takes the visitors up to their rooms. The duke is assigned the spare room, Huck will sleep in the garret or attic, and the king is given Mary Jane's room. At supper that night, Huck is obligated to stand behind the king and the duke and wait on them since he is posing as their servant. The women make degrading comments about their own cooking in order to draw compliments from their guests. Huck and Joanna eat later in the kitchen. The charade is nearly exposed as she questions him about England. His information is sketchy at best, and he often contradicts himself. While Joanna is accusing him of lying, Mary Jane and Susan step into the room and immediately jump to his defense. Mary Jane reprimands Joanna for making Huck feel ashamed and forces her to apologize. Huck is so impressed with her kindness that he asks himself, "this is a girl that I'm letting that old reptile rob her of her money?" He feels "ornery" and "low down" for not telling them about the king's fraudulent intent. Finally he can stand it no longer, so he makes up his mind to get their money back from the king and the duke, no matter what. He thinks of several ways to get the money, but for the sake of the girls and for his own safety as well as Jim's, he does not dare take chances. He finally realizes that he will need to steal the money in such a way that they will not suspect him. He hides among Mary Jane's gowns in the king's room. After the king and duke enter the room he eavesdrops while they are discussing their plans. Nervous about Dr. Robinson's suspicions, the duke wants to take the money and run, but the king has other ideas. He plans to stay long enough to sell the property. The duke finally agrees to stay. He inadvertently reveals the hiding place of the bag of gold. To keep it safe from the servants they decide to move it from the closet to the featherbed. Huck grabs it immediately after they leave the room and takes it up to his garret. That night, after everyone is in bed, he tries to sneak outside to hide the money in the yard but finds the front door locked. When he hears someone coming, he quickly hides the money under the lid of the coffin, hoping to retrieve it later. Desperately, he tries to see whether the money is still in the coffin the next day, but someone is always around. Uncertainty about the money plagues him as they bury Mr. Wilks. The king and the duke promise that they will take the girls to England to live with them. They are in a hurry to return so they convince them to sell the property immediately. The day after the funeral the king sells the slaves and splits the family in two. Both the Wilks girls and their servants are grief-stricken, not realizing that the whole thing is a sham. Since the sale is not legal the slaves will soon be back. On the day of the auction the king and duke suddenly discover that the bag of gold, worth six thousand dollars, is missing. Huck pushes the blame onto the servants since he knows they are already gone and will not be harmed by the accusation.

Harvey Wilks: Peter Wilks' true brother William Wilks: deaf brother of Peter Wilks Levi Bell: Peter Wilks' lawyer friend Hines: a husky man who believes the king is an imposter

In the morning, Huck passes Mary Jane's room and sees her crying through the open door. Heartbroken about the separation of the slaves' families, she tells Huck that her beautiful trip to England is spoiled. Uneasy about her crying, Huck quickly replies that the slaves will be back in less than two weeks. He has spoken too soon, but since he is in a "tight place," he decides to tell the truth even though it is risky. He asks Mary Jane to promise to leave town for four days if he tells her why the slaves will soon be back. If she leaves she will not be tempted to reveal to the king and the duke that she knows the truth. She gives her word, and Huck blurts out the whole story about the two rogues who have posed as her uncles and duped her out of her inheritance. Shocked, she immediately wants to tar and feather them and throw them in the river, but Huck gently reminds her of her promise. She calms down, telling him she will do whatever he asks. After some deliberation he thinks he can get the two frauds jailed in town so he and Jim can be rid of them. He shortens Mary Jane's stay to one day, asking her to place a candle in the window by eleven as a signal to Huck that she is at home. If he does not respond, she will know he is gone, and she can have the king and duke arrested and jailed. Huck advises her to check with the Bricksville townspeople where The Royal Nonesuch was played if she needs evidence of their fraudulent activities. She agrees to stand by Huck and attest to the fact that he is not involved with them in case he gets caught. Since he will not be seeing her again, he writes her a note telling her where the bag of money is hidden and asks her not to read it until he is gone. After she leaves, Huck explains to her sisters that Mary Jane has gone to see a sick friend. He asks them to tell their uncles it is a rich friend, however, who is interested in buying the house. The sick friend has a communicable disease, and it will delay their trip to England. Neither story is true, of course, but Huck wants to allay the suspicions the king and the duke might have about Mary Jane's absence by telling them that she is working for the auction. Since the girls are eager to start on their trip, Huck knows they will cover for Mary Jane. During the auction two more men arrive on the steamboat claiming to be Wilks' brothers, Harvey and William. Surprised by their rude reception, Harvey Wilks is not prepared for the other claimants of Peter Wilks' inheritance. William and Harvey have been down on their luck lately. William has broken his arm, and their baggage has been misplaced in another town. William speaks only sign language, and the arm he normally uses for signing is broken. Besides, he usually writes for both brothers, but now he cannot sign his name for proof of identification. All other identification is with their lost luggage. Huck is convinced of Harvey Wilks' identity from the beginning because of his true English accent. "I see straight off he pronounced like an Englishman—not the king's way." The majority of the townspeople still rally around the king and the duke, but a few people begin to question the king. Hines, a man in the crowd, claims to have seen him in a canoe the day before the funeral. After a long debate about identities, the new Harvey Wilks suggests that the true brother would know what was tattooed on Peter Wilks' chest. To settle the argument they must exhume the body. When they open the coffin, they are shocked to find the bag of gold. In the excitement Huck escapes in the dark and runs until he finds a boat to take to the raft. He sees Mary Jane's candle in the window but has no time to stop. He and Jim escape down the river thinking they are free of the king and the duke at last. Their happiness is short-lived, however, for soon they hear them coming over the water in a skiff.

...

The king, angry at Huck for trying to give them "the slip," grabs him by the collar when they catch up with the raft. Afraid for his life, Huck tries to appease him with a story about the nice man who had held his hand on the way to the cemetery. Because he reminded him of his dead son, the man let him go, telling him to run for his life. Jim verifies Huck's story, and finally the duke comes to Huck's defense, reminding the king that he had not been concerned about Huck's whereabouts when they had run from the scene. The king and duke begin to argue and blame each other for hiding the money in the coffin. They both acknowledge the fact that they were tempted to keep the money for themselves, but neither one admits actually hiding it. Impatient and angry, the duke catches the king by the throat, forcing him to admit he had done it. That settles the argument and before long they are "thick as thieves" again. Later, when they are asleep, Huck tells Jim the whole story. For fear of being recognized they do not dare stop at any of the towns along the river for several days. They are approaching the warm southern climate where Spanish moss hangs from the trees. The king and duke feel it is finally safe to "work the villages" again, but they have little success. Their usual jobs of "missionarying," "doctoring," and "mesmerizing" do not work out, and they are soon broke and desperate. They begin to talk in whispers for several hours at a time, and Huck and Jim feel uneasy. They decide to get rid of the two frauds when the next opportunity arises. One morning they stop the raft in the village of Pikesville where the king wants to look around to make sure they have not heard of The Royal Nonesuch. Huck suspects that he wants to try something terrible like robbing a house. The king instructs the duke, Huck, and Jim to wait for him at the raft. If he does not come back by noon they will know it is all right to come into town. When the king doesn't show up, Huck and the duke go into town to look for him. When the duke finds the king in a miserable state of drunkenness, he gets angry and they begin to argue. Huck sees his chance to slip away and head for the raft, but when he gets there, Jim is gone. Out on the road he meets a young boy who has seen a man fitting Jim's description. He tells Huck that Jim is a runaway from a southern plantation who was sold by an old fellow for $40. He is now on the Phelps Plantation a few miles away. Huck goes back to the raft to think. He cannot believe that the king could sell Jim back into slavery for "forty dirty dollars." Desperately he tries to think of what he should do. The more he thinks the more his conscience bothers him. He begins to feel "wicked and low-down and ornery" for having stolen Jim, another person's property. He tries to pray, but the words will not come. He finally decides to write a letter to Miss Watson, telling her that Jim is on the Phelps Plantation. When he finishes the letter his conscience is relieved, and he feels good and "all washed clean of sin." He begins to think of all Jim has meant to him, however, and how good he has always been to him. He tears up the letter and decides that he will "go to hell" rather than allow Jim to be sold as a slave. He makes plans to "steal Jim out of slavery again." He hides his raft on a wooded island, and after a good night's sleep he takes the canoe to shore where he accidentally meets the duke. Surprised to see Huck, he asks about the raft, and Huck tells him the raft and Jim have been stolen. The duke begins to tell Huck that Jim is on the Silas Phelps Plantation but changes his mind and tells him he is 40 miles away instead. He wants Huck out of town for the next three days so Huck will not tell the townspeople that he and the king are frauds.

Mr. Silas Phelps: Tom Sawyer's uncle Mrs. Sally Phelps: Tom's aunt

Huck arrives at the Phelps Plantation, noticing that things are rather "still and Sunday-like." Everyone seems to be out in the fields, and Huck paints a rather bleak picture of the depressing surroundings. As he approaches the kitchen, he hears the hum of a spinning wheel. He walks up to the house, trying to decide what to say but finally leaving it to Providence. He has aroused fifteen of the sleeping dogs that quickly surround him with their barking and howling. With her rolling pin raised, a servant steps out and silences them. Hearing the commotion, Mrs. Phelps runs out to greet Huck with her spinning stick still in her hand and her children hanging around her skirts. Thinking he is Tom Sawyer, her nephew, she welcomes him with open arms. Perplexed by her display of affection, he tries to guess who she thinks he is. She questions him about his family, but not knowing who his family is, he cannot answer and finally decides that this might be one of those times when he should risk telling the truth. It isn't until Mr. Phelps comes home, and she introduces Huck as Tom Sawyer, that he breathes easy again. They have been expecting Tom to arrive on the steamboat for the past few days and are relieved and happy that he is finally here. Comfortable with his new identity, Huck can easily invent believable stories about Tom Sawyer's family. The noise of the steamboat on the river, however, suddenly reminds him Tom could be arriving any minute. He must ward off Tom's appearance until he can explain the misunderstanding to him. He tells Tom's aunt and uncle that he needs to go into town to pick up his baggage. Convincing them to let him go alone, he heads for town in the wagon and meets Tom Sawyer along the way. Tom thinks he is seeing a ghost, but Huck tells him that he was not murdered. Huck explains the case of mistaken identity at the Phelps Plantation to Tom. Coming up with a plan, Tom assures him all will be well. He puts his trunks in the wagon and tells him he will follow later. Huck also confides in Tom about his intent to steal Jim. To his surprise, Tom agrees to help him. Shocked that Tom would do such a thing, Huck's high opinion of him falls considerably. In a little while Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas Phelps see a stranger coming up the driveway. The stranger is Tom Sawyer. They quickly set another plate for dinner to welcome him. He pretends to be on the wrong plantation, but they invite him to stay for dinner just the same. During the course of the conversation the so-called stranger suddenly reaches over and kisses Aunt Sally on the mouth. Shocked and insulted she calls him an "owdacious puppy." He apologizes and tells her he thought she would like it. He finally ends the practical joke by identifying himself as Sid Sawyer, Tom's brother. They laugh at his joke, showering him with hugs and kisses. During supper one of the children begs to see the show in town that night. His dad tells him the show has been cancelled because the runaway slave informed on the actors. Huck knows immediately that it was Jim who was trying to expose the king and the duke. That night he and Tom sneak out to try to warn the pair about the danger they are in, but it is too late. They have been tarred and feathered and are being driven out of town. Huck feels responsible somehow even though he was not to blame. He denounces his conscience that "takes up more room than all the rest of a person's insides" but is of no value to him. Tom Sawyer agrees.