The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Chapters 1-15 Study Guide
Chapter 1-3
1. Describe Huck’s relationship with Miss Watson.
Miss Watson is Widow
... [Show More] Douglas's sister, "a tolerable slim old maid, with goggles [glass]" (1.6). And she means well. (We guess.) But
if Widow Douglas represents the good parts of civilization, Miss Watson is the bad parts. The nagging parts. The slave-owning
parts.She's got a whole list of rules for Huck, including: "Don't put your feet up there, Huckleberry"; and "Don't scrunch up like that,
Huckleberry—set up straight"; and pretty soon she would say, "Don't gap and stretch like that, Huckleberry—why don't you try to
behave?" (1.6). In the end, though, Miss Watson's conscience pricks her just a little too hard, and she sets Jim free in her will. Does
this redeem her? Can we blame her for wanting to sell Jim, or is she just a product of her time?
2. Describe Huck’s relationship with Widow Douglas.
We don't see much of the Widow Douglass, but we get the feeling she's a nice lady. She takes Huck under her wing and promises
to civilize him, which maybe not be what he wants but, by the standards of society, is a pretty nice offer. Even though Huck doesn't
much like getting "sivilized," he has nothing but praise for the Widow: she's "regular and decent" (1.2), she makes Miss Watson lay
off him (1.6), and she doesn't lay into him when he fouls up his clothes. She even says that he's "coming along slow but sure, and
doing very satisfactory… she warn't ashamed of me" (4.2). We don't learn much about the Widow Douglas as an individual. She's a
type: she's basically kind, mostly caring, and 100% committed to following the rules of society, from table manners to church-going
to slave-owning. But is that good enough for Huck? Is it good enough for Twain?
3. What are Huck’s thoughts about religion?
Huck isn't fond of religion. He gets his fill of it from Miss Watson and the Widow Douglas. Huck hates the endless repetition. He likes
some of the stories from the Old Testament but, when he finds out Moses is dead, doesn't see that much point to it. Huck thinks Hell
would be a more interesting place especially since Ms. Watson won't be there to harass him.Huck doesn't much believe in prayer.
He never got his fish hooks praying and when he prayed for guidance with Jim, he felt his prayers weren't sincere.
4. What are some examples of superstition in the first few chapters?
Huck insists that the spiders burning in the candle was bad luck. Jim talked about the witches bewitching him. Also, Huck and the
gang talk about rubbing a lamp to make a genie appear.
5. What are the main differences between Huck and Tom? [Show Less]