Thread by @FearsomeTweeter

I’m now going to read #HuckleberryFinn and tweet about it. 1/

Full disclosure: I already started, but I’m backing up to review. 2/

The edition I’m reading includes illustrations from the first edition and an old fashioned font. It’s published by SeaWolf Press, which is based in Orinda CA near where I once lived. 3/

I think I read Huck Finn in high school—or was supposed to read it. I know I read it in grad school and wrote a paper on it, though I forget the topic. /4

I remember enjoying the experience of it in grad school, partly because I had a professor who clearly loved the book. He provided enough context to place it in American literary history but mostly encouraged close reading. /5

I’m reading it now in part to revisit that grad school experience but also as a kind of craft research for the novel I’m writing. /6

By “craft research” I specifically mean that I’m looking to HF as a potential model for tone, characterization, style, plot, and maybe other things. /7

Btw, this may take me some weeks. I’m a slow reader anyway, and stopping to tweet about it will challenge my 21st century attention span. /8

Anyway, here goes. I love that Twain begins with a Notice that threatens any reader who looks to deeply for motives, morals, or plot. He wants us to stay in the moment and turn off our critical faculties. Enjoy. /9

Our narrator Huck begins chapter 1 by referencing Twain’s Tom Sawyer novel. The metafictional playfulness reminds me of the second volume of Don Quixote. DQ is mentioned later, so I have to think it was a model for Twain. /10

I notice the chapters are short, often 4-5 pages in this edition. Longish paragraphs but the reader quickly discerns the rhythm and knows where the breathers come. Not an especially brilliant observation but nevertheless important for a writer to think about. /11

Okay, well here in chap 2 we encounter Huck’s first use of the n-word. It’s startling for a 21st century reader. Others can debate the effects of requiring this book in a high school class. There’s lots to consider. The context and sensitivity of the discussion is everything. /12

Tom Sawyer makes an early appearance and wants to start a gang where they kill and rob people. Twain quickly subverts the sentimental view of childhood, though we of course know Tom is all talk. But what talk! /13

But here’s something Twain does really well. Tom wants his gang members to sign an oath under penalty of death to the boy and his family. This creates a problem for Huck, who doesn’t have family except for his missing father. /14

It’s poignant that Huck is shown to be an outsider in this way. But also funny that he eventually offers up Miss Watson as a substitute victim. Twain is excellent at evoking sympathy in a humorous context. /15

In chapter 3, Huck offers a takedown of God granting wishes and genies doing the same. It’s all the same to Huck. Prayers and lamp-rubbing. Huck’s outsider status and lack of education make him a useful tool for social critique. /16

And then early in chapter 4, Huck spots a boot print with a cross mark in the heel to ward off the devil. That’s how Huck knows his father is back in town. /17

When Huck’s father does show up, we see that Huck is an outsider even within his family. Dad berates him for learning to read; he rejects education and culture. Huck is caught in the middle. He belongs nowhere. Great setup, great character. /18

Despite this, when Huck’s father kidnaps him, Huck very briefly enjoys the carefree life of smoking and living off the land and his father’s thieving. It’s a brief Eden that doesn’t last b/c his drunk dad beats the shit out of him. To survive, Huck must cast himself out. /19

In chap 7, Huck shoots a pig, drags it to the shack he shares with pop, hacks its throat open with an axe, and spreads blood everywhere to fake his death. Who ever called this a children’s book? Good stuff. /20

And now the adventure down the river begins. HF is the granddaddy of American road novels. Enter Jim. /21

For a modern reader, the dialects are thick with apostrophes and misspellings. Not the preferred method taught in creative writing courses. But I honestly don’t mind it, especially for a comic novel. There’s pleasure in deciphering. Once you tune in, it’s easy to hear. /22

I think many young writers in MFA programs are suspicious of old books as craft models. Are the books canonized for reasons other than craft? /23

But the craft of fiction is, simply put, a writer’s ability to use the tools of fiction to create effects for the reader. A good writer knows the tools and understands the effects. /24

One level is to read it the way you imagine it was read in Twain’s day. The other is to read it as if it were written now. Think about Borges’ Pierre Menard, who re-authored Don Quixote to much different reception. /25

The more radical reading creates additional craft opportunities for a contemporary writer. /26

Anyway, this is just to say that a writer should cast the craft net widely across space and time and perspective because there are new possibilities in rereading old texts and foreign texts, as well as contemporary ones close to home. /27

Sorry, didn’t intend to lecture. Back to Huck Finn. I’m afraid this thread is going to be hundreds of tweets long. Not really expecting anyone to read it all. Just collecting my thoughts in a different way. /28

I like the way Twain allows himself to digress, especially in dialogue. Readers are fine with this if it’s funny and tells us about the character, like Jim’s sad/funny story of how he was once 14 dollars rich and lost it to bad investments. /29

Jim is full of superstitions that most rational people would laugh at. What to make of this when some of his superstitions prove true? There’s folk wisdom that the educated don’t understand. Generosity on Twain’s part. /30

Jim does seem childlike at times. But I love that he calls Huck “honey.” Jim’s the adult but not fully recognized as such. The novel is like a buddy adventure except the relationship is more complicated than that. Much more. And it adds uncertainty/excitement to the story. /31

Twain does details well. He knows his shit when it comes to river navigation. He can write a storm. He grounds every scene with interesting specific details. The reader feels present for everything. /32

Chapter 9: nothing like the mystery of a three-day old dead man, shot in the back, to power up a plot! /33

Despite Twain’s warning about looking for a plot HF certainly has a plot. The plot is mostly episodic, but sometimes it becomes what Gardner called a “profluent,” or cause-and-effect plot. /34

When Huck dresses up as a girl and goes into town for info, he learns that Jim is wanted for murder—of Huck. /35

As Twain does with the funny moments that turn poignant, he also surprises us with a loose plot that suddenly turns. He wants to lull us and then shift the tone or plot. /36

And Twain, like so many writers, is looking for narrative freedom. He has stories to tell and doesn’t want to be constrained by reader expectations. /37

Once he has established certain threats, he can pretty much do what he wants. /38

1) Huck is running from his pop 2) Jim from his “owner” 3) Jim for the authorities and vigilantes who think he murdered Huck, and soon after, 4) they both run from gangster-murderers they discover on a half-sunk steamboat. Threats = narrative freedom. /39

There’s a moment in chapter 15 where Huck, after being separated from Jim, tries to trick Jim into thinking he never left. It almost succeeds, but Jim catches on and berates Huck for abusing their friendship. This is an important moment for cementing their bond. /40

But for that bond to be made evident, Huck has to overstep and test it. Strife and reconciliation are equally important to the development of a fictional relationship. /41

Twain makes sure we know that in Jim’s world, geography is destiny. Cairo is freedom, but if they miss it, they’ve descended into slave country. /42

And then begins Huck’s internal struggle with Jim’s freedom. By aiding Jim’s flight, he feels he’s wronged Miss Watson. His conscience has internalized the warped mores of slaveholding society, which makes his struggle society’s struggle. /43

Twain in chapter 16 quickly gives Huck an opportunity to turn Jim in when some white men come by hunting for escaped slaves. Huck lies to save Jim. So far friendship wins over a corrupt society. /44

On this freedom quest, Huck’s superpower is lying. He can spin a yarn to convince others of anything. It’s a form of mind control: “You don’t need to see his identification.” Huck is a writer-character, a Twain stand-in using his narrative skills to achieve his goals. /45

Symbol alert! Huck and Jim blame their bad luck on finding a rattlesnake skin. It’s what got them kicked out of their doomed little Eden. /46

HF has an invent-as-you-go quality that makes you feel you’re on the same journey as the author. But every so often you realize Twain has planted a detail or event for later use in the plot. Behold, there has been planning and revision! A loose but crafty approach I admire. /47

Btw, the chapters have gotten longer. It could be that Twain planned on short chapters throughout, but there’s too much to say, so he abandoned that restriction. Important for a writer to adapt to the circumstances. /48

When a steamboat hits their raft, Huck and Jim are split up, and Huck ends up at a family’s house. If you’re on a narrative adventure, there must be surprises. We don’t know if Twain has a plan for this family or he’s just throwing in some random new characters to entertain. /49

But when they start talking you believe they’re real. You hear their distinct voices and accept their reality as you do images of characters on a movie screen. To me, dialogue in fiction is even more important than details for establishing belief. /50

It’s certainly surprising and a little strange that Twain is spending so much time describing the Grangerford family and their dead daughter and her poetry. What’s up with this? /51

Who knows why Twain would pause the adventure for a Romeo and Juliet interlude featuring the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons, but why not? And surprise, Jim turns up in the swamp! /52

If Huck is a picaro, he’s adventuring through the social strata as well as the landscape. So here in Chapter 18, he’s exploring high society and it’s bizarre and violent and hypocritical rituals. He’s accepted but we know it won’t last. /53

“no home like a raft” Huck and Jim back on the river! /54

The river is freedom. The river is adventure. The river is where societal acceptance is beside the point. /55

The opening paragraph of chapter 19 is so rich and beautiful and full of longing. All the senses! It’s another brief idyll in Huck’s search for home. And they’re both naked. /56

And then the next episode arrives with the appearance of two con men. As with other characters, they immediately come to life through their dialogue. Twain loves writing these characters, and it shows. Writers, enjoy yourselves. Except when you need to hurt yourselves. /57

What is it with Twain and Romeo and Juliet? The episode of the Duke and the King is the second in a row to feature the play, this time with the Duke and the King acting it out. It’s fun, but this is one of those moments in the novel when I wonder where it’s going. /58

Reminds me of a time after college I visited Dubrovnik in what was then Yugoslavia, and some guy named Boris wanted to give us a city tour. He showed us what he claimed was the inspiration for the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet. Then he took us to his apartment... /59

Where we sat at his kitchen table and listened to Jimi Hendrix. I thought for sure Boris wanted money—or something—but it turned out he was just a proud Dubrovnikan showing off his city. The Duke and the King are definitely con men, but at least they put on a show. /60

Now we come to the weird little episode-within-an-episode of Sherburn shooting Boggs on the street. After it happens, someone almost immediately re-enacts it and everyone buys him drinks. Twain allows himself to stray far from the main plot if the mood strikes. Adventures! /61

(past the halfway mark now) /62

Once you understand the basics of fiction writing, it’s more helpful to ask “what is this author getting away with?” than it is to ask how the author conforms to reader expectations. I try to get my students to take this approach. Craft + creative freedom = art. /63

Turns out Sherburn is a sendup of what we’re now calling Toxic Masculinity. /64

After a ridiculous convo about kings in chap 23, Huck finds Jim crying over his absent, enslaved family and recognizes his humaniy: "I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their'n." Twain's special sauce is this mix of silly and sincere. /65

Then Twain immediately makes us *feel* that humanity when Jim tells a story about how he smacked his daughter for not closing a door when he asked, only to discover she'd gone deaf from Scarlet Fever. Now Jim "never gwyne to fogive hisself as long's he live!" /66

The episode of the Duke and the King hits on far too long IMO, but it’s impossible to deny the relevance of the two con men to the Trump era. /67

In chapter 25, a local doctor tries to wise up the family about to be conned out of their inheritance. They’ll hear none of it. “All right,” says the doctor. “But I warn you all that a time’s coming when you’re going to be sick whenever you think of this day.” Here we are. /68

America has long been ripe territory for con men, so I suppose it was inevitable we’d eventually end up with a con man in chief. /69

For that reason, the episode of the Duke and the King, as long as it is, has even more relevance now than it did in Twain’s day. The doctor’s warning was never heeded, and now we’re all sick. /70

When the Duke and the King discuss their plans and concerns about getting found out, the King says, “Hain’t we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain’t that a big enough majority in any town?” A true statement in any era. /71

Note: the overheard conversation trope is almost essential in a first person novel. It can be cheesy if overused, but readers are generous and accept it in the name of a good story. /72

We can view the Duke and King as potential career models for Huck. After all, he's an expert liar and has what it takes to be a con man. In thwarting their scam against a grieving family, we see Huck's moral arc bending toward justice--or awareness of it. /73

Do writers have an obligation to test the moral character of their protagonists? It's hard to think of examples where they don't. /74

One thing interesting about this HF edition that I didn't notice *until p. 240!* is that the running heads have what looks to be chapter titles. Except they're not. They label the action and sometimes change mid-chapter. The chapters themselves don't have titles! /75

"All right, then, I'll go to hell." This famous line of HF is uttered in chap 31. We see now that the relationship of Huck and Jim is the heart and the moral center of the novel. /76

The line is also the climax of Huck's internal struggle. His guilt about aiding Jim's escape from slavery has been weighing on him on and off throughout the novel. /77

Interesting that Twain has Huck put it in religious terms; Huck thinks if he were a better Christian, he'd never have aided Jim. And now he's willing to go to hell to save his friend. In HF, Christianity = "society" = White power structure. /78

The relationship of Huck and Jim, along with Huck's internal struggle about aiding Jim, doesn't take up that many pages, but it's everything. Imagine HF without it. Just a series of episodes down the river. The Huck-Jim relationship holds it all together and gives it meaning. /79

It's the Huck-Jim relationship, and Huck's internal struggle, that transcends HF from just another river adventure, or local color novel, or boy-escapade novel to a novel that speaks to and for a national culture (to the extent such a thing really does exist!). /80

Perhaps we don't look to literature to define the country anymore. When Twain was writing, America could still be considered young. In many ways we live in a different and globalized country. /81

Still, I believe HF has things to say to the present, more than simply "where did we come from?" The racism that brought us slavery still lingers, not simply on an individual level but in the social institutions, including organized religion, used to justify it. /82

And Huck's struggle to overcome the internalized dogma of those institutions resonates today with anyone who struggles to throw off harmful social baggage. /83

Unfortunately, Jim's struggle, more immediate and consequential, doesn't get much play. But it's Huck's novel, so okay. Imagine if Twain had written a novel that humanized Jim to the same degree as Huck. That would have been revolutionary. And unpublished. /84

So the climax of Huck's internal struggle has been reached. But his resolution about Jim's humanity is meaningless until it is tested in the world. In fiction, as in life, decisions mean nothing until they are acted upon. They must have consequences to be consequential. /85

And we still have 90 pages to go. Jim is in the hands of men who would collect reward money for returning him. There's suspense! We sense we're nearing a climax to the action. /86

At the beginning of chap 32, Twain builds suspense with Huck's slow walk to the farmhouse where he'll try to lie his way into saving Jim. You can feel Huck's dread. It's as if he's walking through the Valley of Death. /87

But Twain has a surprise for us. Another case of mistaken identity, and Huck plays along, pretending to be the visiting boy Mrs. Phelps is expecting. That boy turns out to be Tom Sawyer--an absurd coincidence that the reader accepts b/c it's fun and convincingly portrayed. /88

It's the kind of twist you might expect in a mystery novel or a farce. Why not? It's Twain's gift to the reader who has followed him this far. /89

Climax surprise #2 is that Tom shows up at the Phelps house, pretends to be a stranger who has knocked on the wrong door, then after kissing Mrs. Phelps on the lips, lets on that he's actually Sid Sawyer, Tom's half brother. /90

Twain could have gone straight into a sequence where Huck rescues Jim. Instead, he twists his way there. It's the convolutions that make it fun. Consider The Odyssey. /91

Imagine if Odysseus had gone straight to Ithaca without digression. Imagine if he'd just announced himself when he arrived. Dull! Odysseus pretends to be a beggar, and Huck pretends to be Tom. As a bonus, Tom pretends to be Sid. /92

Twain shows patience. Or you might call it love for his story. He doesn't want it to end, so he extends it with another twist. Sure, this can get old after a while, but it's also a reminder that the writer must love anything he expects the reader to love. /93

There's always just one more drop of juice to squeeze from the fictional fruit. One more entertaining scene with the story elements you've put at your disposal. Until you read the room and understand it's time to leave. /94

It's also just satisfying and round that Tom and Huck have one more adventure at the end. Tom appeared only briefly early in the novel and there was some friction between him and Huck. Huck mentions Tom regularly throughout the novel. He's a presence in his absence. /95

End of chap 33, Huck sees the Duke and King tarred and feathered and feels sorry for them. He has a conscience and wishes he didn't. Twain seems to believe in an innate goodness that is often warped by societal pressures. One reason we like spending time with Twain. /96

Tom Sawyer seems the embodiment of Twain's narrative philosophy. Why do it the easy way when the complicated way is more fun? /97

Or maybe it's more accurate to say that Tom and Huck are the polar forces that shape Twain's (or any writer's) narrative: the desire for complication and the desire for simplicity. One wants to tangle up the plot and one wants to get to Point B. /98

And then, SPOILER ALERT, something startling happens at the end of Huckleberry Finn. First, it turns out that, after Miss Watson's death, Jim has been free for 2 months. Tom Sawyer knew this when he arrived at the Phelps' house but chose not to tell Jim or anyone else. /99

Instead of immediately announcing this news and setting Jim free, Tom chose to enlist Jim and Huck in a boyish and byzantine adventure to spring Jim from his makeshift prison cell at the Phelps'. /100

We've just read 60 pages of Tom's orchestrations: spiders and rats in Jim's cell, rope ladders, journals, writing scratched onto walls, sawed-off bed legs, tunnels, tools smuggled into food, and so much more. /101

Tom Sawyer in these pages is almost a parody of Tom Sawyer. And Jim follows along, trusting completely in Tom and Huck. He could have walked out and escaped at any moment. /102

When Tom does finally help Jim "escape," Tom is hit in a shootout, and Jim has to choose between freedom and saving Tom. He chooses Tom. He comes out of hiding and willingly gives up his freedom to help a doctor tend to Tom. /103

But it was all, it turns out, completely unnecessary. What was Twain thinking? He's taking a big risk, potentially pissing off his readers, who want their investment in the novel's characters and plot to be rewarded with *more* meaning, not less. /104

I remember writing something about this in grad school. It fascinated me then and still does. Writing is an act of making meaning. Most writers want to make their work more meaningful, not less. There's something in Twain that's struggling against the weight of meaning. /105

It could be a general anti-intellectual streak, but that seems too abstract and impersonal. It could be a nostalgic rebellion against the sophistication of "Mark Twain," the monster within who by now has devoured the innocence of Sam Clemens of Hannibal, MO. /106

Or it could be that Twain is sticking a needle in the eye of those readers who ignored his Notice at the beginning of the novel that "persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished." /107

But that Notice is a cop-out, a way to deflect criticism. It's an example of a writer seeking to maximize his literary freedom. Twain wants to write and not be held accountable for anyone's interpretations of his work. /108

It's also a pipe dream. Surely Twain knows that readers will look for meaning and a "moral." Readers always do. Readers can't help it. It's in the nature of reading. It's in the nature of being human. /109

Fascinating, anyway, that Twain would essentially wipe out the significance of 60 pages of his novel to prove a point. /110

You can argue that Twain's point is to make us feel the absurdity of slavery. Jim is a pawn in Tom's adventure games. Tom acts upon Jim without regard to Jim's well-being, and only later, after Jim has been much abused, does Tom play savior with a Juneteenth moment. /111

In that case, Twain also condemns the ignorance of Tom Sawyer, who is surely a stand-in for the young Clemens. Tom Sawyer is having fun in his likable, youthful way without understanding the consequences. Tom doesn't grasp--or even attempt to grasp--the horrors of slavery. /112

So you might say that the story's climax is fueled by this unresolved conflict in Twain. He craves freedom and innocence but recognizes that the extremes of each can cause suffering in others. (Today's GOP ignores this message, hawking freedom w/o responsibility to others). /113

Jim's freedom isn't the only surprise. On nearly the last page, Jim reveals one of his own. He saw Huck's dead father way back up river in a floating house and only tells Huck about it now. /114

This means that Huck, too, was running for no reason. Why does Twain include this? It's understandable that Jim would be reluctant to tell Huck his father is dead. But there's some self-interest at work, too. It's easier for Jim to escape if he has a white boy's help. /115

Is Twain trying to even out the surprises? Is he just trying to create a happy ending for Huck (who now has sole claim to $6000 dollars)? Has he recognized that the book has grown long and now he needs to quickly tie up loose ends? /116

I'm not a lit scholar; no doubt much has been written about the final surprises. My concern is more with Twain's motivations as a writer and how those affected his craft. /117

The work of any writer is animated by that writer's unresolved (and probably unresolvable) struggles. That doesn't mean we should read each book or craft choice as an exercise in author psychology. /118

It means, I think, that good writers recognize their unresolved struggles and use them as tools of craft, creating work that resonates far beyond their own life experiences. That's why Twain's work endures and why he's still worth reading, even for contemporary writers. /119

Thanks to anyone who followed and read. I hope there's something helpful to writers in these notes. I believe they'll help me as I work on my novel-in-progress. And now, like Huck, I'll light out for the Territory. Happy writing. Happy reading. Struggle well. /end

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