Summary of Chapter 1
Huckleberry Finn is a young boy who has been mostly on his own and recently found a lot of gold with his friend, Tom Sawyer. This event happened in the previous book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and now Huck’s share of the gold is being managed by Judge Thatcher. Huck’s mother is deceased and his father is the town drunk who is frequently not around. The Widow Douglas has decided to adopt Huck and civilize him by teaching him how to behave in society and how to read and write. Her sister, Miss Watson, is also helping to educate Huck about the christian religion and various bible stories. Huck is interested in the bible story of Moses until he finds out that Moses has been dead for a long time and therefore he loses interest. Huck is a very practical person but also very superstitious. He thinks that he will have bad luck because he accidentally killed a spider.
Summary of Chapter 2
Huck has decided to sneak out of the house at night with Tom Sawyer. As they are leaving to go to the woods they are almost caught by Jim, one of Miss Watson’s slaves. Jim is determined to find out who is hiding in the dark, but he eventually falls asleep as the boys wait quietly in the dark. Tom decides to play a trick on Jim and hangs his hat on a tree branch above where Jim is sleeping. Jim thinks witches did it and later tells stories to otehr slaves about how they possessed him and made him walk all over the state. Tom and Huck continue to a cave in the woods where they are meeting up with other boys from the town. The boys are trying to form a gang of robbers and are deciding on the rules of the gang. Once all of the details are agreed upon, the boys head home. Huck is dirty and tired as he falls into bed.