The Dauphin and Huck's father are two seemingly very different characters with striking similarities, especially concerning their treatment of Huck.
             Upon analyzing the characters of the Dauphin and Huck's father, the similarities between the two far outweigh the differences. Both men use Huck to better themselves. Unfortunately, this betterment is solely monetary, and is therefore an unrespectable use of Huck's time. Throughout the story, with the exception of his time alone on the river with Jim, Mark Twain portrays Huck as a host to some form of parasite. The parasite gains only benefits from its relationship with Huck, and Huck receives only bad consequences in return. Another similarity between the two is they are both outcasts of society for one reason or another, and seem to drown their sorrows in the bottle whenever possible. For Huck's father this trait is much more apparent because Twain writes him as such from the very beginning, and even in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The Dauphin is also an outcast of society except he takes less time from his life drinking, perhaps because he actually works for his money. Finally, both Huck's father and the Dauphin keep Huck as a prisoner in their own separate ways. Huck's father uses more physical force than anything else to keep Huck under his control during their stay on Jackson Island. On the other hand, Huck is held captive, and Jim too for that matter, with psychological force more than actual physical strength. As a wiser man than Huck's father, the Dauphin finds ways to keep Huck under his authority through little mind games that are harder to recognize.
             These two men are different in that the Dauphin is a con man who devises plans to make his own money whereas Huck's father is simply a lazy man who is just as happy taking his son's fortune and no accomplishing anything. Although, neither plan of action is advisable nor respecta...