Huckleberry Finn is the main character, and it is through his eyes that the South is revealed. His companion, a slave named Jim, accompanies Huck during their journey along the Mississippi.
             The novel begins with Huck writing the story. He describes what has happened to him since The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Huck and Tom had discovered twelve thousand dollars in treasure, Judge Thatcher holds the money for them. Huck was adopted by the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson. They both try to civilize the boy with not much success.
             Annoyed with his life, Huck runs away. Tom Sawyer sways Huck back by promising to start a gang of robbers. All the boys in town join Tom's band, and they use a cave as their hideout. The boys become tired of the Gang due to its lack of adventure.
             Months later Huck sees footprints in the snow which he recognizes as his Pa's. Huck realizes that Pa has returned to claim his money, and so he quickly runs to Judge Thatcher and sells his share of the money for a dollar. Pa catches Huck and makes him hand over the dollar, and threatens to beat Huck if he ever goes to school again. He stated that it would be wrong to be the only family member who was literate.
             Judge Thatcher and the Widow try to gain court custody of Huck, but a new judge in town refuses to separate Huck from Pa. Later in the novel, Pa steals Huck away from the Widow's house and takes him to a log cabin. Huck says that he enjoys the life, but he soon decides to escape after Pa starts to frequently beat him.
             When Pa returns to the town and Huck takes the chance to escape. He saws his way out of the log cabin, and frames his own death. He then takes a canoe and floats downstream to Jackson's Island. Once there he sets up camp and hides out.
             A few days later Huck stumbles onto a leftover campfire on the island. He is frightened but decides to discover who the other person is. The next day he discovers that Jim. Jim has run away aft...