The name Huckleberry always struck me as odd. I have found out that the term
             "Huckleberry" was 19th-century slang for a person of no importance. In many ways, Jim and Huck were alike. Both were considered unimportant. They were both subject to white adults, Jim because he was a black man, and Huck because he was a child. The big difference was that Jim was subject to Huck because Huck was white.
             The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered to be Twain's greatest work. He wrote the book off an on over a period of about eight years, from 1876-1884. In 1991, a long-lost handwritten portion of Twain's original manuscript was found in Buffalo, New York.; it added several deleted passages to the book, and provided enormous insight into the creation process of the book.
             This book has created controversy ever since it was banned by the Concord, Mass., Library Board in 1885. The main issue has been what has been termed as the racist character of the language -- in particular, the heavy use of the word "nigger"; it has been banned by schools and libraries throughout the U.S. since its inception.
             Jim, the slave, was based on Uncle Daniel, a slave owned by Clemens' Uncle John Quarles; during the boyhood summers that Clemens spent at his uncle's house, he became friendly with Daniel.
             Huck was based on Clemens' boyhood acquaintance Tom Blankenship; Tom was from a poor Hannibal family of 10, with a drunken father similar to Pap Finn; he was dirty, uneducated, and lived without authority; Twain characterized him as "the only really independent person - boy or man - in the community, and by consequence he was tranquilly and continuously happy..."
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