SOURCE: Sloane, David E. E. “Huck Acts, an Escape from Sivilization.” In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: American Comic Vision, pp. 50-60. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1988.

In the following essay, Sloane notes the importance of Huck's ability to act with determination to shape his and Jim's fate in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Huck is a passive hero for most of the book. The negative description of his mother, his isolation and loneliness, and his laconic deadpan, self-effacing manner of humorous speech all seem to account for this passivity. Nevertheless, he reacts on Jim's behalf on several occasions in important ways. Unfortunately, the last part of the novel is dominated by twelve chapters in which Huck seems to do little in contravening the travesties worked by Tom Sawyer. The events of chapter 7 are crucial in establishing Huck's other side—his ability to act with determination. As readers who recognize this...