Questions We Can Help You To Answer

Paper instructions:

Part 1: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Carefully look through the following list of “families”—some are admittedly very loosely structured; some embody a very generous understanding of the term—in Huckleberry Finn. (The list is not all-inclusive.)

Huck and Pap
Huck, the Widow Douglas, and Miss Watson
Huck and Tom
Huck, Tom, and the other members of “Tom Sawyer’s Gang”
Huck and Jim
The Grangerfords
The Shepherdsons
Huck, Jim, the King, and the Duke
The Phelpses (Uncle Silas, Aunt Sally, and brood)

Now answer the following two questions. Neither answer should be longer than 250 words
1) Of the “families” in the list above, which one seems to you most stable, productive, or beneficial—most akin to what you might consider a “real” or “normal” or “ideal” family? Why?

2) Which “family” in the list above seems to you least stable, productive, or beneficial—least like an “ideal” family? Why? What is Twain satirizing or condemning through his portrayal or creation of this “family”?