The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is pretty much what it sounds like, the author, Mark Twain, tells a story about a young boy who leaves home to adventure. The story starts when Huckleberry Finn is 13 years old and is living with a kind, religious widow because his father is a drunk and unfit to raise a child. When Huck obtains a significant amount of money, his father suddenly appears and demands the money. Although his father does not have much luck obtaining the money, he kidnaps Huck and brings him to a cabin near a river. Huck is trapped in the cabin and unable to leave, so he finds a way through a loose log in the cabin wall and sneaks out while his father is out drunk. Huck fakes his own death by leading a trail of animal blood to the river and finds a canoe to travel along the river. 

The widow and other people Huckleberry Finn knew drove a ferryboat through the river looking for his body. Huck finds an island to hide on and builds a campfire. After a few days, Huck finds he is not on the island alone. When Huck lived with the widow, they had a slave named Jim. Apparently, the widow was going to sell Jim deeper south, so Jim ran away and  found that island to settle on. Huck and Jim decide to travel north together, where Jim could become free. The two of them meet many new people and find many adventures to go on. I will not say any of them because I do not want to give any spoilers!

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is interesting because it does not follow a typical plot. Usually, in stories there is a goal and a conflict, however, I feel like this book is more complex than just that. Jim decides his goal is to go to the North, however, Huck does not seem to share that same interest as he is already free. The plot is interesting because Huck does not have a clear main goal, he is just interested in adventuring and doing whatever he wants whenever he wants. I guess this plot can be fun for some readers because there are so many events in the books and it is always a surprise what will happen next. I do not like the lack of a main goal in the book. I found it difficult to stay interested in the book because Huck was never working towards a goal, so although there were many exciting events, they were not connected to each other and did nothing for the actual plot of the book.  In my opinion, I think the book is quite boring and I probably will not read another one like it any time soon. I know that people like the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because it teaches readers a lot about race and what interactions between white people and African American people were like. Some people may not like this book because it uses a lot of racial slurs and a lot of the characters are racist, even Huck at some points. I think the book is interesting and a good learning opportunity, but it is hard to read and stay engaged. I am sure there are some people who would enjoy this book, but I am not one of them and I would not recommend it to a friend. However, if you enjoy learning about history and have a lot of patience, this may be the book for you.