Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Character Analysis

Huckleberry Finn

The boy-narrator of the novel, Huck is the son of a vicious town drunk who has been adopted into normal society by the Widow Douglass after the events of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In… read analysis of Huckleberry Finn

Jim

One of Miss Watson’s slaves, Jim runs away because he is afraid of being separated from his beloved wife and daughter. Jim is superstitious, but nonetheless intelligent; he is also freedom-loving, and nobly selfless… read analysis of Jim

Tom Sawyer

Tom is Huck’s childhood friend, a boy from a respectable family who is both bright and learned; he is also a seasoned prankster. As good-spirited as Tom is, he is not as morally mature… read analysis of Tom Sawyer

The duke and king

The kind of people Huck and Tom might turn into were they to only act out of self-interest, the duke and king are a couple of con men that Huck and Jim travel with. The… read analysis of The duke and king

The Widow Douglas and Miss Watson

Two elderly sisters, the Widow and Miss Watson are Huck’s guardians at the beginning of the novel until Pap arrives on the scene. The two women demand that Huck conform to societal norms, which… read analysis of The Widow Douglas and Miss Watson

Pap

Huck’s father, Pap is a vicious drunk and racist, demonstrably beyond reform, who wants to have Huck’s fortune for himself. He resents Huck’s social mobility and, when not drunk or in jail, he can… read analysis of Pap

Colonel Sherburn

A cold-blooded killer, Sherburn guns down the vocal but harmless drunkard Boggs for almost no reason at all, all of which Huck witnesses in horror. When a lynch mob sets out to avenge Boggs’ death… read analysis of Colonel Sherburn

The Grangerfords and Shepherdsons

Two noble, pious, aristocratic families that absurdly, bloodily feud with one another despite mutual respect. Huck stays with the Grangerfords after becoming separated from Jim, but becomes embroiled in their feud after he accidentally… read analysis of The Grangerfords and Shepherdsons

Sally and Silas Phelps

Tom Sawyer’s aunt and uncle, respectively, who are both good people and parents, upstanding members of their community, and yet who troublingly support the institution of slavery, exemplified by their detainment of Jim… read analysis of Sally and Silas Phelps

Minor Characters

Judge Thatcher

A kind of guardian to Huck at the beginning of the novel. Judge Thatcher nobly helps the Widow in her bid for custody of Huck over Pap, and, at the end of the novel, he dutifully restores to Huck his fortune.

Judith Loftus

A shrewd, gentle woman whom Huck approaches disguised as a girl. Mrs. Loftus exposes that Huck is lying to her, but is kind to him nonetheless. Her husband is a slave-hunter pursuing Jim.

Jack

A Grangerford slave who tends to Huck and kindly shows him to where Jim is hiding nearby the Grangerford estate.

Mary Jane Wilks

The beautiful, orphaned niece of Peter Wilks, Huck is so moved by her goodness that he resolves to expose the duke and king as the con men they are.

Joanna Wilks

An orphaned niece of Peter Wilks with a harelip, Joanna shrewdly catches Huck in many lies as he plays along with the duke and king’s impersonation of the Wilks brothers.

Doctor Robinson and Levi Bell

The intelligent but somewhat condescending friends of Peter Wilks who suspect all along that the duke and king are frauds.

Harvey and William Wilks

Brothers of Peter Wilks who have traveled from England to the U.S. for Peter’s funeral. William is a deaf mute. The duke and king impersonate them during one of their more disgusting scams.

Peter Wilks

Brother of Harvey and William Wilks, uncle of Mary Jane Wilks and her sisters; deceased.

Nat

A Phelps slave whose superstitions Tom exploits in executing his ridiculous plan to free Jim.

Aunt Polly

Tom Sawyer’s aunt and guardian, sister of Sally Phelps.

The new judge

A judge who refuses to revoke Pap's custody of Huck because he does not want to separate a father and a son. The new judge later tries to reform Pap, and fails completely.