Chapters 11, 12 and 13

Summary

The woman is suspicious of Huck who calls himself Sarah Williams from Hookerville. Huck learns that his murder nearly got Pap lynched, but then suspicion fell on Jim who ran away on the same day.  This results in a reward of $300 on Jim’s head.  However, when Pap receives the money from the Judge to help him find Jim and he gets blind drunk again, the Judge suspects that he had the motive to kill Huck and decides to put a reward on his head of $200.  Pap has disappeared.

The woman says that she has seen smoke on the island and suspects that Jim is hiding there. Her husband and another man are going to investigate that night.  She asks Huck what her name is again, and he says Mary Williams and the woman quizzes him about the change and he says that her full name is Sarah Mary Williams.  The woman realizes that this is a man she is talking to and asks him to reveal his male identity.  He says his name is George Peters and is escaping from a mean farmer. Satisfied by this story, she asks no further questions and Huck leaves.

He returns to the island and Jim and Huck decide to leave on a raft they have found.  They spend another few days drifting downriver passing the lights of St. Louis. They have a good time borrowing or hunting food, as they need it. 

One night they come across a wrecked steamship and despite Jim’s objections Huck decides to go onto the wreck to have some adventure. He realizes that he is not alone, as he overhears two robbers threatening to kill their third partner who intends to betray them.  The wreck, which is sinking, would make a good tomb for the third robber and they decide to leave him and make their escape.  Huck finds Jim to say that they need to cut the robbers’ boat loose so that they are all trapped on the sinking boat, but Jim says that their own raft has broken loose and drifted away.

The robbers are loading booty onto their boat and Huck and Jim take the opportunity to escape on the robbers’ boat.  As they draw away from the sinking boat, the catch up with their own raft, but Huck has a twinge of conscience about leaving the robbers to drown so he goes ashore for help.  He finds a ferry watchman and tells him that his own family is stranded on the steamboat wreck. Huck invents an elaborate story as to how his family got on the wreck in the first place and the man seems more than happy to take his ferry to rescue them.

Huck, feeling pleased with himself about his good deed, is sure that Widow Douglas would have been proud of him.

Jim and Huck go to an island and sink the robbers’ boat before going to sleep.

Interpretation

Huck again shows his immaturity by putting them both at risk by boarding the sinking steamboat, especially when he discovers there are robbers on board. He shows no consideration at all for Jim who has much more to lose by being captured.  He would certainly lose his freedom, and possibly even his life.

Huck’s behavior is similar to that of Tom Sawyer.  In Tom’s gang they had no adventures, just make-believe, but Huck sees an opportunity to have a real adventure.

However, Huck does show some improved morals feeling guilty at the possible death of the criminals on the sinking wreck if he stands by and does nothing.  His solution to send innocent people on the ferry to rescue a group of known criminals is certainly questionable. Still it is a first step in Huck’s development and he is losing some of his self-centeredness.