The story HuckleBerry Finn?

Question

The book ends with Huck saying he's going to "light out for the Territory ahead of the rest." but there's a part of me that wonders if he won't decide to go back home to the Widow's with his friends.

**If you could write another chapter for the novel what would you have happen?

Answer 1

First of all, I would never dare to write another chapter of Huckleberry Finn. Committing that kind of sin against arguably the best piece of American literature is unforgivable. I'm sorry I feel so strongly about this point, but it is truly a masterpiece. It would be, to me, like adding something to the Mona Lisa. I can understand the compulsion to want to, but some things are better left alone.

As for whether Huck would eventually go back to the society where he grew up, I sure hope not. Everyone has the best of intentions, wanting to give Huck the type of upbringing that every boy should have, religion, clean clothes, education, and an indoctrination in right and wrong. However, Huck finds religion and clean clothes to be useless. As for education and determination of right and wrong, he has found that he can provide these things for himself better than any "sivilized" society ever can. By the end of the book, he realizes that such a society is something that he can never trust, and he "can't stand it".

In contrast, he sees the relatively unsettled parts of the United states to be brimming with promise. That is why he wants to "light out for the Territory ahead of the rest". Weary of his old life, Huck contemplates ways to continue living with the same freedom he felt on the raft. That is the life he was born to live free from society, and I want to believe very much that he died that way too. We will never know, and I like it that way. I'm sure Twain felt the same way.

Answer 2

Answer these to answer yourself:

How honest is he with others (and himself)? Use the rest of the story as evidence as to whether he is lying at the end or not.

How much do you think he liked the "adventure" of being on the raft? If you believe he really liked being out on his own, learning and being adventurous, then he'd head out West. If you think he really didn't like the "adventure" , he'd head back home. Look for evidence - it's there :)