Huckleberry Finn Father Quotes Analysis

Fathers and Father Figures
In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, there is a difference between a father and a father figure. In this book, the irony is that at least two father figures come closer to parenting the protagonist Huck than his own flesh and blood father, Pap, and prove that a father has to be more than the word itself implies. Pap falls far shorter as Huck’s father than either Judge Thatcher, Huck’s friend and advisor, or the runaway slave, Jim, who loves Huck like one of his own children.
Pap is Huck’s biological father, but he is completely without any true fatherly feelings towards Huck and functions more as Huck’s enemy than his father. Pap is described as,
His hair was long and tangled and greasy, and hung down, …show more content…
When Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer find a treasure of twelve thousand dollars, their reasonable thought is to share the money by dividing it in half between the two of them. Judge Thatcher is the first person that Huck turns to in order to keep his money safe. Thatcher acts like Huck’s guardian by teaching him to be responsible for his money. He gives him the interest of “a dollar a day” (9), which Huck often never even bothers to collect. The Judge’s main concern is looking out for Huck’s well-being, as he doesn’t want Huck taken advantage of because of his riches. Huck is only anxious about the money when Pap shows up because he knows that Pap will do anything to get his hands on it. When Huck tries to give Judge Thatcher all his money, the Judge is caring enough to pretend to buy it off him as an investment. Although he is bargaining with Huck, he has no intentions of really taking his money from him. Judge Thatcher doesn’t know why Huck is in such a panic, but he “studied awhile” (19) and pays Huck one dollar for the sale, sure that when the emergency is passed, Huck’s investment will still be safe and sound. The initial reaction of a typical person who is granted six thousand dollars would be to take the money and flee. However, since Judge Thatcher has an emotional attachment to Huck, he helps him by protecting his

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Huckleberry Finn Father Quotes Analysis

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