Huckleberry Finn Ending Analysis

Literary masterpieces, a lofty title that few books get. Stories such as The Great Gatsby and To Kill a Mockingbird fall into this category. But there appears to be an odd one out, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Some might argue that Huckleberry Finn ends inappropriately; However, this is not true. The skillful development of Huck’s character and the fact that the antagonists, namely Pap, the King, and the Duke, got what they deserved shows that the story’s ending is well crafted and deserves its spot with other legendary pieces of literature. Huckleberry Finn changes from the beginning of the novel to the end and proves himself to be a highly dynamic character. One of the most important changes we see in Huck is during

Pap, Huck’s alcoholic father, was found by Jim much earlier in the novel. In the last chapter, Pap finally admits to Huck that “‘Doan ' you 'member de house dat was float 'n down de river, en dey wuz a man in dah, kivered up, en I went in en unkivered him and didn ' let you come in? Well, den, you kin git yo ' money when you wants it, kase dat wuz him.’” (Twain 220). You would think that Huck would be disappointed that his father was dead, but it did not seem to affect him at all. Since the beginning of the book Huck knew that Pap was a terrible person and finally got what he deserved. Another set of antagonizing characters was the King and Duke, two con artists who knew how to make money by cheating it off of people. After many sick attempts at stealing inheritance money, the duo decided to turn Jim in for the money reward after saying that they wouldn’t. Their plan backfired, however, and after being unable to prove themselves as the true heir to the inheritance, they were punished. Huck sees them finally getting their punishment and states “I knowed it WAS the king and the duke, though they was all over tar and feathers, and didn’t look like nothing in the world that was human” (Twain 174). The two main “bad guys” of the novel finally got what they deserved, a tarring and feathering. The ending to the King and Duke framework is with them getting