Chapter 12: "Risky Adventures"
Contributor: Alena Romanyuk
A Summary of Events
  • Huck and Jim leave the island and they travel on their little raft, they travel at night and hide during the day so they won't be seen. They pass by St. Louis on their fifth night of travel. They survive on things they hunt, things they have bought, or even have stolen. They give up some things to make up for the things they have taken. They come upon a wrecked steamboat on one stormy night. Huck persuades Jim to come on the steamboat with him as an adventure. There are three robbers on the steamboat. Two of them by the names Jake Packard, and Bill, want to kill Jim Turner because they are afraid that he will tell on them. Finally they decide that they are going to leave him on the wreck to drownand take their boat and leave. Huck tells Jim that they should cut their boat loose to prevent them from leaving, but there is a delay because their own raft has broke loose and floated away. 
Characters Involved
  • Huck- narrator of the story 
  • Jim-the black runaway that escapes with Huck 
  • The three robbers-Jake Packard, Bill and Jim Turner
Two Discussion Questions
  • Why do you think Huck is so tempted to come upon the wrecked steamboat, and does he learn anything from this incident? 
  • Notice how Jim gives into Huck's plans, how Huck persuades him to do what he says, do you think Huck or Jim notice it? 
Two Important Passages
  • "Jim he grumbled a little, but give in." (page 67)

-This passage shows how Jim gives into Huck's plans even though he knows that they are mighty foolish at times, but this still shows some control that Huck has over Jim, which still resembles slavery.

  • "But if we find their boat we can put all of 'em in a bad fix-for the Sheriff'll get 'em. 

-This passage shows that Huck kind of knows that bad people should be punished, maybe by doing this he'll remember that if he does something bad, he will be punished.

Controversial Elements
  • As mentioned in the passages that are important to the story, Huck dosen't take Jim's opinion or his advice into consideration even though Jim is alot older than Huck. Here Jim is running away from slavery, and at the same time he's being treated like a slave in a way, with the person that's helping him run away. It might seem un-noticed because both Huck and Jim are used to this. 
    Huck is always looking for an adventure, as always he's care-free looking for something intersting to do, he hasn't learned that in life you have to be careful because those risks that he takes can lead to un-happy endings. 
  • When the robbers were stuck on the steamboat he didn't want any of them to leave there without being punished, but he as well does horrible things and thinks that it'll just pass him by. Huck should learn from this and later realize that what he was doing to them was merely an example of him reflecting on his own life and to learn from this incident that being "bad" will not get you anywhere good.