If the video doesn’t load please try refreshing the page. If the problem persists make sure you have the latest version of the Flash player or watch the videos on our RecAPP iPhone and iPod application.

Want the low-down on the cast of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? Then think caricatures and larger-than-life villains and some pretty unbelievable rapscallions. Jenny’s got more on Huck, Pap, Jim, Tom Sawyer, and all the other folks you need to know—just press play.

Video Transcription:

The Cast of Huck Finn is filled with caricatures and larger-than-life villains and some pretty unbelievable rapscallions. But you’ll have no problem remembering them—not once you get the scoop on the thread that ties them all together.

Here’s what you need to know about the cast of Huck Finn: The most important characters in this story all play a part in Huck’s education.

Huck’s Pap, a mean-spirited drunk, teaches Huck the value of borrowing (stealing!) if you need something someone else has got. Unlike his Pap, though, Huck uses this tactic to benefit others.

Miss Watson and the Widow Douglas are wealthy sisters who try to adopt Huck and to “civilize” him with school and religion. They don’t succeed, but they don’t fail, either. Huck just has to make the book-learnin’ and the God-learnin’ his own.

Jim, the escaped slave who travels downriver with Huck, teaches Huck about superstition and omens. (Trust me—in Huck and Jim’s world, those things have power.) Jim is also the most selfless and humane character in the novel and is a key player in Huck’s moral education.

The King and the Duke are scam artists who hitch a free ride on Huck and Jim’s raft. They represent everything that’s mean-spirited and dishonest in the world—and they show Huck what he doesn’t want to become.

And Tom Sawyer is Huck’s wild, imaginative friend. From Tom’s mistakes, Huck learns that thinking for yourself is the real way to be a hero.