Introduction: the plot, the characters, the subject, the theme are all things that make up a television show, a film or a novel. An episodic novel follows a similar structure to a television show. The narrative takes connected incidents often linked through characters. In any given “episode” or section of a novel the characters, their motivations, and their relationships with other characters would change little or nothing over the course of the novel. Sometimes, when characters meet other characters, there is no significant impact on the protagonist. Background: Mark Twain wrote the novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” in episodic format, writing small “episodes” in his novel. Twain took the separate episodes that juxtaposed them and wove them together into the great American novel. The setting of this novel was before the Civil War in the American South, one of the major controversies during this time was slavery. Statement of the thesis: The themes of the novel arise from that period and can be considered an in-depth study of humanity, friendship and family. Three separate episodes illustrate these themes excellently, such as Huckleberry Finn realizing the significance of his decision whether to turn Jim in (Chapter 31) when Jim misses his family and daughter (Chapter 23), and Jim sheltering Huck (Chapters 8 and 9). .Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Topic Sentence: At such a young age Huckleberry Finn made a very mature decision. Chapter 31 is such a monumental chapter because Huck, a boy at the age of 13, made such a mature and moral decision. This chapter discusses some of the events leading up to Huck's famous joke, which may be related to how he came to his decision. The duke and king are swindlers and are working on their next scam and Huck sees a chance to escape. The scammers ended up creating a fake flyer and turning Jim in for a $40 reward. Huck felt guilty for helping Jim escape slavery. Huck writes a letter to Miss Watson outlining Jim's whereabouts. He is momentarily relieved in writing the feeling that this confession will save him from going to hell for helping a slave. That relief slowly turns and turns back into guilt and he has to decide between two things, going to heaven and going to hell. His final decision ended with the declaration "Okay, then I'll go to hell" - and he tore it up. Evidence and Quotations: Chapter 31 describes the internal conflict that Huck was facing. He says: "The more I studied this subject, the more my conscience crushed me, and the more I felt evil, mean and grumpy." Comment: This shows that when Miss Watson was trying to “civilize” Huck, some of her ideas and rules stuck with him. Evidence and Quotes: Huck was facing an internal battle that was tearing him apart because he had been taught that anyone who helped a slave escape was damned to hell. After writing the letter, Huck said, "I felt good and was completely cleansed from sins for the first time in my life, and I knew that now I could pray." Shortly afterward he says, "But somehow I couldn't find any point that could harden me against him, but only the other kind...and finally, I caught the moment when I saved him by telling the men that we had the smallpox on board and he was so grateful and said I was the best friend old Jim ever had in the world, and the only one he has now;" Comment: This shows that Huck was unable to see Jim assomething evil or something bad. He could only remember the good times with Jim, he grew to have a meaningful friendship and relationship with Jim and this can't be broken by being told it was wrong. Evidence and Quotes: Huck also says, “I would take the wickedness again…And for starters, I would go to work and steal Jim out of slavery again.” Comment: This shows that Huck was willing to do anything to bring Jim back to the duke and king, so he could have his friendship again. Why is this considered such a mature decision in the literature? Huckleberry Finn was a thirteen-year-old boy who managed to challenge society's belief that slaves were less than human. No one in this novel told Huck that Jim was anything but a slave, but Huck saw through that facade. He saw a kind man who was able to feel and was able to feel sadness at being taken away from his family, which again society said. that slaves were incapable of feeling. This connects to two of the themes of this novel: friendship and insights into humanity. This chapter excellently illustrates the friendship between Huckleberry Finn and Jim, giving readers an insight into the inner workings of Huck's brain and thought process. Topic Sentence: Huck was able to see Jim as a person who experienced pain. During chapter 23, the Duke and the Dauphin manage to scam people out of money for their show. They finished their show after only a short performance, the citizens embarrassed at being robbed, told everyone in town how good the show was so that they weren't the only ones robbed and could still keep their honor. The Duke and the Dauphin ended up with $465 over the three-night show. The most important part of this chapter is the end, where Jim is missing his wife and two children. Evidence and Quotes: In chapter 23, Huck says, “I went to sleep and Jim didn't call me when it was my turn. He did it often. When I woke up, right at dawn, he was sitting there with his head between his knees, moaning and crying to himself. Comment: This illustrates the theme of family because Jim cried because he missed his family and was homesick. Before the Civil War, one of the Southern beliefs was that blacks did not care for each other and would not cry over being taken from their families. Evidence and Quotes: Huck also says, “I didn't notice or let on. I knew what it was. He thought of his wife and children up there, and he was sad and homesick; because he had never been away from home before in his life;” Comment: This quote shows how Huckleberry Finn was starting to understand that Jim had the same emotions as him and expressed them in the same and different ways. Evidence and quotes: “and I believe he cared about his people as much as white people care about their people,” Huck says. Commentary: This shows Huckleberry Finn's acceptance of Jim as his equal. He was able to look past the difference in skin color and their cultures and understand how Jim felt. Evidence and quotes: “It doesn't seem natural, but I think it is. She often moaned and groaned like that at night, when she judged I was sleeping, and said, “Little Lizabeth! 'Little Johnny! It's really difficult; I guess I'll never see you again, ever again!" Comment: This shows that Jim truly cared what Huck thought of him and didn't want Huck's opinion of him to change. It also shows how much Jim cared about his family even when they were separated for months, even years Huck was able to see how much Jim wasupset and wasn't about to make the situation worse by saying something derogatory. They were able to continue being friends while gaining more respect for each other and learning more about what each other cared about. Topic Sentence: Jim was able to see Huck as a friend faster than Huck was able to see Jim as one. In chapter 9, Jim and Huck take their canoe, food, and supplies to a cave to hide in case visitors come to the island. A storm floods the river and in a swept away house Jim and Huck find a body. The man appeared to have been shot in the back. Evidence and Quotations: In the chapter it says, “There was something lying on the floor in the far corner that looked like a man. Then Jim says, “Hello there!” But he didn't move. So I screamed again, and then Jim said, “That man isn't sleeping, he's dead. Stay still - I'll go and see." Commentary: Jim goes to see who the man is, it shows the friendship that is blossoming between him and Huck. Jim doesn't want Huck to see a dead man's face, for fear that the images might scar Huck. Evidence and quote: “Come in, Huck, but don't look him in the face: he's too shabby.” Comment: This shows that Jim is protective of Huck, he just met the boy, but he wants to protect Huck from the bad things in the world. Why does Jim show so much concern for Huck after just meeting him? Comment: Jim's son could have been around Huckleberry's age, so perhaps Jim was simply letting his paternal instincts take over and was trying to protect his "boy". Evidence and Quotations: Later in chapter 10, it says, “After breakfast, I wanted to talk about the dead man and guess how he was killed, but Jim didn't want to. He said it would bring bad luck." Comment: This shows how Jim is protecting Huck and how Jim treats him like a son. Jim wants to keep Huck from thinking about it because he is trying to be fatherly and protect him. We later learn that the man who they found dead was Huck's father. Why did the author choose to tell us who the dead man was later in the story might Mark Twain have chosen to tell us who the dead man was in chapter 7 because it adds more to Huck's relationship? and Jim. Jim, an escaped slave, protects Huck, a white boy, from the fears and traumas that might come from seeing a boy's father dead in front of him. This chapter connects to the theme of insights into humanity because we seek to protect people if we can. It doesn't matter if we are related to them or not, people try to avoid traumatizing children. Keep in mind: this is just one example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Concluding paragraph: “An episodic novel is composed of loosely connected episodes, each more or less self-contained, often linked by one or more central characters (Wiehardt 2019).” Throughout the novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", these episodes are used for example in chapters 31, 23 and chapters 9 and 10. Mark Twain can make the reader question the society from which ours emerged in 279 pages .“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is such an amazing novel because of the questions it makes you ask as you read it.Like “Why does Jim see Huckleberry Finn as a son?” Mark Twain takes the themes of the novel and weaves them together to form something beautiful that teaches so much about what it means to be human and how friendship and family tie into that. In chapter 23, Huck learned that Jim was a human being and showed feelings. In chapters 9 and 10, Jim protected Huck from seeing his father dead. These are all things that we like.