The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Chapter 5
Summary
Pap sues Judge Thatcher for Huck’s fortune and continues
to threaten Huck about attending school. Huck continues to attend, partly
to spite his father. Pap goes on one drunken binge after another.
One day, he kidnaps Huck, takes him deep into the woods to a secluded
cabin on the Illinois shore, and locks Huck inside all day while
he rambles outside. Eventually, Huck finds an old saw, makes a hole
in the wall, and resolves to escape from both Pap and the Widow
Douglas, but Pap returns as Huck is about to break free.
Pap complains that Judge Thatcher has delayed the trial
to prevent him from getting Huck’s wealth. He has heard that his
chances of getting the money are good but that he will probably
lose the fight for custody of Huck. Pap continues to rant about
a mixed-race man in town; Pap is disgusted that the man is allowed
to vote in his home state of Ohio, and that legally he cannot be
sold into slavery until he has been in Missouri six months. Later,
Pap wakes from a drunken sleep and chases after Huck with a knife,
calling him the “Angel of Death” but stopping when he passes out.
Huck holds a rifle pointed at his sleeping father and waits.
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