The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Chapter 5
Summary
Pap is a frightening sight. The nearly fifty-year-old
man’s skin is a ghastly, disgusting white. Noticing Huck’s “starchy”
clothes, Pap wonders out loud if Huck thinks himself better than
his father and promises to take Huck “down a peg.” Pap promises
to teach Widow Douglas not to “meddle” and is outraged that Huck
has become the first person in his family to learn to read. Pap
asks if Huck is really as rich as he has heard and calls his son
a liar when Huck replies that he has no more money. Pap then takes
the dollar that Huck got from Judge Thatcher and leaves to buy whiskey. The next day, Pap shows up drunk and demands Huck’s money from
Judge Thatcher. The Judge and Widow Douglas try to get custody of
Huck but give up after the new judge in town refuses to separate
a father and son. Pap eventually lands in jail after a drunken spree. The
new judge takes Pap into his home and tries to reform him, but the
judge and his wife prove to be very weepy and moralizing. Pap tearfully
repents his ways but soon gets drunk again, and the new judge decides
that the only way to reform Pap is with a shotgun.
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