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''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (or, in more recent editions, ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'') is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written throughout in vernacular English, characterized by local color regionalism. It is told in the first person by Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, a friend of Tom Sawyer and narrator of two other Twain novels (''Tom Sawyer Abroad'' and ''Tom Sawyer, Detective''). It is a direct sequel to ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer''. The book is noted for its colorful description of people and places along the Mississippi River. Set in a Southern antebellum society that had ceased to exist about twenty years before the work was published, ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' is an often scathing satire on entrenched attitudes, particularly racism. Perennially popular with readers, ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' has also been the continued object of study by literary critics since its publication. It was criticized upon release because of its coarse language and became even more controversial in the 20th century because of its perceived use of racial stereotypes and because of its frequent use of the racial slur "nigger", despite strong arguments that the protagonist and the tenor of the book are anti-racist.〔(Mark Twain, New York: Charles L. Webster, 1885, HathiTrust Digital Library, HathiTrust, accessed April 12, 2012 )〕〔(Jacob O'Leary, "Critical Annotation of "Minstrel Shackles and Nineteenth Century 'Liberality' in Huckleberry Finn" (Fredrick Woodard and Donnarae MacCann)," Wiki Service, University of Iowa, last modified February 11, 2012, accessed April 12, 2012 )〕 ==Characters== In order of appearance: * Huckleberry Finn ("Huck" to his friends) is a boy about thirteen or fourteen years old. He has been brought up by his father, the town drunk, and has a hard time fitting into society. * Widow Douglas is the kind lady who has taken Huck in after he helped save her from a violent home invasion. She tries her best to civilize Huck, believing it is her Christian duty. * Miss Watson is the widow's sister, a tough old spinster who also lives with them. She is fairly hard on Huck, causing him to resent her a good deal. Samuel Clemens may have drawn inspiration for her from several people he knew in his life. * Jim is Miss Watson's big, mild-mannered slave. Huck becomes very close to Jim when they reunite after Jim flees Miss Watson to seek refuge from slavery, and Huck and Jim become fellow travelers on the Mississippi River. * Tom Sawyer is Huck's best friend and peer, the main character of other Twain novels and the leader of the town boys in adventures. He is "the best fighter and the smartest kid in town".〔 * "Pap" Finn, Huck's father, an alcoholic drifter. He is often angry at Huck and resents him getting any kind of education. He also returns to Huck whenever he needs more money for alcohol. * Judith Loftus plays a small part in the novel — being the kind and perceptive woman whom Huck talks to in order to find out about the search for Jim — but many critics believe her to be the best female character in the novel.〔 * The Grangerfords, an aristocratic Kentuckian family headed by the sexagenarian Colonel Saul Grangerford, take Huck in after he is separated from Jim on the Mississippi. Huck becomes close friends with the youngest male of the family, Buck Grangerford, who is Huck's age. By the time Huck meets them, the Grangerfords have been engaged in an age-old blood feud with another local family, the Shepherdsons. * The Duke and the King are two otherwise unnamed con artists whom Huck and Jim take aboard their raft just before the start of their Arkansas adventures. They are featured prominently throughout the novel, duping many local townspeople with their various cons. They pose as the long-lost Duke of Bridgewater and the long-dead Louis XVII of France to ensure Huck and Jim's subservience. Huck goes along so as not to have troubles. * Doctor Robinson is the only man who recognizes that the King and Duke are phonies when they pretend to be British. He warns the town but they ignore him. * Mary Jane, Joanna, and Susan Wilks are the three young nieces of their wealthy guardian, Peter Wilks, who has recently died. The duke and the king try to steal the inheritance left by Peter Wilks, by posing as Peter's estranged brothers from England. * Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas Phelps, are the two people whose nephew Huck poses as, after he abandons the duke and king. She is a loving, but high-strung lady, and he a plodding old man, both farmer and preacher. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Adventures of Huckleberry Finn」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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