Chapters 19-20
1. Are there people like the King and Duke in our world today? If so, what are some examples of their types? What might he be satirizing with these two?
2. What's the difference between the way that Huck deceives and the way that the duke and king do? Can you really draw lines in the sand between "good" lying and "bad" lying in Huck Finn?
3. How are the Duke and the King like a very strange version of Huck and Jim? Are they good buddies or not?
4. What is the Duke and Dauphin’s plan that will allow the four to run their raft during the day? How do both Huck and Jim respond to this plan? Why might this plan give a reader “the creeps?”
5. If both Huck and Jim recognize that the Duke and the Dauphin are criminals, why do they go along with their antics?
Carpetbagger: During the civil war Reconstruction Period (1865-1870) many people for the Northern States went South because it was so poor that there many opportunities for a person with money even a little money. For example you could own a farm by paying the past due taxes for as little as $25. These Opportunities attracted all sorts people from honest hard working farmers, to crooks, charlatans, con artist and of course crooked politicians. All these outsiders (identified by their Carpetbag) were called Carpetbaggers and still are in many places. It became the term to refer to a Yankee who moved to the south and usually meant a “damn Yankee and not to be trusted, a scoundrel.” Probably the worst Carpetbaggers were the politicians who used their positions in the corrupt Reconstruction Government to enrich themselves through bribes, graft and other despicable acts at the expense of native Southerners. Today the dictionary defines a Carpetbagger as “ an outsider involved in politics.”
Although the term carpetbagger is a bit of anachronism for the novel, which is set before the term was coined, how are the Duke and the Dauphin similar to the carpetbaggers in the definition? Could Twain have been suggesting anything by giving these men this particular piece of luggage? Finally, who do you think northern carpetbaggers enlisted to help them gain power in the South during reconstruction?
Chapters 21-22
1. How do the Duke and King act like real royalty?
2. A Big Idea to Chew On: These two knuckleheads dominate a very large part of the middle/back end of the novel. They start out as humorous, silly con-artists who concoct crazy schemes to get a few extra bucks, and at first their actions are rather harmless. However, as the days pass and their tricks become more and more complicated, they almost transform into a pair of villains. So, the question I pose to you is this: Why did Twain include them in this adventure of Huckleberry Finn's? What role are they supposed to be playing in the grand design of this novel, and do you believe Twain is suggesting anything or making any generalizations by his inclusion of these two bozos in his novel?