IRP Blog Post 3

Pap

(MEDIA: Watch a 1.5 minute animated video on Huck's meeting with his dad here)

Huck's father is first introduced to the reader when Huck finds him sitting in his room. Immediately, the reasons for Huck living with the Widow become abundantly clear. Pap is a gruff man who instantly becomes mad at Huck for merely wearing starched clothes that his nicer than his own. Pap is angered that Huck is being raised to a better standard than his own father. He is angry that Huck goes to school and is learning to read. Pap continuously promises that he will tan (beat) Huck. Pap later ends up in jail for drunkenness. For a short time, Pap becomes clean after being reformed by the judge and dresses nicely, encouraging people to shake his hand. That night, however, pap went back on his old ways and "got powerful thirsty". The judge conceded, "He reckoned a body could refor the ole man with a shotgun, maybe, but he didn't know no other way" (Twain 24). It is clear that Pap is a terrible man with no real redeeming quality, but it is possible for the reader to sympathize with his situation.