Chapter 23 'Group' Work

Summary:
The king and duke prepare for their show.
The duke makes a speech praising the show to a full house (of men only).
The curtains are rolled up, and the king prances out all naked and painted, and delivers a hysterical show.
The king performs two encores.
The duke closes the show, mentioning that it will be open for two more nights.
The crowd gets angry, realizing they've been sold.
A man jumps up and calms the crowd down, suggesting everyone advise the rest of the town to watch the show so that the whole town is pranked.
The crowd leaves and does so, bringing another full house the next night.
The king, duke, Huck, and Jim have supper after the second show, and Huck and Jim are made to hide the raft two miles below town.
The people who attend the third show were the same ones that were there the other two nights, and they brought things to throw at the duke and king, like rotten eggs, cabbages, and dead cats.
The duke and Huck escape to the raft and start off down the river, the whole time the king was in the wigwam.
They all have supper and the duke and king laugh about their clever joke on the townspeople.
After the duke and king are asleep, Jim and Huck discuss royalty, allowing Twain to satirize it.
Huck falls asleep, but wakes to Jim mourning about his family.
Jim starts talking to Huck about his family, and Jim tells him about his daughter, 'Lizabeth.

Themes:
Gullibility - as shown by the crowd that attends the duke and king's show.
Romanticism vs. realism - as shown when Huck and Jim are discussing royalty.
The concept of family, the feeling of isolation and loneliness, and Huck's struggle with his deformed conscious - as shown when Huck and Jim are talking about Jim's family.

Symbol: the river - life

Jim - slavery, dehumanization

the duke and king - romanticism

the raft - freedom from society, home

Motifs: Lies and cons, royalty

Personas: none

Episode number: 7