Well well well, the beginning was a bit muddy in comprehension to me, maybe it's because of the authentic narration from a boy (grammar mistakes, colloquial), and different dialects spoken by other characters (Jim). So, it took me a few chapters to get adjusted to and I did. This is not just a simple adventure book for kids, it gets really dark. We see Huck (protagonist) grappling with his conscience as he helps out a black man escape from slavery, he has dilemma with what society taught him and acting against that out of his moral compass. He is very practical unlike his friend Tom Sawyer who romanticizes adventure to serve his own fantasies, we see it when Jim (black man) gets imprisoned and at the beginning when they form a gang to ransom people, Tom acting only out of bookish principles while Huck questions everything and is very much pragmatic. His father is a drunk man and always beats him up and locks him just because of his insecurity, he doesn't want his son (his own son!) to level up and wants him to be at his level so that he cannot outwit him and remain dumb just like him.. Huck escapes this trauma in a brilliant way anyway. One of the striking themes of the plot is Huck developing friendship with Jim against any prejudices, he realizes he is just like other white folks, he has empathy, reasoning and all the traits we can name of, unlike what society taught him, this is one of the biggest cognitive shifts a protagonist has throughout the novel.