How Huck Finn Should Have Ended

The Short Version:

Huck: "Oh hey Tom, I want to free that slave, Jim, over there."

Tom: "Jim? Oh he's free, it says so in Miss Watson's will."

Huck: "Oh okay, cool."

The End.

The Ending Everyone Wanted:

After managing to ditch the Duke and the King at the graveyard, Huck and Jim continued along the river. The whole way they were laughing and enjoying themselves, having talks about superstition and what not. Overall enjoying one another's company.

They soon got to this town and decided to go get some supplies, they were in northern territory so Jim didn't have to pretend to be a slave. While they were heading over to the shop, Jim and Huck heard a voice call out to them.

"Jim!" 

They looked to see a black woman followed by two black men walking over. 

"Mama?" Jim replied, his voice shuddering.

They all gathered in for a big hug, tears rolled down Jim's face as he was happy to finally be with his family. Jim looked over to see Huck standing there watching and invited him to join in the hug. Huck figured he may as well since he didn't care if it was something looked down upon by society, so he walked over and joined their group hug. Jim was finally where he wanted to be.

The End.

The Ending that I would want to happen:
Huck and Tom slid down the lightning rod, this was the night they would break Jim out of his prison and get him to freedom. The shed he was kept in was guarded by several paranoid farmers with guns. They came over after hearing about the notes that were left at Aunt Sally's house. So Huck and Tom had to be very careful to get Jim out to safety. 

Well when they got down there, they followed the plan Tom carefully crafted, and got Jim out. However, when they were running along, a few of the farmers blocked the path. 

"Stop right there!" One of them shouted as they held up their gun.

Huck, Jim and Tom had no idea what to do. When all of a sudden, a figure came out of the shadows and body slammed one of the farmers, and kicked another one in the face. He then yelled:

"CAN YOU SMELL WHAT THE ROCK IS COOOOKKKIINNNN!"

Then R.K.O'd the third farmer in the path. 

Huck and the rest of them were absolutely stunned, but Tom saw this as a chance for them to escape so they contiued on and-

"Wait hold on, you're telling me that The Rock shows up and takes out the three farmers?"
"Well, uh, yea"
"Of all people why Dwayne Johnson?"
"I don't know it just seems fitting."
"This is dumb, I'm gonna go make some waffles" 
"Wait! Darius, no come back...ah well, I think my ending is pretty good."

The End.

How to survive on the Mississippi River

"We catched fish, and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness. It was kind of solemn, drifting down the big still river, laying on our backs looking up at the stars, and we didn’t ever feel like talking loud, and it warn’t often that we laughed, only a kind of low chuckle." Hold up Huck, would living on the river be that laid back?

During our in class discussion Friday, we got a bit off topic and began discussing whether or not those of us in the class would be able to travel on the Mississippi River like Huck and Jim. This got me thinking, what would one realistically need to do to survive on the Mississippi River? Now we are going to assume that the individual only has access to what Jim and Huck had access to. So for transportation, you would be using a raft.

Let's talk a few numbers real quick: The Mississippi River is approximately 2,350 miles long and the average speed is about 1.2 miles per hour. That would take roughly 1,958 hours or 81.5 days to travel on. So it wouldn't be a short trip.

Now, what basic skills would one need to be able to survive? Well for one, knowing how to fish/hunt to acquire food and how to properly clean it. Making a campfire with would also be essential, not only for cooking but to prevent hypothermia as well. Now unfortunately, it would be impossible to travel using only what Jim and Huck had since drinking the river water would cause illness. Unless of course you're that hardcore.

Not to mention all the other dangers that would be along the way. From mosquitoes to alligators, there are plenty of natural hazards. But things like bears and snakes are mostly on land right? And aren't I on a river the whole time? Well, one would have to set up camp on land so you can start a fire, also, there are several portages (areas where you have to carry your canoe to the next section of water) along the way as well. So knowing how to deal with these hazards is also something one would need to know.

Overall, there would be more to it than simply floating down a river on a raft. One would need to know a plethora about wilderness survival. Also, if you dislike getting dirty, you may as well just stay home. And if snakes aren't your thing, better stop before you even start. However, if you think you can survive for 80+ days on a river and don't mind getting dirty, then you may be able to survive the Mississippi River.