Development in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The use of episodic development, or the linear chain of events, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an effective narrative technique. It provides both advantages and disadvantages to the plot line. The ending is a significant final portion of the novel that wraps up the characters analytically as a whole.

Episodic development in the novel allows Twain to effectively move the main characters, Huck and Jim, through a space and time with a sequence of events and two or more things happening at the same time. This method allows the writer to create a plot of action and adventure with ease, establishing a plot line and motivation for the characters. Developing the story in what are essentially "episodes" alleviates the need for a strictly cause-and-effect narrative. Twain can introduce twists and turns within the storyline without much of a relationship between the events by using episodic development.

For instance, Huck and Jim seem to be at a stand-still in the plot as Chapter 18 comes to an end, with Huck and Jim feeling comfortable floating down the river on their raft. So, Twain uses episodic development as a tool to introduce a new conflict, the Duke and the Dauphin, in Chapter 19. These and other conveniences are made possible by episodic development and prove useful techniques for Twain.

On the other hand, episodic development creates a deficiency of causality within the plot. The line of action becomes just a string of events and may appear overwhelming to the reader. The constant action and unrelated events may clutter the plot line and take away from Huck and Jim's character development. It also takes away from the interaction between Huck and Jim alone. The reader does not see a consistent dialogue between the two characters without there being some event or conflict to precede it or follow it.