CHAPTER 5

Huck's meeting with his father turns out not to be as bad as he had feared. Once he gets over the initial shock, Huck finds that he isn't scared of Pap at all. Instead of the terrifying creature he grew up with, Huck sees a pitiful old man who has worn his body down to a sickly mess.

What Pap sees is an "uppity" kid who has forgotten his place in society. He rails at the boy for wearing clean clothes, for going to school, and mostly for having learned to read and write. Pap talks about illiteracy as though it's a mark of family pride, and he's outraged that Huck would try to be better than his father.

Then he asks for the money. Huck tells him the truth, and when he finally accepts it, Pap says he'll go to Judge Thatcher. Of course he can't get the money, because the deal Huck made with the judge was completely legal.

Pap does win one legal battle, though. Judge Thatcher and Widow Douglas go to court to have Huck taken from his father and placed in their care. The judge in the case, a new man in town, rules against them, even though he knows their intentions are good.

This same judge then decides to reform Pap by inviting him to stay at his house. After supper, Pap announces that he will never drink again, and he and the judge cry and carry on about the new life Pap is going to lead.

That night, Pap sneaks out of the judge's house, sells the coat the judge gave him, and spends the money on liquor. They find him the next morning sleeping on the ground, dead drunk, with a broken arm.

The judge was probably the only person in town who was surprised.

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