CHAPTER 30 Practice Quiz — The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: CHAPTER 30
What does the king do to Huck at the beginning of Chapter 30?
He grabs Huck by the collar, shakes him, and accuses him of trying to give them the slip.
What story does Huck invent to explain why he fled to the canoe?
He says the man guarding him had a dead son about Huck's age and, pitying Huck, whispered for him to run when the crowd rushed to the coffin or he would be hanged.
Who supports Huck's made-up story?
Jim confirms Huck's account, saying it was so.
What does the duke say to make the king release Huck?
He calls the king an old idiot and asks whether the king would have done any differently in Huck's situation.
What does the duke credit with saving them from the penitentiary?
The king's quick thinking about the 'imaginary blue-arrow mark,' which sent the townspeople to the graveyard.
What does the duke mean by 'slept in our cravats'?
He means they would have been hanged — 'cravats' is a euphemism for nooses around their necks.
What makes Huck 'squirm' during the king and duke's conversation?
The king's remark, 'And we reckoned the niggers stole it!' — because Huck knows he is the one who hid the money in the coffin.
What does each con man accuse the other of doing?
Each accuses the other of hiding the stolen gold in Peter Wilks's coffin, intending to come back later and take it all.
What does the duke do when the king denies hiding the gold?
The duke physically attacks the king, grabbing him by the throat until the king gives in.
Does the king's confession at the end of the fight reflect the truth?
No. Neither the king nor the duke hid the money — Huck put the gold in the coffin. The king confesses falsely to end the duke's violence.
What form of irony is central to the argument between the king and the duke?
Dramatic irony — the reader and Huck know that neither man hid the gold, but the characters do not.
Why does the duke lecture the king about the enslaved people being blamed?
The duke shames the king for standing by and letting innocent people be accused of stealing the money, calling the king an 'old ostrich for wanting to gobble everything.'
What does the duke mean by 'make up the deffersit'?
He refers to the earlier scheme where they planned to cover the shortfall (deficit) in the Wilks inheritance money by using earnings from their other cons like the Royal Nonesuch.
How do the king and duke reconcile after their violent argument?
They both turn to their whiskey bottles, get drunk, become 'thick as thieves again,' and fall asleep snoring in each other's arms.
What detail about the king makes Huck 'feel easy and satisfied'?
Even while drunk, the king remembers not to deny hiding the money bag again, so the blame stays on him rather than falling on Huck.
What does Huck do once the king and duke fall asleep?
He and Jim have a long private conversation (a 'gabble') in which Huck tells Jim everything that happened.
What is the satirical significance of the king and duke sleeping 'in each other's arms'?
It mocks the shallowness of their partnership — their bond is based on mutual self-interest and alcohol, not trust or loyalty.
What literary term describes the duke's use of 'cravats warranted to wear' for hangman's nooses?
Euphemism — the duke substitutes a mild, indirect expression for the grim reality of being hanged.
How does Chapter 30 develop the theme of greed?
The king and duke, having lost all their stolen money, immediately turn on each other with accusations of theft, showing that greed poisons even their own partnership.
What role does Jim play in Chapter 30?
Jim corroborates Huck's lie to the king at the beginning, and at the end of the chapter, he serves as Huck's confidant when Huck tells him the full truth.