Huck Finn fakes his own murder to escape a drunken father and floats down the Mississippi with Jim, a runaway slave. As they encounter the frauds, feuds, and violence of the river towns, Huck battles his deformed conscience, eventually deciding that he would rather "go to hell" than betray his friend. The novel is a searing indictment of racism and a celebration of the natural nobility of the human spirit. It remains a defining work of American literature, narrated in a vernacular that rings with truth.