Like everyone else, this is too irresistable a topic for me not to respond. I'm currently teaching a month long into to lit course where we're going to be discussing Twain and Huck Finn next week. But, of course as the Twainian that I am, I have not been able to resist mentioning him during every other class. This discussion fits right in with all that we are discussing--issues of identity in literature, duality, etc. The comment: << Twains juggling of Huck's character as good example/bad example is pure magic to me. He never drops the ball. It is that balance, in part, that makes Huck so human to me. >> clarifies some of this for me and reinforces my beliefs and studies. Just as Twain 'juggled' Huck's character as 'good example/bad example,' didn't he do the same with his own character/identity? He magnificantly juggled the Clemens/Twain personas throughout his life and career. HE WAS HIMSELF THE GOOD EXAMPLE/BAD EXAMPLE--just as he was himself both Tom and Huck, both the acceptable good, bad boy and the unacceptable bad, bad boy. But who was the authentic persona?--ah, back to Pudd'nhead Wilson. You can't shoot half a dog and have any dog left! Carolyn Richey--SDSU & NU