Other Scams of the King and Duke

Meeting the King and Duke

The king and duke performed many scams in small towns up and down the Mississippi River on the people (very gullible ones) who lived there.  Their scams add much of the humor in the middle chapters of the novel, but laughter turns to resentment when learning of their betrayal.

The king is a con man in his seventies.  About his line of "trade" he says, "I've done considerable in the doctoring way  ...  I k'n tell a fortune pretty good  ...  Preachin's my line, too, and working camp-meetin's, and missionaryn' around." (121).  The duke, who claims to be the rightful Duke of Bridgewater, mainly is a printer and theater actor, but he "do lot of things- most anything that comes handy." (121).  Huck and Jim save both men by taking them onto the raft, but soon the king and duke take over.  After discovering that they are both con men, the duke suggests that they team up.


-In Parkville, the king pretends to be a reformed pirate, who wants to introduce other pirates to Christ at a revival to garner sympathy and money.  Meanwhile the duke sells false newspaper advertisements and subscriptions and prints a false runaway slave advertisement for Jim.

Sword Fight in Richard III

-Together they perform a Shakespearean revival (which is greatly exaggerated).

-They perform the Royal Nonesuch, which is only the naked and painted king on the stage for only a couple of minutes.

-The duke dresses and paints Jim in a costume with the sign:
"SICK ARAB- BUT HARMLESS WHEN NOT OUT OF HIS HEAD."

-The king and duke pretend to be the Wilks brothers in order to claim their "brother's" fortune.  They also try to sell off as much of the estate as possible- to pocket the most money.

-They do a lecture on temperance (ironic because they both want to get drunk), start a dancing school (they cannot dance), and give speeches (they were really bad).  "They tackled missionarying, and mesmerizing, and doctoring, and telling fortunes, and a little of everything; but they couldn't seem to have no luck." (209). 

-The king sells Jim for $40 to Silas Phelps, claiming that Jim is a runaway slave from around New Orleans.  (The king uses the money to get drunk.) 

-In the same town, they try the Royal Nonesuch, but Jim already told Silas Phelps that it was a scam.  The men tar and feather the con men, and that is the last of the king and duke.

The End of the King and Duke

Pictures:

First picture courtesy of: http://great-authors.albertarose.org/mark_twain/novels/adventures_of_huckleberry_finn/part4_contents.htm

Second picture courtesy of: http://www.granger.com/results.asp?image=0094515&itemw=4&itemf=0001&itemstep=1&itemx=16

Third picture courtesy of: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Huck_Finn_Travelling_by_Rail.jpg