Pap Finn is a minor character in 1876 adventure novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the secondary antagonist of 1884 adventure novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. He is the father of Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, the titular protagonist of the novel.
In the 1993 film, he was portrayed by Ron Perlman, who also portrayed Sheriff Collie Entragian in Desperation, and Clay Morrow in Sons of Anarchy and John Goodspeed in Final Space.
Role in the Film
He is the town's local drunk and a violent, and abusive father who wants to keep Huck forever with him as a punching ball and to spend all the treasure Huck gained at the end of Tom Sawyer in booze.
Pap is always hiding from the law. He sometimes leaves Huck Finn and doesn't return of about a year. When he does return, Pap often verbally abuses and beats up Huck "like a rented mule," gets drunk in front of Huck,and on one occasion tried to kill Huck so he can get the inheritance ($600 based on the movie). His boot contains a nail cross on his heel to ward off the Devil. After Huck was "murdered," Pap set off with some of his acquaintances and climbed into an old abandoned ship, looking for some riches. Unfortunately, Pap gets shot in the head and died on that very ship.
Trivia
- It's possible that Pap murdered Huck's mother, because he doesn't seem to like her being mentioned by Huck.
- In the movie Tom & Huck, Pap Finn apparently knew the primary villain Injun Joe, while they were in prison.
Mark Twain Villains | ||
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Prince and the Pauper Extracts from Adam's Diary The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County The Story of the Bad Little Boy |