The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn begins with a reference to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in order to acknowledge that the character of Huck (as well as the characters of Aunty Polly, Mary, and Widow Douglas) may be one that the reader is already familiar with if he or she has read Mark Twain's previous work. This allows Twain to drop the reader in media res, or "in the middle of things." We are quickly able to ascertain Huck's backstory without chapters of exposition. This also establishes a sense of narrative timing for the reader; we are informed that Huck's story indeed chronologically follows the events of Tom Sawyer rather than, say, acting as a preface to those events.
Huck's reference to Mark Twain as a mostly truthful author leaves us with a strong initial impression of Huck as a narrator. First, it is odd for a character in a novel to acknowledge himself as a fictional creation; this meta moment leaves us with the sense that Huck is clever, whip smart, and unusually self-aware for a young man. In asserting that Twain is only "mostly" truthful, it also suggests that Huck himself may prove to be an unreliable narrator whose credibility might be tainted by his interest in tall-tale telling! These moments leave the reader feeling that the novel itself may enter the territory of the unexpected. Will we ever know the complete truth with Huck at the helm of our narration? Who knows--but it certainly will be a wild ride!
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