Great question! The story ends at a kind of strange place
because the last two sentences that you indicated clearly suggest that there is action
to come. Let us examine them:
But I reckon I got to light out for
the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and sivilize
me, and I can't stand it. I been there
before.
Huck clearly says
that he is thinking of running away again to escape the painful process of being
"sivilized." Let us remember that Huck's escape down the river with Jim is essentially
an escape from civilization. Huck has seen civilization in its many different forms and
found it wanting.
By ending the story with Huck talking
about civilization and his desire to avoid it, Twain seems to indicate that this novel
is primarily about a boy's desire to find his place in the world, even if his place is
not a part of the world. Huck is among the first of many protagonists in American
literature who stand against society. By the end of the novel, Twain has explored the
moral, ethical and human development of Huck, and he now urges readers to examine their
own lives and beliefs through the device of showing Huck's decision to "light out" and
escape civilization.
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