Maturity In Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

My definition of maturity is when you acquire a better understanding of consequences and the outside world. You grow in knowledge, wisdom, responsibility, and selflessness. It also means to grow both physically and mentally while having the ability to include others. Now does Tom actually mature throughout the whole book or is he still the child that he was once before? Although Tom has shown many immaturities while he was a young boy, there are many ways that he has gained his maturity as he gets older. These facts are portrayed throughout the whole book. As a young boy, Tom is very unaware, and holds only little responsibility. There is also the fact Tom constantly lies to everyone in order to get out of the situation. That is showing no

integrity of any kind, and that is what leads to bigger problems. As they always say, a small lie can sprout into a huge tree of problems. Although Tom shows no maturity through the first half of the book, he starts to take responsibility for them near the end. He shows much responsibility, when he takes the problem in the cave into his own hands. This responsibility is what leads tom to grow in knowledge and, bravery, and it’s what leads him to becoming more mature every day . You would have to be very brave to be able to take on such a challenge. And lastly, Tom seems to have gained much knowledge of his past experiences, and he is able to use that knowledge to keep his best friend Huck on track. All of these aspects lead to Tom’s growing development.
Tom is light at heart, but can be seemingly stubborn, and ready to take on any challenges that come to face him. These elements are what influence toms immaturity. He takes advantage of the resources around him, and bounds up to any idea that pops up in his head. “Sh-For they-a-S-H-A-for they S-H-Oh I don’t know what it is!” This quote clearly shows that Tom was not mature enough to take responsibility for the memorization of his scripture. Although he tries, you can clearly tell that he did not take the time to memorize it before hand, and had to be bribed into doing it instead. “Mayn’t I go and play now Aunt? What already? How much have you done? Tom, don’t lie to me. I can’t bear it. I ain’t Aunt it’s all done ” There are two factors that play out in this little scenario, first of all you can tell that what Tom is saying is a lie, and second of all Tom does not take the responsibility to complete the task on his own. Tom’s lies are seen as very unhelpful and immature, and they are what leads to Tom an all of his troubles. You can clearly tell that when Tom lies to his Aunt he is showing no responsibility and is leading himself into a larger tree of problems. These problems can become very hard to vanquish, and can get in your way. Although Toms un-responsibility leads him down many unforsaken paths, he finds a way to remove his problems, and face them with bravery once and for all.
“And made a show of being confident of finding the searchers or an escape from the cave; then he took the kite line in his hand and went grouping down one of the passages on his hands and knees, distressed with hunger and sick with bodings of coming doom.” This passage is a clear statement of Tom’s bravery as he is trapped in the cave. You can clearly tell, that he is trying his hardest to stay calm and find an exit out of the cave. This is true responsibility, and that is what you need in order to truly become mature. As it says in the definition of maturity, maturity is when you acquire a better understanding of consequences. While in the cave Tom had started to take matters in his own hands. He was clearly trying to find a way to save Becky, and that was a very honest thing to do. He was thinking of the consequences that could come, but he wasn’t making a huge deal out of it, and this is what makes tom very responsible. He was thinking of something other than himself for once. This is one of the main milestones to Tom’s upcoming maturity. If you have the strength to persevere, and the courage to help someone else through hard times, you are truly mature. There is also the fact that Tom gained some wisdom while he was in the cave, and he used that new wisdom. Although he was starving, and has a hard time thinking of anything other than death, he used his smarts to find a way out of the cave. Tom brought with him a kite string, which he used to mark the way from which he had come from. If Tom had not brought anything to mark his path with, he would have not been able to go back for Becky, and show her how the opening in which he had found to get out of the cave. Tom used wisdom, responsibility, and courage to escape from the dark depths of the cave. All of the requisites Tom portrayed clearly show how much he has matured over time.
Finally, maturity can also be seen as a way to include others, and a way to help your closest friends when they need it most.

Some people argue over that fact that Tom blackmailed Huck into learning. Weather this is true or not true Tom did it for a good cause. You cannot necessarily say that it is bad to blackmail your friend into getting an education. Although it is not very fair, you are driving them towards the path of success. Tom was looking out for his friend, and making sure his life did not fall apart. If Tom had not been there to help Huck out, he would have a very small chance at being prosperous in life. You have to be very mature in order to make these types of complex decisions. “Oh, Huck, you know I can’t do that. Tain’t fair; and besides, if you try this thing just a while longer you’ll come to like it.” In this small passage, you can clearly see that Tom was not trying to force Huck into sticking to his lessons. Tom also shows much maturity when he says “and besides, if you try this thing a little while longer you’ll come to like it.” You can evidently tell that Tom has come to like everything that he learns. If you are mature, you are able to accept the responsibility that learning has to offer. If you are still immature like Huck, you won’t be able to handle education as well as someone who has finally come to the consensus that it is very

important.
Overall, Tom has shown many reasonable ways to take responsibility, wisdom, and courage, and turn it into lifelong maturity. You would never expect a person like Tom, to turn his whole life around and accept the weight of the upcoming tasks in life. During boyhood, Tom was seen as a very stubborn and immature troublemaker. He lied to his Aunt, ran away from home in order to become a pirate, and constantly stole food in which he would eat in secret. It is very hard to believe that a boy like that would be able to piece his life together, and create maturity. There is the fact that Tom used much wisdom, courage, and responsibility, to get himself and Becky out of the cave. That is something that would have been very hard to do. He was hungry, tired, and could think of nothing but his upcoming doom. Huck was in a deep pool of distress after he gained the privilege of learning. Tom had to be there for him to help him out of his stressful crises. In order to do this, Tom had to blackmail him. Many people disagree with the fact that Tom had done it, and had done it for a good reason, but this is very much untrue. Tom was only trying to introduce his friend to the clear golden pathway to success. Tom did this because he enjoyed learning, and he wanted to show Huck how beneficial it could actually be. All of these life lessons, led Tom to the everlasting path to maturity.