Similarities And Differences Between Tom And Huck Finn

1220 Words3 Pages

Giovanni Torres
Mrs. Pearson
12/8/14
English 11 L3 In “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, written by Mark Twain, a teenager named Huckleberry Finn discovers himself on an extensive runaway excursion from his father down the Mississippi River helping him find morality and individualistic responsibilities. As the novel progresses, the reader sees a large contrast between the two main characters, Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. Romantic Tom and Realistic Huck are friends down this road of never-ending adventure. Huck and Tom both vary and differentiate greatly through their individual capacity of cerebral performance, respond to society and the life they’re surrounded by, and their different reactions to slavery around them, especially Jim. A
Tom and Huck individually have contrasting ideas and methods as far as to saving Jim from being put back into slavery. Tom is extremely complicated and full of unnecessary embellishments. He has an,” unrealistic, narrow idealistic morality of authorities and “gold-leaf“ distinctions. ( Huck the Thief- Link)” This is present because of his devotion to the dreamy tactics that is read in his books. He fundamentally acclaims that there is “honor in getting out through a lot of difficulties and dangers. (215 Twain)”. Tom cultivates irrational and impractical plans just to make a simple situation turn into something beyond problematic. An example of this is when he decides to go against Jim’s word and fill his shed with wild animals instead of just getting the job done and keeping it simple. In contrast, Huck’s plan is immensely simple
In Tom’s eyes, Jim will forever be looked at as only being a “nigger.” The time frame called for someone of such color to be considered lower than a human being and not capable to feel emotions. Tom can’t see Jim as human due to the fact his mind is molded to believe that blacks are not equal nor human. Tom chooses the path of conformity doesn’t seek the ability to change his views on the topic of slavery. Tom is so caught up in his own world, or better yet the normality of society, that he uses Jim as a game and because of this, Jim is left to suffer. Tom doesn’t tell Huck or Jim that Miss Watson has legally freed Jim in her will after she died. Without that documentation, Tom would have never agreed to help Huck free Jim from slavery. In regards to Huck’s reaction to Jim, it doesn’t remain constant throughout the entirety of the novel. As the reader learns, the more time that Huck spends with Jim, the more that time allows for Huck to develop morality, therefore causing Huck to begin to value Jim as Human as opposed to property. He looks at Jim as being his friend because of Jim’s ability to open up to Huck and show vulnerability. `Jim talks about missing a family and Huck is able to understand that this man is human. When he finds out that the raft and Jim are missing he “set down and cried

Open Document