ManFlardin

Dan Cardin
English
4/2/10
Huck Finn – 3
    When Tom arrives in the story a second time, he once again confirms that he and Huck are polar opposites and that he is indeed Huck’s foil. Huck seems to serve as a moral compass of the story because he actually feels emotions about the things that happen around them. When Huck sees the Duke and the King being tarred and feathered, he says that he dislikes the conscience because it makes you feel bad either way. This is one of the few instances that Tom goes along with something that Huck suggests, but there is no further indication that Tom believes this because he dislikes having a conscience or because he doesn’t feel bad about doing anything. The way he generally acts, seems to confirm the latter because of his apparent lack of concern for anything other than looking stylish.

In the end, if not for Tom’s charade, Jim would not be free and very likely, he and Huck would have continued down the river or just simply on their journey for quite a while. While the whole of Tom’s plan had been pointlessly complicated and needlessly reckless, it was the savior for Jim because it delayed them long enough to allow word to spread of Jim being free.