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. This need to look stylish comes up when Huck suggests a simple, seemingly effective plan to free Jim. It is obviously the logical choice, but because Tom compulsively follows the rules that he has set himself in his own mind. Huck seems to also be perceptive of this need to Tom because he states more than once that he believes that Tom is somewhat belittling himself or lowering his status or reputation by helping to free Jim. Huck, however, doesn’t even think about how he, himself, is willing to set his life on the line for Jim and it is not belittling to him. It is possible that Huck feels lower than Tom because of Tom’s wealthier upbringing, and that Tom is bringing himself down to the level of the un_____ Huck.
    When Tom proclaims his dislike for Huck’s simple and practical plan, he concocts his own foolhardy plan that even Huck realizes might get the three of them killed simply because he dislikes that the guard didn’t leave enough precautions to guard Jim. It seems that Tom’s romantic view of the world makes him continually idealize the situations that he reads in his books rather than accepting that freeing a slave that is not theirs is a crime and that danger or death might accompany it. As they go about Tom’s silly plan, Huck begins to realize how Tom seems to just allow others to do his work for him. He comes up with the ideas but doesn’t like actually carrying them out. This occurs when Tom wants to have Jim take a rattlesnake. Huck by his nature is more of a “do it yourself” type person, and evidence from the story suggests that if he is not willing to do it, he does not expect other people to do it.
    Tom even gets, the practical Huck caught up in his imaginary world. They seem to revert back to their old relationship in which Tom becomes the impractical leader and Huck simply follows Tom in his plans despite it going against his general nature of only doing things that make logical sense to him. Huck is the opposite of Tom, but throughout the book he seems to idolize things that he thinks Tom would do, and does them simply because he wants to be like Tom. In this case, it gets to the point where Tom and Huck apparently, in a way, forget why they are recuing Jim, and instead think of him as a goal to their ends rather than as a human being that actually might be in real danger.
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.