Thursday, March 11, 2010

Huck Finn

I enjoyed Huck Finn, but I really don’t like Tom Sawyer. When they meet up again, it’s obvious how Huck’s adventure has changed him. He seems older and more mature than Tom. I was rather disappointed that he still followed Tom’s lead. Tom is still a child – with no thoughts towards the consequences of his actions or any regard for others feelings. Rather than acting decently towards others, particularly Jim, he causes all sorts of trouble. It’s not just that he’s a prejudiced white boy – he is thoughtlessly cruel to the white characters as well, with all his pranks and scares. Where Huck has grown to form his own personal values and has begun to think of others, such as Jim’s freedom and humanity, Tom thinks only of his own pleasure and what he perceives as the proper and most enjoyable way of doing things. I agree with Mark Twain that readers would not enjoy a more adult version of Tom Sawyer – he would be nothing more than a white bigot.

1 comment:

  1. I completely agree with you. Tom Sawyer arrival at the end of the book frustrated me. I felt that even in the beginning of the book Huck was more mature then Tom. Even though Huck did like to play pranks on Jim he still realized the situation he was in. When it came time for action Huck was quick to the point and got things done quite effectively. However, Tom just wants to do things for the story he will be able to tell afterwards. That is the most frustrating part about it. Even people in the real world like this frustrate me. This delayed the rescue of Jim and caused Huck to again be in a situation where he will be adopted and no longer be in his natural environment... the wild.

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