Huck Finn Essay

Dora Ocampo
AP English 11 – Mr. George
March 25, 2009
Huck Finn Essay

Ever heard of the idea that opposites attract? When using magnets, in order to attract them “you have to place opposite ends of two magnets near each other” (Madison). In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, protagonist Huckleberry Finn and friend Tom Sawyer are, in this case, the opposite ends of two magnets. What’s so different about them? Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer differ from each other in their upbringings, their outlook on life, and in the manner that they treat others.

Huckleberry Finn is not your typical white male; he was born and raised at the bottom of the white society. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he was also born to a father who spent most of his time getting drunk and to a father who abandons his child for months at a time. Luckily for Huck, he was blessed with the influences of Widow Douglas and Miss Watson. Widow Douglas was more of a mother figure to Huck: “she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize [sic] me” (Twain 9), while Miss Watson enforced the importance of school. As hard as Widow Douglas and Miss Watson both tried to in a sense reform Huck, their efforts were ignored, for Huck enjoyed the life of having on dirty clothes and swearing: “my clothes got to be all rags and dirt, and I didn’t see how I’d ever got to like it so well at the widow’s” (34). Huck Finn was clearly not ready for a change, at least lifestyle wise.

As for Tom Sawyer, we don’t receive much background information on his life and how he was brought up. Considering how Tom and Huck contrast each other in every aspect in the book, it is safe to infer that Tom Sawyer did not have to go through the struggles that Huck has undergone. Also, as far as values go, Tom Sawyer was taught to always follow the rules. His decisions are based on what books have taught him: “Everybody said it was a real beautiful oath, and asked Tom if he got it out of his own head. He said, some of it, but the rest was out of pirate books, and robber books, and every gang that was high-toned had it” (16). Tom accepts the world as it has been explained to him, and is incapable of realizing the unjust and unethical beliefs. Huck, unlike Tom, does realize these immoral beliefs.

Huck Finn’s upbringing led to his independent state of mind. Both pap and Miss Watson were influential figures to Huck, since they are so different from each other and obviously have different opinions, instead of Huck letting this confuse him, it forced him to think on his own. Huck was left to reason out everything, and because of this Huck is very skeptical about the world around him or things that people teach him. For example, Widow Douglas taught Huck that he can get whatever he wants through prayer. As naïve as Huck Finn is, he decided to pray for materialistic and unreasonable things. His failure in receiving those things led to his conclusion about prayer: “there’s something in it when a body like the widow or the parson prays, but it don’t work for me, and I reckon it don’t work for only just the right kind” (48). Superstitions, prayers, and many other things are some examples of occasions where Huck chooses to learn things on his own, giving himself his own interpretation of life.

Unlike Huck, Tom Sawyer is very fastidious to society. He recognizes what is going on around him, and instead of voicing his opinions he simply conforms. There is not much emotional depth to Tom, because instead of being amiable towards his friends, he is very self-centered and haughty. This is nothing like Huck, and Huck shows us that the way we perceive things and people affect how we treat others.

Jim, as a black enslaved male, was usually treated with maliciousness and insolent behavior. Huck, though hesitant about it, digressed from society’s usual treatment of slaves. A friendship developed between Jim and Huck, and Jim seems to be taking their relationship very seriously. During their friendship, Jim is embarking on his journey to seek freedom, and during this journey Huck has an ultimatum put in front of him. Huck can either turn Jim in or cover up for him. At first, in Huck’s eyes, turning Jim in was doing the correct thing, but instead of advocating the practice of slavery, Huck decided to purport that Jim had a case of small pox. Rather than treating Jim as an object, Huck treated Jim as a human being.

Tom’s self-centered attitude is his hugest downfall. He is very fastidious to society, not so much because it is right, but more for the sense of adventure. Adventures are something that Tom really values, yet he finds the lives of others and himself paltry. For example, Tom Sawyer knew very well that Miss Watson had died, and that in her will it stated that Jim would be a free black, instead he decides to not tell Huck about this and make this whole situation into an adventure: “But there’s one thing – he can have a rope-ladder; we can tear up our sheets and make him a rope-ladder easy enough” (254). A rope-ladder was not at all necessary, nor was chopping off Jim’s leg and many other things. Tom didn’t care about how his actions affected others.

Huck is more independent while Tom depends on what society teaches him. Huck worries more about his own opinions rather than the opinions of everyone else. Huck venerates those who are deserving of it while Tom’s main focus is on himself. Between Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, comparisons fail to subsist. Overall, Huck is a better individual, and what makes it most interesting is that he taught himself to be the way that he is.

You have to want to change in order to change. Tom didn’t want to change that badly. Huck refused to be like everyone else.


Work Cited
WiseGeek. http://www.wisegeek.com/how-do-magnets-work.htm. 03/24/09.
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York, New York. Penguin Group. 1985.