Tom and Huck

“What's the use you learning to do right, when it's troublesome to do right and it ain't no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same?” (104). This quote from the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain reflects the worldview of the title character Huckleberry Finn. His worldview is developed through his harsh upbringing and can be contrasted with his counterpart Tom Sawyer who had a comfortable childhood. While they are both adventurous boys growing up in the South in the 1800s, their upbringings result in their differing worldviews and beliefs about morality. Huck is realistic because he has had to see the brutality of the world, Tom is a romantic who has been sheltered and given the opportunity to dream.

Huck’s difficult upbringing with an alcoholic father who is neglectful leads him to adopt this realistic view on life. Huck has survived on his own through any means necessary. Huck has to sleep on the street and take food or assistance from anyone willing to provide it. This often means that throughout the novel Huck does not ascribe to a particular moral viewpoint. He is able to understand that doing the right thing is not always the best option especially when he is trying to survive. While the townspeople view him as a vagrant and immoral, he has the moral compass to be able to help Jim attempt to escape slavery because he knows it is the right thing to do. “All right, then, I'll go to hell.” (210). Huck makes this statement as he knows that helping Jim is seen as wrong by conventional society. However, Huck chooses to follow his own moral compass as he believes helping Jim is the right thing to do even if the society around him does not. Huck has developed his worldview because it has allowed him to survive without an adult caring for him.

Tom Sawyer, on the other hand, has had a privileged and sheltered life. Tom is provided with a high rate of education in a strict school. Tom is a leader who often takes Huck into adventures that are created by his vivid imagination. While Huck’s views on morality are flexible, Tom has a more fixed view of what is right and wrong. “Right is right, and wrong is wrong, and a body ain’t got no business doing wrong when he ain’t ignorant and knows better” (186). Tom will encourage Huck to do the right thing even though it may put Huck in jeopardy. Tom is portrayed as a romantic throughout the novel as he has unrealistic plans. Tom’s romanticism places Huck’s plans to help free Jim in jeopardy. While Tom is seen as having the conventional morality of his society his actions could be viewed as wrong as he keeps the truth concealed about the death of Jim’s masters. Tom’s portrayal as an unrealistic romantic speaks about how our upbringing can shape while also making a statement about how Mark Twain viewed romantics.

Despite these differences, Tom and Huck have similarities that have allowed their friendship to thrive. Both boys are orphans in a sense as they are not raised by their parents. Tom is raised by his aunts while Huck is taken in by a Widow. Tom and Huck both love the adventure that results in the situations they become involved within. The fundamental quality in both that builds their friendship is that they both admire each other. Tom admires Huck’s freedom as he does not have to attend a strict school or adhere to the rules of society. Huck, in turn, admires Tom as he believes he is smart due to his schooling. Huck does not question Tom for this reason and will follow his lead. Despite these similarities the boys’ worldviews will remain drastically different as a result of their upbringing and so the author can make a statement about romantic views and literature. 

Twain’s portrayal of Tom Sawyer is negative as it reflects his views towards romantics. Tom getting in the way of the realistic Huck speaks to how romanticism can get in the way of achieving practical goals. Tom makes the goal of freeing Jim increasingly difficult because he wanted to have an exciting adventure. Tom also adjusts reality to the way in which he wants to see it. Tom wants Huck to make the right decision and go back to the Widow despite the fact that returning is not in Huck’s best interest. Twain suggests that romanticism does not have a purpose and shapes reality in the way in which a romantic wants to view it. The novel was written during a time period, the civil war era, which was rife with romanticism both in literature and in philosophical worldviews. Twain uses the representation of the novel’s characters to make a statement about what was popular with the writers of his generation and how he viewed the romantic.

Tom and Huck are boys whose upbringing provides them with differing worldviews on morality. Both of their views on the world have allowed them to thrive in their own environment. Despite their friendship and similarities, their actions are determined more by their romantic versus realistic worldviews. Huck’s flexible morality allows him to not only survive with his harsh upbringing but also to make the right decisions to help his friends. While Tom’s fixed romantic views make it so he gets in the way of Huck’s well-laid plans. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is used by twain to make a statement about the impracticality of romanticism literature.

Work Cited

Perkins, George B., and Barbara Perkins. The American Tradition in Literature. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007.