Classics Corner: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain; Twain's Classics Capture Childhood Innocence and Developing Maturity
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: I am from Missouri and there is a state law which says “No Reviewer May Review Books Unless They Review Mark Twain At Least Once.” Okay it's not a state law, I just made it up. But, I would feel bad if I did not at least give a shout out to our local boy.
I moved to Missouri in 1992, and live near St. Louis. I have been to Hannibal, Twain's boyhood home several times and enjoy visiting it. So, I am reviewing his two most well known books, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
I am reviewing the two books in one because I feel that they are two halves of the same story. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a book of a boy's adventure and is locked in eternal childhood innocence. Huckleberry Finn is a boy's adventure as he faces maturity and becomes an older and wiser person.
Both books are mostly episodic in nature with certain plot threads that carry over throughout the books. Tom Sawyer is mostly filled with Tom's various schemes and adventures with him and his friends getting into and out of trouble. There are some serious plot points in which a character named Injun’ Joe (I apologize for the slur. That is his name). Mostly it is an idyllic picaresque piece about growing up in Tom's native St. Petersburg, Missouri (a stand-in for Twain's Hannibal).
Huckleberry Finn however is less idyllic and more biting and satirical. Most of the adventures deal with Huck and his friend, a runaway slave named Jim, as they escape from Huck's abusive father and Jim's owners. They encounter various characters along the Mississippi River and are often put in danger by feuding families, opportunistic con artists, and various do-gooders who believe it's their duty to sell Jim or civilize Huck or both.
Even comparing the two lead characters provides a contrast between the boy, Tom and the adolescent, Huck. In all of Tom's schemes, he is always in control of the situation. He selects the games that he and the other boys play such as Robin Hood or pirates. He tricks his friends into doing chores such as white washing the fence for him.
He, Huck, and another friend, Joe get lost on an island and though Tom returns to St. Petersburg often, he delays telling the other boys until their deaths are reported and they can attend their own funeral.
Through all of his adventures and play, Tom is never in any serious danger.
Even in situations that are potentially treacherous such as searching for buried treasure that were hidden by dangerous crooks or when Tom and his girlfriend, Becky Thatcher are trapped in a cave, they manage to survive these circumstances with unbelievable luck that ultimately proves rewarding. Tom is insulated in his little world of fun and adventure.
Part of that insulation is because Tom comes from a fairly stable home life. Even though he is an orphan and has a half-brother, Sid suggesting a difficult parentage, not much is made of it. Tom, Sid, and their cousin, Mary are raised by the loving and stern Aunt Polly Sawyer. (his mother's sister adding further possibilities that are never specified that Tom may have had a single mother, possibly even an illegitimate birth, since he and Polly have the same last name.). While Polly is endlessly exasperated by Tom's foolery, she often forgives him for his behavior wishing that he could be good and tries to lead him down the path of righteousness which he does not follow. In Tom's childhood, Twain wrote the perfect ideal for any kid: a life filled with imagination and fun and little punishment for it.
Huck's home life by comparison is not near as stable and by consequence, he has already seen a much harsher world than Tom has. His mother is missing. (A possible retcon since Tom Sawyer reported she left, but Huckleberry Finn made it clear she died. Either way like Tom's mother, she is out of the picture.) He is raised by his abusive father who is the town drunk, so unlike Tom who plays games out of sheer boredom and a desire to fill a very active imagination, Huck goes on these adventures to leave a very tense household, for survival, and to bond with Tom who is one of the few people that shows him any kindness. He was temporarily fostered by Widow Douglas but because of the rough lifestyle he had before, he is unable to adjust to the loving home life that Tom has.
Huckleberry Finn does have some of Tom's imagination and adventurous spirit which he uses to his full advantage while he and Jim travel down the Mississippi River. He assumes different identities to gain access into people's homes and uses his wits when he and Jim are put into danger. Unlike Tom's adventures however, Huck and Jim do not always end up winners and are often on the run again. They are often involved in situations that are beyond their control, so all they can do is run.
These aren't games or play, their adventures are real and are filled with people who really will hurt them. Huck learns that much of his childish behavior has consequences such as when the truth of one of his false identities is discovered and they can't stay in what could have been a good home for them.
In an echo to the prank in which Tom and Co deliberately hide only to attend their own funeral, Huck plays a prank on Jim making him believe that he is dead. The incident traumatizes and upsets Jim so much that Huck vows never to play a joke like that again. Huck learns to empathize with another person's pain and sorrow, something that the mischievous Tom has trouble learning.
The way Twain writes other characters in the two books differs in the gulf between a child and a youth. Many of Tom Sawyer's characters are stereotypes: the salt of the earth townspeople, the loving parents, the strict schoolmaster and so on and so forth. Becky Thatcher, Tom's girlfriend, is less of an actual person than she is an ideal: the First Crush. She is the girl that Tom gets “engaged” to without really understanding what the word means (He gives her an old door knob and forgets that he was infatuated with another girl, Amy Lawrence, the year before.). Becky has youthful thoughts of romance and considers gestures such as Tom taking a whopping for her as the ultimate moments of chivalry. Like Tom, she too is caught up in her imagination of what love and romance really are based on books and an active imagination.
When the two are trapped in the cave, they spend the first few minutes giving the cave sections names like “Aladdin's Palace” suggesting that they found a world that they can shape according to the fantasies found in fairy tales and romantic legends.
It's also significant that even though Tom and Becky consider themselves “engaged” and are alone in a cave together, sexuality never enters their minds. They remain in their childhood innocence so such thoughts never occur to them.
While Huckleberry Finn, doesn't have a major female character that counters Becky, a close contrast would be Emmeline Grangerford. Emmeline was the daughter of a family that temporarily takes Huck in but are feuding with another family, the Shepherdsons. Huck never meets Emmeline in person, because she died at fifteen. However, Huck hears a lot about her and observes the painting and poetry she left behind.
Unlike Becky who is all sweetness and light with her yellow braids and thoughts of romance, Emmeline was preoccupied with death. Many of her poems were about the deaths of neighbors or people she read about in the obituary column. She painted morbid portraits of women in mourning that features titles such as “I shall never hear they sweet chirrup no more alas.”
Twain satirizes emotional artists like Emmeline by Huck naively complimenting her work saying that it was a shame that she did not live long enough to produce more (though Twain more than hints that he is glad she didn't.).
While Emmeline's talent is certainly debatable, she was clearly aware of a world that was not yet open to Becky. It was not a world of fairy tales and legends of chivalry, instead it was a world of darkness, violence, and despair. Like many teens when they understand the concept of death for the first time, Emmeline dramatized and emphasized it (making her the Mother of the Goth subculture).
The antagonists in Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn are also studies in contrast and reveal Twain's evolution in writing the two novels. Injun' Joe is a stereotype, nothing more nothing less. He is vilified by the townspeople simply for being half-Native American and half-white. There is no understanding in his character, no motivation, no deep characterization and in a book told primarily from a child's point of view it makes sense that there wouldn' be.
He is seen as a remorseless killer and a ruthless gang leader. He is distinctly bad from the word go because that's how Tom sees him. Tom sees the world as made up of good guys and bad guys and the bad guys are easy to recognize.
However, Injun’ Joe's criminal nature does not equal success. Many times, Tom is able to thwart him. In court, he names him as the true killer and though he is afraid that Joe will catch him, he never does. He doesn't spot Tom when Tom overhears them talking about burying their loot and he just misses Tom and Becky when the three of them are in the cave. Tom even becomes indirectly involved in Joe's destruction as when he and Becky are freed from the cave, the cave is enclosed leaving Injun' Joe inside to starve to death.
The Duke of Bilgewater and The Dauphin of France are two con artists in Huckleberry Finn that hearken back to the charming rogue or the gentlemen thief. But while Injun' Joe is a stereotype from a children's adventure, The Duke and The King are more nuanced villains. Unlike Joe who wears his villainy on his sleeve, the duo hide their deceitful avaricious intentions behind charming facades. They con various people including Huck and each other with tales that they are long lost royalty. Even though their colloquialisms and their bucolic demeanors reveal their true natures to the Reader, their inflated claims of being royalty and trained dramatic actors fool a gullible public. While the Duke and King have charming natures, they also rob and cheat the various people that they come into contact with, plan to sell Jim, and at one point threaten to kill Huck if he reveals their plan to bilk a wealthy family out of their Inheritance. What the more experienced Huckleberry Finn learns is that sometimes villains aren't always easily spotted like Joe, sometimes they can be hiding and acting as respected members of society.
It is significant that unlike Tom who is able to thwart Joe, Huck is not active in the Duke and King’s downfall. He warns a family that the duo are about to scam them out of an inheritance, but he is elsewhere when they are caught and arrested. He only sees them as they are being led out on a rail and tarred and feathered. As a kid, he is not always the instigator and sometimes events transpire without his actions or involvement.
Huck also becomes aware that the romantic image that he and Tom had of outlaws was false when he realizes that outlaws like the King and Duke are ruthless and murderous. During their disgrace, he also sees the consequences that such a life brings. The reality of experience challenges the romance of innocence.
Since Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn are set in a pre-Civil War era both books are indicative of their times in referring to social issues particularly slavery or at least Huckleberry Finn is. In Tom Sawyer, slavery is only referred to a few times. Some of the residents of St. Petersburg talk about their slaves. Tom has many conversations with an African-American boy named Jim (probably not Huck's friend Jim since that Jim is a grown man and the Jim Tom knows is a young boy.). Many characters particularly Huck talk about cures and folklore they learned from various African-Americans in the community, but slavery is in the background just a part of daily life in St. Petersburg.
Slavery however is at the forefront of Huckleberry Finn and in Jim, Huck sees the struggle that is faced by the African-Americans that are around him. Jim is escaping to freedom and wants to be reunited with his wife and family. Huck, an abused boy, understands that need for freedom and helps him escape.
While Huck is beginning to understand society's laws that require that an escaped slave be returned to his owner, Huck is in conflict because of his growing affection for Jim. Huck writes a letter to Mrs. Watson, Jim's mistress, fearful that if he doesn't send it, he broke the law and committed a sin. He is afraid that he will go to prison then Hell.
However, Huck recognizes the bond that he shared with Jim is greater than those laws and says “So I’ll go to Hell” and tears up the letter. As a boy, Huck believes that he is once again doing wrong by breaking the law but Twain subtly encourages us to realize that Huck is taking a stand against an immoral institution. Huck's decision to rebel against the society's constructs towards slavery matures him into a developed character that is able to question and fight the world around him.
Ironically, as Huck becomes developed we are reminded of what a static character Tom is with his return to Huckleberry Finn. While, Tom and Huck stay at Tom's Aunt Sally's home and Jim is in hiding, Tom creates an elaborate plan based on his readings of adventure novels to help Jim escape to freedom. The plan is filled with Tom's imaginative and dramatic touches such as an anonymous note so they will be chased. However, once they are through with the escape, Tom reveals that Mrs. Watson had declared Jim a free man and this was a ruse so Tom could have one of his adventures.
Tom's return to Huckleberry Finn is jarring after so much growth in Huck's character. It shows that in the dark world that Huck experienced of slavery, death, deceit, and darkness there is no longer a place for childhood adventures. That while Huck has grown up, Tom has not and is still stuck in perpetual childhood.
The endings of both books diverge in where the characters move forward on their journies. In Tom Sawyer, Tom and Becky are rescued, Injun’Joe's treasure is found and is equally dispersed for Tom and Huck's education with an allowance, and Widow Douglas takes Huck in to civilize him. When Huck disappears to return to his old ways, Tom lures him back with promises of forming a gang, but he has to return to the Widow.
What Tom understands is that adventures are fun and that play is nice, but there is always a need for a home to return to once the adventure is done. Tom may irritate his family and friends, but he also knows that he is safe, protected, and loved as any child should be and he wants that for Huck as well.
While Tom Sawyer ends with Tom feeling the security of childhood, Huckleberry Finn ends with the uncertainty of adulthood. After Jim is freed, Tom's Aunt Sally offers to adopt Huck and civilize him. No thanks, Huck says. He has seen enough of that world and instead he “wants to light out for the Territory. (He’d) been civilized before.” He has seen the world of deception, darkness, and heartless institutions that are approved by society and he doesn't want to be a part of it.
Part of adulthood is finding your own path in life and Huck is heading towards that path. It won't be as cozy as the secure home that Tom retreats to at the end of his book, but it will be the next step towards his Independence and him becoming a fully mature and self-aware adult.
