muahahaha
Throughout Mark Twain’s novel The Adventure’s of Huckleberry Finn, one character is used to illustrate societal faults. This character is Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn’s immature friend with a huge imagination. Although Tom appears to be merely an annoying obstacle in the task of freeing a slave, his main function in the novel is to embody everything Twain criticizes, especially blind conformity, hypocrisy, and cruelty.
Tom is first introduced to the audience as someone who literally lives his life “by the books.” For example, in the beginning of the novel, Tom decides to start a band of robbers and call it Tom Sawyer’s Gang. When a member of the gang asks Tom why they have to ransom the townspeople, Tom simply replies, “Why, blame it all, we’ve got to do it. Don’t I tell you it’s in the books? Do you want to go to doing different from what’s in the books, and get things all muddled up?” (9). Tom has no original thought, and believes that his books speak the truth and he should follow those old methods. The idea of following an idea without any real knowledge of that idea is called blind conformity. Tom also conforms to the ideals of racism. At one point in the novel, Tom and Huck reunite to free Jim, a runaway slave. Ironically, Tom already knows that Jim’s late owner has freed Jim, but he still formulates a ridiculous plan that, once again, “goes by the books.” Tom torments Jim with his silly ideas, causing Jim to wait for days before he can escape. Tom saw Jim’s imprisonment as an opportunity for adventure. He did not realize that a human’s life was at stake, or that Jim was an actual person. Tom saw Jim as property. Tom suggests the idea of sawing off Jim’s leg, and says, “There ain’t enough in this case; and, Jim’s a nigger, and wouldn’t understand the reasons for it…” (239). Conformity is a natural aspect of human nature; Tom was brought up to be a racist. But from Huck’s actions, Twain proves that conformity can be overcome, and people can go against society’s beliefs.
A major theme in Tom Sawyer’s character is hypocrisy, an element of society that Mark Twain criticized the most throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Huck tells the audience that, “But Tom Sawyer he hunted me up and said he was going to start a band of robbers, and I might join if I would go back to the widow and be respectable” (1). Basically, Tom tells Huck that he is starting a band of robbers, but in order to join a gang that “murders” and “steals,” Huck has to return to Widow Douglass and be respectable. The idea serves as hypocrisy, irony, and humor. Tom Sawyer’s Gang debates when they should start robbing and killing people, and come to the decision that “it would be wicked to do it on Sunday” (10). Tom is also a hypocrite for knowing that Jim was a free man, but he tried to free him anyway. Tom put on a false appearance, causing Huck to believe that Tom really cared about Jim’s freedom; yet in reality, Tom saw the whole situation as a game. Although Tom’s hypocrisy seems humorous, it has a deeper purpose: to reflect the faults of society on the whole.
Tom is not just cruel to Huck; he’s cruel to Jim, Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas. Tom exhibits unreasonable amounts of cruelty towards Huck. After a discussion about genies, Tom tells Huck, “Shucks, it ain’t no use talking to you, Huck Finn. You don’t seem to know anything, somehow--- perfect saphead” (14). Towards the end of the novel, Tom says, “Oh, shucks, Huck Finn, if I was as ignorant as you I’d keep still--- that’s what I’d do. Why [your plan] is perfectly ridiculous” (240). Tom was exceedingly cruel to Jim by forcing him to deal with his plans to escape. Tom threatens Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas through two anonymous letters, which caused Aunt Sally to be extremely paranoid and worried. “…[Aunt Polly] was afraid to go to bed, but she dasn’t set up” (268). Tom’s malicious actions towards others demonstrate to the audience how cruel society can be.
Tom is used for many purposes in the novel. He works as a humorous device, but also as a view of society. Through Tom, Twain indicates his views on how corrupt society was during this time period. Tom represents the flaws of civilization, such as blind conformity, hypocrisy, and cruelty.
yeah it sucks i know. i used "Tom" WAY too much, but i didn't want to be (oh whats the word...) punished for pronoun reference errors. oh well.