Even two completely different people can become best friends. The friendship that is shared between Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, is one that crosses the boundaries of immense disparities. Huck and Tom regard each other as best friends despite their great differences. These differences originate from the dissimilar influences acting upon them. The mid-1800’s southern town that Huck and Tom were raised in was one major influence that was shared between them. Huck was also influenced by his father, who was a drunk, and he lived outside of society for much of his life because of his father. These two contradictory influences that act on Huck cause him to formulate his own opinion on what is right, and this can be seen in the way he treats Jim. When deliberating over whether to do right or wrong, Huck decided “to always do whichever came handiest at the time” (Twain 104). Tom, who is civilized in Huck’s opinion, tends to follow what he has read in books, and learned about in school. He often does things that Huck does not understand, and justifies them by saying that they are simply the way things are done. Huck, because of the opposite influences acting upon him, formulates his own opinion, and Tom, having corresponding influences, follows the direction of these influences.
Huck hated his life at the widow’s house, and claimed that he did not want to be civilized. He disliked the fact that he had to eat at a table, and sleep on a bed. He was much more accustomed to life with his father, but Huck was forced to adapt to his situation. He eventually began to adopt some of the ideas that he was learning from this society. One of these ideas is prayer, which Miss Watson attempts to explain to him. Huck, at first, misunderstands the concept, and as the novel progresses he begins to grasp it more. Huck is told that he can pray for anything, and decides to pray for material things. When his prayers go unanswered, he is confused and begins to think that prayer only works for a certain kind of people. Huck, being raised by his father does not know anything about prayer, and sees no need to pray.
The influence that Huck’s father had on him was the opposite of that which society had on him. When Huck’s father comes to the widow’s house to talk with him, Huck becomes confused with what he wants for himself. He has already complained about being civilized, and wanted to be free again. Then, when his father talks with him, he decides that he would go to school just to spite his father. Huck is eventually taken to live in the woods again with his father. Huck is forced to listen to his father’s racist comments against free blacks, and his rants about the government. Huck then escapes the cabin, and is freed from the influence of his father. Huck is torn between the influences of his recluse father and his town. This confusion eventually leads Huck to make a decision.
Once Huck escapes from all influence, he decides to follow neither the advice of his father, nor society. He chooses to formulate his own opinion on what is right and what is wrong. Huck’s resolution to create his own ideas is seen with the issue of Jim’s freedom. Huck had many opportunities to turn Jim in, but he never does. The influence from both his father and the widow would tell him to turn Jim in, and yet Huck does not. This is because the ideas that have been implanted in him by his father and society so often contradict each other, that Huck decides to cast them all away. If Huck attempted to follow one of the influences, the other would contradict it. Huck’s decision to make his own policies can be seen when he writes a letter to Miss Watson, in which he confesses that he is with Jim. Huck could only think of all the times when Jim called him his best friend like this one: “Jim won’t ever forgit you, Huck; you’s de bes’ fren’ Jim’s ever had; en you’s de only fren’ ole Jim’s got now” (101). Huck cannot turn Jim in because he now regards him as an equal and a friend. Huck then decides to listen to no one, and this is clearly seen when he rips up the letter and says, “All right, I’ll go to hell” (228). From this point on, it is apparent that Huck no longer wishes to follow what he has been taught by anyone.
Tom Sawyer is the exact opposite of Huck in the way he deals with his influences. Tom, unlike Huck, completely accepts everything he is taught. Instead of formulating his own ideas about the world, he bases his ideas off what he has read, and he would never dare to question them. He never questions what he has been taught because he has never known anything else. Huck is surprised when Tom agrees to help free Jim, and this is seen when Huck says, “Tom sawyer fell, considerable, in my estimation. Only I couldn’t believe it. Tom Sawyer a nigger stealer!” (240). Huck knows Tom to have a good upbringing, so he is shocked when Tom agrees to help. At the end of the novel, Jim is found to have been free the entire time, and Tom knew this. This only shows that Tom follows what he has been taught. Tom would not have agreed to help free Jim if he did not know that Jim was free in the first place. Freeing Jim would go against everything Tom has been taught. Since Jim is already free, he is willing to help, thinking of it as an adventure
Tom’s conformity to what he has been taught is seen in his plan to free Jim. This is evident when Huck cannot understand why they simply cannot let Jim out of the window, and Tom responds by saying, “Why, hain’t you ever read any books at all?–Baron Trenck, nor Casanova, nor Benvenuto Chelleeny, nor Henri IV., nor non of them heroes?” (253). Tom attempts to model his escape plan for Jim after various books he has read. He is very concerned with doing things the way they are supposed to be done. He gets this idea of how things are supposed to be like from what he has been taught. Tom even recognizes the differences between himself and Huck when he says, “a body ain’t got no business doing wrong when he ain’t ignorant and knows better. It might answer for you to dig Jim out with a pick, without any letting-on, because you don’t know no better; but it wouldn’t for me because I do know better” (260). Tom deems Huck’s confusion with his plans as ignorance. Tom believes that he knows better, so things should be done his way. He even does this to the point where he gets shot, and is happy about it because it is an adventure. Tom risks the safety of himself, Huck and Jim in trying to follow what he has been taught. Huck accurately describes Tom when he says, “He was always just that particular. Full of principle” (260). Tom only lives by the principles he has learned because he knows nothing else, unlike Huck, who knows two very different ways of living.
Huck and Tom are two very different individuals because of the influences they receive, and how they go about dealing with them. Huck is torn between society, and his father, who is an outcast. In society, because of the widow and Miss Watson, he is taught about prayer and goes to school. He is eventually taken away from this society by his father, who instills his racist, and drunken ideals into Huck. Huck makes a choice to follow neither of these influences, and this is seen in the choice he makes to treat Jim as an equal. Everything that Huck has been taught goes against equal rights for blacks, and yet he is able to decide to befriend Jim because the two influences contradicted each other so much, that they confused Huck to the point where he chose to disregard them. Tom is similar to Huck because they have both been taught in the same town, but the difference is that Tom only has the influence of the town acting upon him. Tom does not know of any other values, so he takes what he has learned to be absolutely correct and true. Huck’s mind was a battleground for two different types of morality, and this caused Huck to stop trying to decide who was winning the battle, and make his own morality. Tom’s mind was only filled with one way of living, so there was no reason for him to stray from it. Huck saw how varied the world was in its ideals, so he decided to create his own, but Tom could never see outside of the society that he lived in and the books that he read because that was all he ever knew.
