Tom's Response To Huck's Simple Plan example essay topic

... an ever before. This growth again shows how Huck believes that Jim is his equal, and not a subordinate. The scene in which Huck matures the most because of the King and the Duke is when the group hears of the death of Mr. Wilkes. This man, who had a substantial amount of money, had willed it to not only his relatives in America, but also his brothers in England. The King and Duke pretend to be his brothers from England, and come to collect their inheritance money. Of course that just isn't enough for the two, so by sheer generosity, they "selflessly" give up their share of the inheritance money.

By this "display of caring" the two manage to twist events to the point where they receive all of the inheritance money left by Peter Wilkes. This is where Huck shows a large amount of maturation. After he had learned of their plan, he said, "it was enough to make a body ashamed of the human race. He realizes that what the Duke and King are doing is extremely wrong. His morals tell him that he can't let the Duke and King get away with such an awful crime against the Wilkes.

Before the King and Duke leave, Huck steals the money the frauds had stolen and hides it. Huck here shows a great deal of maturity because he is breaking away from his "Tom Sawyer" ways. Instead of looking for adventure he realizes what is right, and sees that it is done. The delay is costly to the King and Duke, who barely escape the town after the real relatives from England show up. These events not only reinforce the morals that Huck already possesses, but they also show that his time spent in "civilization" with the Widow has taught him something after all. Another experience that helps Huck to mature is when he stays with the Grangerfords.

Even though Huck's stay with the Grangerfords is short he experiences a large amount of moral growth. The Grangerfords were involved in a feud with an another family, the Sheperdsons. The feud between the families came as a horrible shock to Huck. Through this feud, Huck learned just how bad war and hatred could really be. This was amplified when the Grangerford family member that he had come to know well, Buck, was killed in the feud. His timely death made Huck realize that there really shouldn't be something silly enough to make a child no older than himself become a crazed murderer.

He was mature enough to realize that Buck's statement, "A feud is something where everyone on one side wants to kill everyone on the other side, until by and by everybody's killed off, and there ain't no more feud". What shocked Huck even more was that the families were not really even sure what they were fighting about. However, amidst the chaos, Twain shows that there can be reconciliation. Even though the families would not agree to stop fighting, members of each family showed there could be love. Sophia Grangerford ran off to be with Harney Sheperdson so the two could be together, despite their families' differences. Huck's experience with the Grangerfords certainly taught him a great deal about strong emotions, which in turn helped him to mature.

Throughout the majority of the book, the reader gets a sense of Huck maturing. The image of Huck at the beginning, a rowdy young boy with little respect for blacks, and a feeling of "immortality of youth", is seemingly shattered with the progression of the book. However, this progression changes near the end of the book, when Twain decides to bring Tom Sawyer back into the plot. By doing this, Twain seems to almost throw out all of the maturation that Huck has gathered throughout the book. Huck seems to not take a dominant position in the situation, but he instead falls right back into his conformity with Tom.

This is best seen when the two boys try to rescue Jim at the end of the book. As usual, Huck comes up with a good, simple idea to free Jim. However, Tom just didn't buy it. "But it's too blame simple; there ain't nothin' to it.

What's the good of the plan that ain't no more trouble than that?" was Tom's response to Huck's simple plan. It showed that Tom was still just an immature boy who was looking to have a good time, and play a game. Huck on the other hand demonstrated his affection for Jim. He wanted to free Jim, and didn't care how.

Deep down he knew that his plan was very good; however, he took a submissive approach to Tom's plan, which caused the two more problems than ever. Huck's experiences demonstrate the fact that Huck was able to grow much better without the influence of Tom. Without Tom, Huck realized that blacks and whites were really equal. Tom, on the other hand, didn't even grasp the concept of equality.

As far as he could see, life was just a game. He wanted to make it as fun as possible, not caring who he helped along the way, or who he hurt. At this point Huck wanted to have Jim's rescue involve as little conflict as possible, as he had learned from the Grangerfords that militias conflict was in general bad, yet he was still submissive when Tom brought up his idea. Huck took all that he had learned, especially from the feud with the Grangerfords, and threw it out the window. In general, it appears that when Huck is in the presence of Tom, or rather under his influence, he is less likely to make an educated decision. Tom impedes Huck's ability to use what he has learned along his adventures.

Another area where Huck has made major advances in maturity is in his ideas of equality. Huck has come along way since the beginning of the novel, where he and Tom picked on Jim. One now sees that Huck has come to accept people's differences, he realizes that what matters is not really on the outside. Throughout the course of the novel, particularly aboard the raft, the reader realizes that Jim and Huck seem to bond more and more.

This bonding symbolizes the way that Huck is accepting people other than those that he was told to as his equals. Twain does an excellent job at making the reader realize just how much Huck really has matured by reincorporating Tom into the novel at the end. This gives the reader a basis on which to compare the old Huck, who seemed to be almost exactly like Tom, to the new Huck. The new Huck, it is painstakingly obvious, has matured much more than his old self, Tom.

Again, it can be seen in the ways that the two try and free Jim.