Throughout "Huckleberry Finn," we have experienced many re-occurrences with "Tom Sawyer" (spoiler alert: Tom is the main character of the eponymous novel "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."). Twain's repetition of Tom marks how significant of an impact he has on Huck. However, it is interesting (and somewhat contradictory) how Twain sets up a duality to Tom's appearances in Huck's experience.
Our first experience containing Tom and Huck is during a discussion where the two argue over "Don Qixote" (Twain 25). Tom seems to immerse himself in fantasy, as evident through his descriptions of soldiers and elephants and magicians. Huck, however, seems indifferent to Tom's rapture. Most notable (and funny) is when Huck begins punching holes in Tom's arguments. He notes how ironic it is that a seemingly-omnipotent djinn needs to obey a human. He concludes by realizing that this is yet another of "Tom Sawyer's lies." Clearly, Huck is able to create his own opinions from his perceptions of the world around him. Unlike Tom, he does not cast blind faith in what he reads or hears. From this initial interaction, one would picture Tom as Huck's foil. However, Twain suddenly flips our preconceptions (or one might say prejudice. ha. ha.) later in the novel.
When Jim and Huck search the capsizing barge, Huck asks, "do you reckon Tom Sawyer would ever go by this thing? Not for pie, he wouldn't... I wish Tom Sawyer was here" (Twain 77). This seems to be contradictory to Huck's previous relationship with Tom. Previously, Huck seemed to reject Tom's beliefs in the fantastical and rely only on his own self-perceptions. However, in this new situation, Huck seems to portray Tom as a role model. This is a very curious flip of power, since it now seems that Huck is acting based on what Tom would do. This contradicts everything we've said about Huck! We believed him to be a character independent from the influences of others (or, at the very least, resisting their attempts to influence him). However, it's clear now that Tom has a huge influence on Huck.
Ultimately, I question what Tom's role is in Huck's life and how that affects Huck as the satirist he is meant to be. We found Huck to be empowered because he was able to resist the widow and his father when they attempted to change him. Now that we realize how big of an influence Tom has on him, how does that change our perceptions of Huck?
I find your dissertation about Tom Sawyer's influence (or lack of influence it may be) on Huckleberry Finn, though I do disagree that Huck is a character independent of outside influence. Indeed, I believe Huck to be a prime example of a Lockian tabula rasa. Up to where we have read in the novel, Huck seems to be influenced from a variety of places, including Tom Sawyer. The widow Douglas at first expresses her control over Huck, teaching him how to read and act more like a part of civilized society. Then we also witness Pap's influence on his son, as Huck enjoys the solidarity he finds within his father's cabin in the middle of the woods. Jim, Miss Watson's escaped slave, also impacts Huck's character in some ways, the full extent of which we have yet to realize. And, bringing it back to the post, Tom Sawyer and his wild tales also impacts the young Huck, in both good ways and bad. Thus, I believe that Huck is a character that is a product of his surroundings and experiences, a blank slate if you will, who's personality changes as he encounters different people and situations.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Josh in the fact that Huck Finn is not completely isolated from society and that he is an example of a tabula rasa (but is it Lockian or Aristolean?). I think at this point in the book, we're still puzzling over what it means to be an individual. Although Huck uses what the widow, Miss Watson, Tom Sawyer, and Pap have taught him, he uses these skills in a new, unfamiliar situation. Personally, I think of creativity as the ability to use learned skills in a novel way. I would even surmise that Huck's ability to be influenced by others makes him even more of an individual because there's a (somewhat abstract) theory that the essence of existence is embedded in one's ability to affect or be affected by his or her surroundings.
DeleteI also agree with Josh. Your claims about Huck Finn being a completely independent character free of other influences is not well supported and lacks evidence. The whole premise of your argument relies on Tom Sawyer somehow being a unique influence in Huck's life, but that's clearly not true. Huck has also referenced lessons from his father when it comes to stealing food and lessons from the widow when "compromising" and giving up the theft of certain items. What we said in class was that Huck has power of choice to engage in certain ideas, but that can't be extrapolated as fully independent as you have done in your argument. In addition, I agree with other dissenters below that Tom is not as important of an influence as you suggest. In the context of the story, Tom only serves as a reminder to the reader as to what Huck seems to want. Huck's admiration of Tom is for his leadership and his popularity. Tom leads the group in playing games, and he has a loving family with Aunt Polly, in addition, to a lot of respect around town. Huck has no family and constantly feels lonely. Every time he questions what Tom would do is because he wants to be more like Tom in some ways. Again, its not absolute in his admiration of Tom as you pointed out, but that's what's natural. What makes Huck a great dynamic character is that he takes parts from everywhere and everything to form his own. Individuality does not mean freedom from society or other external influences.
DeleteHuck has had three role models in his life: the Widow, Tom, and Pap. All of these characters have had a great impact on Huck's life, and still do, even in Huck's new life, whether it be from the quotation you provided or Huck doing the right thing by saving the robbers because the Widow would be proud. Even though Huck is clearly a self-serving individual with his own ideas, he still is affected by previous authority figures in his life. I think Twain could be making a statement that even the most isolated individuals(Huck, in this case) are still subject to society's ideals, whether it be from their role models, education, or prevailing moods of the time. No one is truly isolated, and we, as people, are just products of our time, to a certain extent.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the notion that Tom Sawyer is a significant character in Huck’s life, but I do not think that Tom has as great an influence on Huck as you seem to suggest. I like how you pointed out Huck’s questioning of Tom early in the novel. I think that Huck certainly acts as an individual and does not blindly follow what society or specific people in his life tell him to do. I do not think that Huck’s statement regarding Tom while they are on the barge is contradictory to Huck’s individuality. I think that Huck misses Tom and misses Tom’s opinions and crazy suggestions. Huck can listen to Tom’s opinions and enjoy Tom’s company without be influenced by him. In fact, Huck maintaining his relationship with Tom and remaining above his influence strengthens Huck as an individual. We were discussing in class that an individual is one who has his own thoughts and acts on those thoughts, doing so in the context of relationships. I think that is exactly what Huck does in his relationship with Tom.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Huck exhibits individuality in his capabilities to fend for himself, but I do also agree that he receives influence from outside sources that affects his behavior. The widow Douglas' "sivilizing" causes Huck to develop personal moral principles, Tom Sawyer's tales of fantasy fuel his sense of adventure, and Pap imprints on him the need for survival. However, Huck's moral principles can sometimes be slightly misguided, he finds adventure in the real world rather than a fantasy one, and he does not use violence or anger or push other people down in order to survive. Thus, he receives outside influence and his personal character alters that influence to fit his life. What we also have to remember is that Huck is telling the story, and he is a bit of an unreliable narrator. He doesn't want to admit to having been influenced by others because he is so intent on being his own individual self, but there are transparencies in the language where we can truly see how much Huck's environment shapes him.
ReplyDeleteI think Huck's vision of Tom is Tom's own unrealistic vision of himself. Tom reads all the literature of heroes, antiheroes, etc., and tries his best to emulate their lives. All the while, Tom tries to project a version of himself to others that is fearless, courageous, and cool under pressure. He uses this to escape the mundane (and sometimes scary) reality that he faces. Likewise, Huck uses this projection of "the hero" Tom to help manage his own fear in the face of danger. Thus, I think the duality of Huck's relationship to Tom that Henry pointed out isn't actually to contradictory, as Huck can discredit the statements of Tom the boy while still use Tom the hero as guidance.
ReplyDeleteTom Sawyer's presence does seem to affect Huck's beliefs and actions, however, I think that when Huck says "I wish Tom was here," it may be the fact that he simply misses his friend. The saying "you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone" comes to mind in this situation. Through the adventures with his gang, Huck continued to poke holes in Tom's ideas because he took their friendship for granted. Now that Tom (and others) believe Huck is dead, I think Huck sees the true value in his relationships with those who are no longer in his life. Even though Tom had a somewhat negative influence on Huck, Huck still cherishes their friendship.
ReplyDeleteI think that Tom doesn't actually make an unusually high number of appearances in Huck's life; we see him at the beginning of the book, and that makes sense because he is physically near to Huck, just like the widow, Miss Watson, Pap, and Jim are at one point or another... And whenever something happens that makes Huck think of someone in his life, he mentions it (i.e. when he tries to save the criminals and remarks that the widow would be proud). I think that the reason Tom comes up again when Huck and Jim are on the barge is Tom represents adventure for Huck. When Tom was leading the boys' make-believe adventures, Huck rejected them because they weren't real, and now that Huck is actually about to embark on this daring escapade, he thinks back to his friend who inspired him. I like what Emma said about Huck missing Tom - I think one reason why this scene is significant is that Huck is actualizing his childhood dreams, and that marks a point in his maturation.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you bring to our attention the nature of Tom's influence. We (I) pretty much just assumed that Tom was Huck's way of finding freedom. However, it's interesting to evaluate Tom as yet another source of influence, just like the widow or Pap. The way Tom exerts power over Huck and guides his behavior is obviously very different from the way the widow does--but the influence is definitely there.
ReplyDeleteLooking at that, it might be interesting to see if Jim, too, is not necessarily a comrade in freedom, but actually a source of guidance (or, put differently, coercion). So far, it doesn't much seem like it... but that may not mean that it is a perfectly balanced relationship. Huck does seem very comfortable exercising authority over Jim; he readily plays tricks on him and bosses him around. It may be that, in this book, the idea of "freedom" only means that one is finally superior to someone else, because freedom is a zero-sum game.
What most strikes me is the fact that the first mention of Tom revolves around Don Quijote. Having laboriously studied the novel last year, I have come to understand it as a statement on humanity. Don Quijote is a man who lives in his fantasy land of being a knight defeating monsters and thieves in a world where such things are not customary, and he is scoffed at for such beliefs. Similar is Huck's scorn for some of Tom's Tomfoolery (hehe). However, by the end of Don Quijote, it is discovered that he for embracing his greatest dreams he was both brave and good, and i think Huck recognizes the Tom's similar courage when he mentions he wishes Tom were with them to scavenge the boat.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Huck's questioning Tom's fantasy and simultaneously looking up to Tom as a role model are necessarily contradictions in Huck's character. Rather, I think it reveals that he has not formed a definitive notion of what he wants and doesn't want. Like the quote that Henry brought up in class, Huck sees things but does not judge them. At this point, Huck only knows what he wants at each instantaneous moment without much self-reflection on who he is; he does not judge himself. He is not prone to summarize up his experiences and come up with some kind of conclusion. So far, he does display a general range of characteristics: he likes excitement because he doesn't like to be lonesome, and he questions things he doesn't understand, which reflects an independence in his thinking. Tom Sawyer has often brought him that excitement, and at the same time his stories appear illogical to Huck because the book's unreal adventures do nothing for him. These two facts fit Huck's characteristics very well. They do exist as contradictions, but at the same time they make sense in a character that doesn't care for assigning identities to people and himself.
ReplyDeleteI disagree that Huck's world view is now becoming Tom's, because, as I mentioned in class today, Huck also references the views of his father and the widow's sense of good. I think Huck is taking the views of his past figures of authority into account, and then making his own decisions about what to believe/do based on what he learned from them as well as what he has learned for himself. Just because he decided to invoke the theories of Tom Sawyer during this incident doesn't mean that Tom's influence on him is going to turn him into a Tom clone. Rather, Huck is deciding for himself who he is, but is keeping the standards of others in mind; his individuality is not being developed by isolation, but by freedom.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late response. I think that Huck's opinions of Tom are based off of the situations. When Huck is actually with Tom, he is able to see the real Tom Sawyer and can easily see some of the actions that add to his facade. But when Tom is away, Huck only has the idolized image of Tom in his mind. When someone acts as a role model, we tend to look at their positive attributes, rather than their flaws.
ReplyDelete