On every occasion, Tom's plans are tried first; only when they fail are Huck's ideas implemented. So, while Jim sits chained to a bed in a hut behind the house, the rescue plans get bogged down with frivolous complications, such as the stealing of a sheet, a shirt, some case knives, the digging of a tunnel, sawing off the leg of a bed, climbing a lightning rod, a rope ladder, tin plates, a candlestick, a pewter spoon, a shirt on which to write a message in blood, and so forth.Huck, the "uneducated," clearly plays second fiddle to Tom. Huck seems to be awe-struck by Tom's Romantic inclinations, even though he realizes that Tom is capable singularly of thinking up irrational schemes that don't work. But then he rationalizes that he would not be able to count on Tom's assistance unless he allowed Tom to indulge himself in his absurdities. Some of the things Tom comes up with could have gotten them in really serious trouble. On one such occasion, for example, Tom gets shot in the leg. True to form, he is proud of his wound, which is serious enough to require the attention of a doctor. To save Tom's life, Huck sets out to find a doctor which, in turn, leads to the recapture of Jim. Clemens uses this event to write a devastating testimonial on and about the core of human society, a faction far more typical and representative of what Clemens seems to dislike about humanity than what Tom represents. The testimonial starts when Jim, as a runaway slave, gets insulted, assaulted, and almost lynched by his captors. What saves him is the consideration that lynching him would be destroying property--someone else's property, someone who might demand compensation. Even, when the doctor vouches for Jim and tells everyone how concerned and helpful this black man was in saving Tom's life, the best these good Christians are willing to do is not to curse and hit him anymore. But relieving him of his excessive chains, that occurs to no one, all hi...
