some part of adult life. Huck had always taken care of himself. When he was abducted by his father he was realistic about his situation and practical in his plan of escape. Philosophically, Twain wants to show the reader that the boys' loss of innocence is how they became mature adults rather than remain impractical or conscienceless boys as they had been before. Adulthood could be a culmination of events ending in a review that brings one to change their outlook. But Twain's life was more dramatic. His father died and he was thrust into the 'real world,' his school of life without much warning. Tom saw the murder and came to an eventual conclusion: that men can be cruel and so can God, but what one does personally is what is important. Huck came to this same conclusion more smoothly. He had always seen society as bad for him. The social mores of education and religion never did much for him, and social institutions like class structure and manners were even worse. He accepts having to behave civilized, but thinks his own way, for example that slavery is not fair. Mark Twain began writing AOHF before TAOTS, but had to put it aside. When he started up again he wrote TAOTS for money but kept TAOHF in it's pure form. TAOHF is his commentary on: society--that it does no good; on religion -- that only fools believe in it; and on men -- that they do evil but can do good. But essentially the novels are simple local-color stories of boyhood and the journey to manhood in a romantic, and alternatively, in a realist....
