Tom, not Huck, who knows how a proper evasion should be conducted, and how to give Jim the theatrical homecoming he deserves after all of his suffering. Huck is willing to support Toms directions for their envasion but he balks at the homecoming plan. He has had enough, at this point, of Toms foolishness. Often the adult viewed Huck as being idle and lawless and vulgar and bad but he actually possessed a conscience and a heart. Huck confesses that sometimes he cant sleep much, on account of thinking about his bad reputation. Huck is admired by many of the other children in town, as they envy what appears to be his utter freedom from rules and adults. However, he has moments when he worries about his status in the world and wishes he werent such a social outcast. The dark moments he experiences make him more real to the reader (Rinaldo 10). At one time, Huckleberry was feeling guilty for hiding Jim, the escaped slave of Miss Watson. During this period of guilt he discovered that Jim has been captured and returned. He begins a letter to Tom Sawyer trying to explain the entire episode. It occurs to Huck that he would be disgraced back home if it was known that he had helped a slave escape. Again, we are aware of Hucks concern with his status in society (LeMaster 110 129).The novel, which tells of the escapades of a young boy and his friends in St. Petersburg, Missouri, a village near the Mississippi River, is very similar to Twains own childhood in a small Missouri town. Twains American reading audience loved this novel and its young hero, and the novel remains one of the most popular and famous works in all of American literature (Trilling 17 29).Tom is also portrayed with two sides. There is the appealing Tom and the exasperating Tom. The exasperating Tom tricks his friends into doing his work, lies to Aunt Polly, shows off to gain Becky Thatchers attention, scratches himself when his clothes itch, and spits. These two si...
