Huck Discussion XXXVI - XXXIX - Written Assignment

Tom Sawyer, in every way, symbolizes romaticism, and Twain's hate of it. Tom embraces a romantic viewpoint rather than a realistic one in all situations. He prefers to play make-believe, than actually do something constructive and meaningful, and turns everything into an adventure or joke. In his mind, everything must be by the book, the books being of course classic romantic tales like "Arabian Nights" and "Don Quixote". Having to adhere to these examples usually makes Tom's games and plans over-the-top and overly complicated and dramatized.

Twain's use of Tom Sawyer to make fun of romanticism is blatanly evident in chapters 36 through 39. Tom and Huck are trying to free Jim, which would be an easy enough task, were it not for Tom. Tom insists that everything must be just like it is portrayed in storybooks like "The Count of Monte Cristo". He even goes as far as to make a ladder made out of sheets and a rope baked into a pie to sneak in to Jim, who is located on the first floor. Instead of just walking out the front door with Jim, an easily accomplished task, Tom has them try to dig under the cabin with case-knives. Even after the hole is dug, and Jim is able to get out, Tom has them perform other "vital" tasks. Jim is made to scratch messages asking for help to "the outside world" on tin plates and keep a diary in blood on a shirt, even though he can't write. The boys also wrangle up some snakes, spiders, and rats for him to tame in his long stay in captivity. In order to give Jim some hope, he is told to tend to a flower, but only water it using his tears, as this is how the real prisoners do it, according to Tom. 

All these "necessary" accessories are entirely unpractical. Jim was stuck in the cabin for much, much longer than he should have been because of Tom's setbacks. Even when preparations are complete for Jim to escape, Tom makes that even more romanticized. He writes anonymous letters telling the family about an oncoming Indian plan to steal their runaway slave, making their escape more difficult. In the process of actually freeing Jim, Tom gets shot in the leg, a scene I'm sure Mr. Twain enjoyed writing. This point shows the ultimate downfall of romanticism and how it never actually works out in the real world. Later, it is revelaed that Jim was free anyway due to Miss Watson's death, and that Tom was aware of that fact the whole time. Twain uses this to make romanticism into even more of a villain. To Tom, all of this was a game; he was just using Huck and Jim, who just wanted Jim's freedom. Jim's life and freedom are endangered by Tom's actions, and Tom doesn't care.

If Tom's schemes are so ridiculous, why do Huck and Jim go along with them? To Jim and Huck, Tom is an educated, respected, member of society, who knows better than they do. They don't want to break any regulations on prisoners and escaping from prison that are described in the books. Tom also has a gang of boys that considers him their leader. Tom is so popular because his games are fun and entertaining, though useless. His fantastical adventures are more appealing than the real world. Twain is making a point about how people get so caught up in the dramatic, unrealistic, idealized, and romantic, that they forget about the real world, and can't differentiate between a fake adventure and a real, dangerous scenario (as seen in the scene on the Walter Scott), a cardinal sin in Twain's mind.