The ending of the book, when Tom Sawyer came back into Huck's life made me quite aggravated. I felt that Tom was immature, irresponsible and annoying. These emotions that I felt towards Tom shocked me. I began to look for a reason to explain why I was feeling these emotions. Eventually, after reading many of the critiques discussing how the point of view of this book adds to the connection between the characters and the reader, the reason came to me. Through out this book I had become attached, or connected to Huck. I had witnessed his horrible life with his father. I went through all the hard times with him and he opened up to me and let me know how he was feeling. I saw Huck mature through his actions and his thoughts. His life was not solely about him anymore. There were important people that meant a lot to him and through his actions he protected them swiftly and efficiently. This connection I made with Huck made me get mad when Tom Sawyer arrived back in Hucks life. Tom did not have people that he felt he needed to protect. He did not feel the urgency or the relationship between Huck and Jim. This allowed Tom to care more about the story that would eventually be told about his actions then the implications his actions would have on others lives. Not only that but he started to take away from all the maturing and learning Huck had obtained through his journey. This is what made me mad. Huck was regressing back into a boy when he had become so mature. Tom was slowing Huck's actions and protection of Jim.
If it had not been for the book being in Huck's point of view, his thoughts and feelings, I would not have made a personal connection with him. Without this connection I would not have felt protective over Huck nor made at Tom at the end of the book. This made me realize just how impressive Mark Twain's style of writing truly is.
Thats an interesting point. I thought that Tom's entrance back into the story was a godsend for Huck, as without him he wouldn't have been able to make a strong connection to Silas and Sally. I do agree that Tom's actions are insanely foolish and immature, but also help the reader to see just how much Huck has grown through the novel. In the beginning of the story he doesn't question Tom's plans for adventure no matter how silly they are. At the end he questions everything, but goes along because he believes that the end result is worth appeasing Tom to get to.
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