Huckleberry Finn

The adventures of Huckleberry Fin is an extraordinary story that incorporates numerous characters that come together in a beautifully woven plot line to bring forth one of literature's master pieces. This paper will attempt to highlight the role of the characters: Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer is a unique character in the adventures of Huckleberry Fin because he is not merely a character that belongs to the story, but a character that belongs to Mark Twain. Specifically, the paper will explore Tom Sawyer's character's return towards the end of the play in order to ascertain the relevance and role of the character.

Tom Sawyer's character has a unique position in the plot of the story because he leaves the main plot line for a significant part of unfolding of the events. However, the character manages to maintain his position as an essential part of the plot line. Tom's character is unique because it is clear that he has a considerable influence on the progression of the plot. Had he revealed the information that he held to his comrades, the decisions that his comrades took and the actions that his comrades chose to carry out might have been considerably different. As a result, it can be observed that Tom's absence has a significant role in the plot.

Some of the major problems in the larger perspective become very clear when Tom comes back into the scene towards the end of the novel. Tom Sawyer had no need to come back, but he came back by choice; in order to make a difference.

It can therefore be surmised that even though Tom is absent during the unfolding of the central events of the plot, his absence serves an important purpose. It can be safely assumed that had he been present in the main plot line around the middle of the plot, events would have unfolded significantly differently and the fate of Jim and Huck would have been somewhat different. It is essential to note at this point that even though Tom is the child who is considered to be brought up in a safe environment that is free from any of the elements in which Huck grew in, he is significantly more ruthless than the reader would presume him to be. However, the fact that he comes back negates this perception and places the reader in a bit of a fix about which label to place on Tom's character.

Although Tom's escapades are often funny, they also show just how disturbingly and unthinkingly cruel society can be. Tom knows all along that Miss Watson has died and that Jim is now a free man, yet he is willing to allow Jim to remain a captive while he entertains himself with fantastic escape plans. Tom's plotting tortures not only Jim, but Aunt Sally and Uncle Silas as well. In the end, although he is just a boy like Huck and is appealing in his zest for adventure and his unconscious wittiness, Tom embodies what a young, well-to-do white ...