Just as Huck reaches his moral tipping point, when he decides to rescue Jim at any costs, even his own damnation in hell, Tom Sawyer is reintroduced into the narrative. As Tom is a close ally of Huck, it is noteworthy just as how much they differ; so much that they encompass the very definition of a dichotomy. The reader first breathes a sigh of relief when Tom reveals that he is going to aide Huck in rescuing Jim but as we read further on, we understand some fundamental differences between Tom and Huck.
Huck’s actions are informed by his instincts and proper moral judgement. Tom, although he is in favor of rescuing Jim, is guided by his misplaced sense of adventure. If Huck is about getting the job done, while Tom is frivolous about how it gets done – Tom is all about “style” and Huck is much more “substance”. Huck loves to trust his gut, where Tom quite literally wants to stick the book. Their place in class are at odds as well – Huck lives on the fringes of society, rejects and questions authority. Toms was raids well-to-do and educated.
Tom may be another example of social hypocrisy and irony. Tom growing up affluent and even educated is left with a weak moral compass, in spite that he believes otherwise. It may be another comment on the frivolity of style the upper class hold to high regard, the same style and rules that Huck, the moral protagonist, rejects.
Tom’s role in the narrative may explain something essential above all. Tom is rescuing Jim, but not for the sense of justice. The meaning of Tom’s role may be that even doing the right thing is wrong when done for the wrong reasons.
I was quite excited when Tom was reintroduced into the novel. I thought that by putting Huck with Tom it allows the readers to enjoy two different perspective of the same issue at the same time. I think Huck might have grown up to be like Tom had he not been such an outcast and spent all that time with Jim on the raft.