Huckleberry Finn: A Critical Analysis

Most people think of Huck Finn as a good American classic that is full of adventures and good morals. Almost everyone who reads it ends up loving it and thinking it is a wonderful book. They all think that since the white boy is helping the black man through out the book that it has some very good morals. All of the adventures that Huck and Jim go on are also very entertaining. The only problem that many people have with the book is the ending. Many critics say that the ending is too long and has too many annoying little schemes that Tom thinks up to free Jim. Like almost everyone else, I too enjoyed the book. The beginning and the middle were very well written and entertaining. Even though the ending receives the most criticism, it is still captivating because it serves the purpose of entertainment as Twain stated it should in his notice in the beginning.

Even though the ending takes up nearly half the book it is still full of captivating details and adventures just as the rest of the novel did. While sometimes thought of as childish, Tom's wild imagination is always entertaining. Tom's schemes and ideas for what to do really help to draw a good picture of what kind of kid he is and how he thinks, which is a sign of a very well developed character. Even if the ending drags on a little too much it is hard to imagine any other possible ending that would work as well as this one did. This ending brings back some of the characters from the beginning of the book and it brings an end to one of the major goals through out the book which was Jim getting his freedom. This statement by book critic Lionel Trilling helps to summarize the fact that this is the best possible ending, "For this purpose nothing could serve better than the mind of Tom Sawyer with its literary furnishings, its conscious romantic desire for experience and the hero's part, and its ingenious schematization of life to achieve that aim."

On the other hand, the way envisaged by Tom to go back home is considered unnecessary by our narrator as he "reckon[s] it was about as well the way it was" (l.22-23) that is, he likes better the idea of taking Jim back to Missouri simply rather than following Tom's eccentric ideas. In the passage as well as in every episode staging Huck and Tom, we perceive a discrepancy between the two. Tom is addicted to classic adventure novels. However, the latter show an over sentimental and sometimes deceptive fantasy world. He venerates their heroes such as Alexandre Dumas's Count of Monte Cristo and wishes he had led a similar life. That is the reason why Tom's imagination is so overactive with regard to his plan to take Jim back home. As for Huck Finn, the hardships he undergoes throughout the novel do not allow him ...