the very end -- character transformations/lack thereof

[[deleted user]]

As I read towards the end of Huck, it was evident Huck had grown tremendously (the whole "I'll go to hell" thing). However, as I kept reading... something strange happened. The three main characters, Jim, Huck, and now Tom, are on this adventure they have created themselves. And, after Tom shows up, the three seem to revert back to what they were at the beginning of the book! Jim is a captured slave, living in captivity under harsh (but not too harsh) conditions, just like he was prior to his escape. Huck is Tom's sidekick; he follows his ideas, not matter how foolish. And, Tom serves as a foil to Huck. He is hopelessly tangled in his fantasies that have been gathered from adventure literature. And Huck's friendship with Jim that has been growing painfully slowly for the entire novel? Huck has forgotten about it, and has no problem subjecting Jim to, well, torture, just so Tom can carry out his plans for adventure. Where are the morals Huck has spent so much time learning? Tom ruined everything!

After reading this whole section, I doubt the validity of the character transformation I thought Huck was experiencing. Huck's decision to rip up his letter to Ms. Watson was indeed a turning point in his development. But, so was his decision to go along with Tom. And they're very contradictory ones too. I mean, how much better are Tom and Huck than slave masters? They're torturing Jim, risking his freedom. He is their toy.

My question is, why would Twain spend so much time building up Huck's character/morals, only to destroy it? Perhaps he's inferring something about human nature -- people never change. Or, maybe it's just a bad ending. Debatable.

[Nikita]

Perhaps it was a marketing maneuver. Since Twain started the book with the introduction of Tom Sawyer from his previous book, so why not end it with Tom Sawyer, who was well received as a character and a book previously.

[Vinny]

G'readings, fellow G'readers.

Maybe Tom did damage the relationship between Huck and Jim. But he didn't do it intentionally, so he's not a bad guy.

As for Huck, he needs a sequel.

***edit***: clarification of my final thought:
Maybe if the story went on, Huck would fully mature.

***double edit***: apparently, a Greg Matthews wrote a sequel to the book entitled "The Further Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in 1983.

[David]

i also think twain wasted the time for showing tom up in the end of the chapters. twain could just end up without tom, it was useless to show tom to ruin huck's experiences through the adventures and made the whole story so stupid.

[Kliina1654]

I agree with Danielle. After all that happened with Huck and Jim and the development of their relationship something more is expected to come out, especially once Tom shows up with his insanities. Yet, Huck has his tremendous transformation in quite short time and it slows down but continues even after Tom shows up.
Huck's main turning point is after Jim got captured. Therefore, he does not really have another opportunity where he could grow even more until Tom shows up and decides to help Huck. After all the hardships Tom puts them through, Huck still calls Jim "a white man". He would have never been able to do that in the beginning of everything.
Mark Twain wrote this novel showing how hard and how long it took for majority of people to overcome racist feelings. By involving Tom in the end, Twain showed how, although after all the development Huck experienced inside, Huck was not at the point yet where he could go against racism and that he still had a long way to go.

[Emily]

I completely agree! The ending of the book was a disappointment for me exactly for that reason. In the middle of Huck Finn, I really felt that Huck was developing strongly and in the right ways. He was making decisions based on his own moral values and was maturing. Then, by the end of the book, Huck did a 360 in terms of developing. He started listening to others, such as Tom and the con men. He stopped making good decisions and let others take advantage of him and also of Jim. You would think Twain would continue Huck's development, but he doesn't and this is why I didn't like Twain's ending to Huck Finn.

[Eunbyeol]

I agree. I expected Huck to be changed and live new life. However, at the end Huck just went back to his common life as before. Also, Tom appears and Huck started to lose his own opinion and just follows what Tom says. I liked the how Jim becomes free but I don't like that Huck goes back to same life. Twain should have show how Huck changed and live different life.