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SUMMARY
Huck goes in search of Tom and finds him. Tom is startled to see Huck because he thinks the latter is dead. He stares at the latter open-mouthed and fears that he has seen a ghost. Huck assures him that he is not a ghost. He tells him that he was not killed and that he had faked his own murder. Tom is relieved to hear this and starts feeling comfortable and happy again. Considering it to be a great adventure, Tom wants Huck to tell him all that had happened.
When Huck tells Tom about his intentions of saving Jim, he anticipates the latter's disapproval. He feels that, like the others, Tom too would lecture him on the immorality of such an act. He is pleasantly surprised when Tom, instead of being judgmental, declares that he would help him in his mission. Then, Huck goes on and recounts his experience at the Phelps' farm. Both put their heads together to come up with a solution It is decided that Huck should continue his pretense as Tom Sawyer and the real Tom appears before the Phelps' family as his brother, Sid Sawyer.
One of the boys of the family comes with a request for permission to go for a show scheduled to take place in the town. Uncle Silas says that the new runaway nigger (Jim) has warned everyone against a Nonesuch performance by two cheats. When Huck hears this, he is alarmed. In a bid to forewarn the Duke and the King, the two boys jump out of their bedroom window and go in search of the two conmen before any harm befalls them. But, by the time they are able to spot them, it is too late. The townsfolk have already discovered their fraudulent ways and have "tarred and feathered" them.
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| The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Chapter 33 |
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Tom's eyes light up when Huck tells him that he wants to save the a Way Jim. He jumps at the prospect of helping Huck accomplish his aim. It is intriguing that, while Huck has to endure a long moral journey, Tom's decision to help Jim is made almost instantly. This is so probably because, unlike Huck, Tom's excitement is not so much for Jim's sake as it is for his pursuit of adventure. Knowing Tom's love for any sort of adventure, it was totally unnecessary for Huck to have any apprehensions about the former's reaction. His readiness to help is quite expected.
Despite his disapproval of the frauds' antics, Huck feels sorry for "them poor pitiful rascals". The fact that he "couldn't ever feel any hardness against them any more in the world" reveals his essential goodness. The King and the Duke had made life pretty difficult for Huck and Jim. Nevertheless, Huck deplores the fact that "human beings can be awful cruel to one another". Besides emotional maturity, Huck has also acquired spiritual maturity. When he witnesses the pitiable condition of the King and the Duke, he feels, deep down within himself, that he is also to blame. He has grown to realize that "it don't make no difference whether you do right or wrong, a person's conscience ain't got no sense, and just goes for him anyway". This incident also brings to light the common religious doctrine of retribution. This providential punishment is meted out to the two frauds because they have done enough by way of making things miserable for so many people.
The chapter also also brings to light the hospitable nature of the Phelpses. When Aunt Sally notices the real Tom coming along with Huck, she obviously doesn't recognize him. She thinks he is a stranger. Still, she orders one of her children, Jimmy, to put another plate for dinner. She says, "Why, there's somebody come! I wonder who 'tis? Why, I do believe it's a stranger. Jimmy" (that's one of the children)' "run and tell Lize to put on another plate for dinner". She welcomes him as if he were her own family member (which, in reality, he is). Though a bit racist, she is, at heart, a good person. As with Huck, her racist attitude doesn't go against her. She, like Huck and others in the Southern society, has been brought up to uphold the concept of slavery. But her heart is pure.