There is more than one point on which Mr. Keith Neilson and I disagree. One of the first topics Mr. Neilson addresses is when Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn meet on the Phelps' farm. Mr. Neilson claims that , "At the very least he has regresses to the little boy he was at the beginning of the novel," that Huck lost everything he had gained over the course of the story. That's not true. While Tom does allow Huck to act his age instead of the mini adult he had to become, one of the first things Huck tells Tom is that he is going to free Jim. This shows that Huck hasn't lost his respect for Jim or the morals and values which he builds over his journey. He has not lost the courage to say, "All right, then, I'll go to Hell," and tear the letter that betrays Jim to pieces.
Our next disagreement comes when Mr. Neilson states, "Why did Mark Twain fall down so badly? Maybe he had been creatively worn out [...]" I, on the other hand, think that Tom Sawyer teaming up with Huckleberry Finn definitely did not ruin the book. In fact, I think it enhanced it. Huck talks about Tom Sawyer throughout the book; thougts of Tom infulence what Huck does. For example, when he and Jim find the Water Scott Huck justifies going onboard by saying that Tom Sawyer wouldn't pass it by, that he'd consider it an adventure. So why should the famous Tom Sawyer remain illusive? THe adventures of Huckleberry Finn get more interesting when Tom Sawyer is around. So I don't think that Mr. Twain fell down at all.
Our next disagreement comes when Mr. Neilson states, "Why did Mark Twain fall down so badly? Maybe he had been creatively worn out [...]" I, on the other hand, think that Tom Sawyer teaming up with Huckleberry Finn definitely did not ruin the book. In fact, I think it enhanced it. Huck talks about Tom Sawyer throughout the book; thougts of Tom infulence what Huck does. For example, when he and Jim find the Water Scott Huck justifies going onboard by saying that Tom Sawyer wouldn't pass it by, that he'd consider it an adventure. So why should the famous Tom Sawyer remain illusive? THe adventures of Huckleberry Finn get more interesting when Tom Sawyer is around. So I don't think that Mr. Twain fell down at all.
When Mr. Neilson says, "Although Twain didn't think so [...]" I grit my teeth. One of my pet peeves is when people decide that, although the author of the book says something is not symbolic, they believe that it is anyway. After all, why would the author know their own book?
Now don't think that all I have to say about this article is negative. Mr. Neilson and I agree on at least one point. We agree that Jim is the moral center of the book. From him Huck learns many lessons. We agree that he is, as Mr. Neilson says, "wise, courageous, unselfish, loyal, resourceful, practical, likable, and, yes, believable."
Though we may not agree often, Mr. Neilson and I agree that without J