Question

Based on their interactions in chapter 2, compare and contrast the personalities of Huck and Tom. How are they alike? How are they different? Your response should be at least two hundred words.

Answer 1

Tom and Huck share similar traits. Both boys really have no parents in the picture. Tom is raised by his aunt Polly and Huck's father is a useless drunk. Both boys enjoy living deliberately. They seek adventure. They role play (pirates) go camping, and love to fish. They are not tainted by the many prejudices of society at the time. There is, for example, no hatred for black people. Both boys don't seem especially interested in money. The big reward they get at the end of the novel does not interest them as much as the adventure that won it for them.

Answer 2

Based on Huck and Tom's interactions in chapter two, you can tell they are alike and different in many ways. While Huck and Tom are practically the same on the outside-- they're both teenage boys, they love adventure, and they hate being stifled by adults-- they are quite different on the inside. Huck is more mature and he is conscious of the effects of his actions; by contrast, Tom is very rash and selfish. Huck and Tom's personalities are basically the polar opposite of each other. More differences between the two boys include the fact that Huck Finn is alone, has no home, and his father is a drunk. Tom lives in a civilized household with an aunt who is tolerant of his boyish behavior and tricks, who is also indulgent with his youthful escapades. In contrast to Tom, Huck is a social outcast. He thrives on his freedom and cannot abide by the structures of living in a normal household while Tom's life is bound by society, rules, and behaviors. More differences between the two friends including that Tom is filled with imaginative schemes and he likes to make everything seem high faulting and Huck has complications and he has no ambitions in life or desire to be seen as civilized.