Examples Of Romanticism In Huckleberry Finn

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Is the Character of Tom Sawyer a Romantic? Do all young boys share the characteristic of being romantic? In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the character Tom is a romantic in the ways of being adventurous, imaginative, and impractical. The first reason Tom is a romantic is because he is adventurous. In the novel, Tom meets up with Huck who is planning on stealing a slave, Jim, and Huck tells Tom: “ ‘I know what you’ll say. You’ll say it’s dirty, low-down business; but what if it is? I’m low down ; and I’m a-going to steal him, and I want you to keep mum and not let on. Will you?’ His eyes lit up and he says: ‘I’ll help you steal him’”(p.225). This quote proves that Tom is a romantic because it shows that Tom is…show more content…
Tom also shows his imaginative side in the novel when he is trying to come up with a coat of arms for Jim. “...Tom set to work to think out the coat of arms. By and by he said he’d struck so many good ones he didn’t hardly know which to take…”(p.257). This part of the novel shows that Tom is a romantic because it shows Tom’s wild imagination. Tom is able to think of many different ideas easily and doesn’t just think of ordinary ideas, but his own, original ideas. Tom being imaginative is shown using the previous quotes and proves that the characteristic of being imaginative is part of what makes Tom a…show more content…
Tom also shows the characteristic of being impractical when he wants Jim to write an inscription and instead of just letting Jim carve it in wood, he wants Jim to carve it into a stone. Tom says: “‘Come to think, the long ain’t a-going to do; they don’t have log walls in a dungeon: we got to dig the inscriptions into a rock. We’ll fetch a rock’” (p.259). This quote proves that Tom is a romantic because instead of letting Jim do the inscription the easy way, into wood, he makes Jim do it the impractical way, into a rock. Tom being impractical is shown in the previous quotes and proves that the characteristic of being impractical is part of what makes Tom a romantic. The characteristics of being adventurous, imaginative, and impractical are all personality traits that categorize Tom as being a romantic. Tom is adventurous when he decides to go on adventures with Huck; he is imaginative when he comes up with all his crazy ideas, and he is impractical when he does the simplest things in the hardest ways. Tom being adventurous, imaginative, and impractical adds a significant element of humor to the story that makes the story more enjoyable readers of all
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