During the 1840’s, the people who lived in America’s Southern states considered themselves fairly civilized. Living luxuriously on mansion sized plantations, they preached of chivalry and honor, and believed in a somewhat feudal society. Although this may seem a rosy picture, to many it was not. Mark Twain, champion of the pen, asks the American people in his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, whether Southern society is truly a landmark of civilization, or if it is all a lie.

Twain depicts Huckleberry Finn as a boy who does not care to be civilized. Although he is accused of using the most “infant-schooliest ways of going at a thing” (253) by Tom Sawyer, Huck is a pragmatic boy, making decisions that are practical, not elaborate. Huck could care less about a society that would make him work harder than he should. Huck has a simple view of the world, and does not see the need to use his imagination unless it can benefit him in some way. But Tom, armed with knowledge garnered from books, is determined to show simple-minded Huck the ‘regular’ or civilized way of doing things. This includes setting the duo up into dangerous situations when trying to free their friend Jim. Despite his lack of literary knowledge, Huck understands the risks involved, and sets about a way to do it efficiently. But unimpressed by his friend’s resourcefulness, Tom explains how “there’s more honor in getting [Jim] out through a lot of difficulties and dangers” (252). Tom does not realize that Huck’s simple plans are more likely to leave them alive by the end of the day, while accomplishing their goal of freeing Jim at the same time. If the civilized way puts them in unnecessary harm, Huck cannot see why Tom would want to take that path. But Tom repeatedly insults Huck about how dim-witted he is, for anyone who has not read such novels must be a “sap-head” (22). Twain exploits the irony in that the ‘uncivilized’ Huck Finn has more sense than the book-devotee Tom Sawyer.

From Huckleberry Finn’s perspective, Tom Sawyer appears to be ‘civilized’, but his actions make Huck question this. Gifted with perhaps too much imagination, Tom embellishes reality to mimic his favorite novels. Thus, boys become bloodthirsty robbers, turnips become “julery” (20) and Sunday School children transform into “Spaniards and A-rabs” (21). To Tom, the world can be manipulated into his own imaginary play land, while Huck is satisfied with how the world looks already. Granted, all children have their fantasies, but Tom takes the books literally, adamantly saying that the “books knows what’s the correct thing to do” (18) for every circumstance. Tom does not realize that his actions appear ludicrous to Huck Finn, who wonders why life must be dictated according to what is written on a page instead of what a person learns through experience. Whenever Huck suggests an alternate plan to their latest game, he finds it is not “romantical enough for Tom Sawyer”(249). Because Tom reads adventure novels laced with action , he believes that all aspects of life, including simple tasks must