Tom is Evil

Although Tom Sawyer appears in less than fifty pages in this book, he makes sure that his presence is felt. Toward the beginning of the book he seems like an okay character, just a leader in his group of friends. However toward the end of the book, it becomes clear that Tom is evil. When Tom agrees to "help" Huck free Jim, there is situational irony, because Huck is unaware that Tom knows Jim is no longer a slave. Even though he knows this, Tom still agrees to help Huck because he wants an adventure. On page 257 Tom explains why he didn't tell anyone Jim was free: "Why, I wanted an adventure of it; and I'd 'a' waded neck-deep in blood to- goodness alive, Aunt Polly". This is a horrific and disgusting thing for Tom to do, especially because he makes it much more complicated by "doing it by the book". Tom forces Jim to have a creepy pet, attempts to have him cut his limbs off, and notifies his uncle about Jim fleeing. Tom is such a sick character who is subdued by what society believes that he goes as far as showing pride in his bullet wounded leg. This just shows how evil of a character Tom was.