Tom vs. Huck, AKA Romanticism vs. Realism

In the final chapters, in which Tom and Huck form and execute their plan to free Jim, Tom and Huck have two very contrasting ways of going about things. Tom wants freeing Jim to be a big, exciting adventure, complete with all sorts of special adventurous things he read about in his books when it comes to escaping prisoners - things like rats and snakes, the prisoner carving a message into the wall, and chopping off the prisoner's foot to escape the chains. Huck, on the other hand, knows deep down that Tom's plans are completely ridiculous and instead attempts to convince Tom to use methods that are more easy and reliable. In this storyline, Tom represents Romanticism while Huck represents Realism. Tom has read many Romantic novels and is thus completely obsessed with the Romantic ideas of epic adventure. Huck, however, is far more grounded in reality, and focuses less on what would be "the right way," as Tom puts it (257) and more on what would actually work. Tom and Huck's bickering and their failure to ultimately carry out a majority of Tom's plans (and then Tom still getting shot) is Twain's way of showing that the Romantic ideals that Tom so violently strives for simply do not work in the real world. The stories Tom reads are fiction, and while these adventures may be fun to read about, they just are not possible within real life.