Tom's Selfish Analysis

Mark Twain portrays Tom as selfish and self-absorbed in order to establish the moral inferiority of a white and commonly well thought-of boy. When Tom begins plotting to free Jim, he suggests that they follow the “books” he knows of by citing an example where “They couldn’t get the chain off, so they just cut their hand off, and shoved. And a leg would be better still… and besides, Jim’s a n***** and wouldn’t understand the reasons for it, and how it’s the custom in Europe; so we’ll let it go” (Twain 181). Tom demonstrates that his concern is to have an adventure “by the book,” and feels that Jim is his inferior. Tom’s lack of caring for anything but his fun is indicative of his self-absorption. Later, Tom’s antics and thievery drive Sally Phelps to “‘reckon that the world

He toys with and subjects Jim to the harassment of a slave for several weeks by withholding knowledge of his freedom, for the sole purpose of his amusement. Tom isn 't alone in his racial attitudes, as the “the pre-civil war southern church taught slavery as God 's will” (Smith 371). This background establishes that Tom isn 't unique in his attitudes. Likewise, it has been demonstrated by the literary scholar David L. Smith that “the contrast between Jim’s behavior and Tom’s is unmistakable. Huck declares that Jim is ‘white inside’ (chap. 40). He apparently intends this as a compliment, but Tom is fortunate that Jim does not behave like a lot of the whites in this novel” (Smith, 373). This commentary proves that Tom, and those like him in society, hold deeply embedded racist prejudices that render them incapable of some forms of humanity. All in all, Tom’s pursuit of his own happiness trumps all other people 's interests, leading to him across as selfish and uncaring. This character trait is used to imply that whites are not the pinnacles of morality that they 've been made out to be