Foil

Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn

In case you missed it, Huck questions absolutely everything. He doesn’t accept religion or the law or racism at face value. Rather, he examines them and comes to his own conclusions about what is right. Tom, on the other hand, follows rules to the letter. For example, Tom never wonders if it is right to make some poor man, isolated from his family, sleep with snakes and rats just because that is what he read in books. We cannot imagine Huck putting Jim through such a long, protracted escape just for fun. We learn far more about Huck by comparing him to Tom. That, friends, makes Tom a foil and a half.

Buck Grangerford and Huckleberry Finn

Although his presence in the story is brief, Buck Grangerford’s importance lies in his similarity to Huck. They are approximately the same age, have similar names, and take to each another right away. And for good reason. Buck is raised by a wealthy and allegedly aristocratic family, whereas Huck comes from a poor upbringing by an alcoholic and abusive dad. The Grangerfords should be refined and well educated, but in fact they’re feuding with another family for no clear reason. This wouldn't be so bad if people didn’t die from their ridiculous argument. The point this foil makes is that upbringing, class, and status aren’t everything. Also, here we see Twain's clear perspective that some of the social beliefs of the South (like the notion that slavery is somehow OK) are asinine.