Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain
Contents
CHAPTER XLII
Overview
Tom is brought home wounded as Jim, recaptured, is chained and condemned to bread and water. The doctor publicly praises Jim for risking his freedom to nurse Tom, softening the mob’s anger. Tom awakens and boasts of the rescue, then reveals Miss Watson freed Jim in her will. Aunt Polly arrives, exposes Huck and Tom’s impersonations, and confirms Jim’s legal freedom, upending the Phelpses’ assumptions.
Summary
At breakfast, Silas Phelps cannot find Tom. A procession arrives: Tom on a mattress with the doctor, and Jim—disguised in a dress—captured and tied. Townsmen argue about hanging Jim but refrain since he isn’t theirs; instead they chain him heavily, restrict him to bread and water, and set guards and a dog.
The doctor recounts how Jim emerged to help operate on and nurse Tom through the night, risking capture. Impressed, the men agree to stop cursing Jim, though they leave his harsh restraints. Huck resolves to relay the doctor’s defense to Aunt Sally after navigating explanations about Tom’s wound.
The next morning, Tom improves. When Tom wakes, Aunt Sally and Huck listen as Tom, proud and excited, confesses their elaborate nights of thefts, digging, ladders, and pranks to free Jim. Aunt Sally fumes, then reveals Jim is back in chains; Tom, outraged, insists Jim is free by Miss Watson’s will.
Aunt Polly arrives unexpectedly, catching Tom mid-boast. She unmasks the impersonations—Huck as Tom and Tom as Sid—and confirms Miss Watson freed Jim before she died. She also exposes that Tom intercepted her letters. The Phelpses reel from the revelations, and Tom’s adventure is revealed as an unnecessary scheme to free someone already legally free.
Who Appears
- Tom SawyerBrought home wounded; boasts of the rescue; reveals Miss Watson freed Jim; exposed by Aunt Polly.
- Huckleberry FinnNarrator; hides the letter, observes Jim’s recapture, and is unmasked by Aunt Polly.
- JimRecaptured and harshly chained; praised by the doctor for nursing Tom; legally free by will.
- Aunt Sally PhelpsCares for Tom; outraged by the boys’ confession; learns Jim is legally free.
- The DoctorBrings Tom home; publicly commends Jim’s bravery and care, softening townsmen’s hostility.
- Aunt PollyArrives from St. Petersburg; exposes the impersonations and confirms Miss Watson’s will.
- Uncle Silas PhelpsBewildered by revelations; had joined in securing Jim; later stunned by Aunt Polly’s news.