Also, if Huck had fought for Jim and Huck and Jim had not followed Tom's plan to free Jim, Tom might have gotten angry and left, which would have meant they wouldn't have done it. I found out Jim had been released. Huck's goal in the novel was to free Jim and all the trouble Jim went through was necessary to make this ending a happy ending. There had to be an ending and bringing Huck's old childhood friend Tom back into the novel was a brilliant idea. Tom's reappearance at the end maintained the satirical quality of the story with Tom's fictionalized side.