The revelation at the novel’s end that Tom has known all along that Jim is a free man is startling. Is Tom inexcusably cruel? Or is he just being a normal thirteen-year-old boy? Does Tom’s behavior comment on society in some larger way?

Lizabeth remembers her childhood, during the summer when she destroyed miss lottie's marigolds. the emotions that she experienced from the guilt of her destruction made her feel pain more than the joys and fun that she had, and this motivated her to taunt miss lottie.