The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain

Quote of the book:

“Within two minutes, or even less, he had forgotten all his troubles. Not because his troubles were on whit less heavy and bitter to him than a man’s are to a man, but because a new and powerful interest bore them down and drove them out of his mind for the time—just as men’s misfortunes are forgotten in the excitement of new enterprises” (14).

This excerpt introduces us to the character Tom Sawyer, as any young child, who is carefree, and holds a small attention span, that allows grudges to be lifted in the shortest of times. This also sets the stage for the various events and adventures that unfold in this book. An example of this is Tom Sawyer and his love interest Becky Thatcher. When he first starts to woo her, he tells her about kissing and introduces her to the whirlwind world of romance. He, at first, fails to mention his past love, as it is a thing of the past and things of the past are usually forgotten by a child like Tom Sawyer. Even after breaking Becky Thatcher’s heart, he is upset, until he gets involved in the next game that he and Huck Finn will be playing. Another example is the effect he has on his aunt. The antics that Tom Sawyer always gets involved in worries his Aunt Polly, to the point of her believing that he has died. When Tom realizes the harm that he has done to his aunt, he is upset, and feels guilty about his actions, until another event comes to take his mind off of things.

Connection:
Something that I instantly thought of upon seeing this character was none other than the fantastical character Peter Pan. In the J.M. Barrie play, Peter Pan is reputed as being a mischievous boy, and somewhat of a manipulative character as well. He uses his smarts to convince Wendy to do certain actions she normally would not, such as stay in Neverland with him. Our protagonist in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, is also the same way. When he does not want to go to school on that gloomy Monday, he studies his body in order to find an illness that he can successfully enact. He goes through an overbearing amount of work to ensure that he gets whatever it is that he would like. The other famous example is when Tom Sawyer takes advantage of his own friends in order to go out and play. The classic scene begins with Tom Sawyer painting this fence for his aunt as a form of punishment. As he sees his friend, he begins to twist the task, to make it look like something the others would envy him for. In the end, he ends up manipulating his friends in order to get them to paint the fence for him, while he goes off to play.

Another comparison is not solely to the character but the premise of the story itself. There are dark elements in Tom Sawyer, as in Peter Pan. The central theme that can be found in Peter Pan is the oncoming age of adulthood, which Peter attempts to avoid in all circumstances. He takes children away in order to keep them from becoming adults, though he often finds himself returning children, and letting them grow up. In the way that this play is told, it creates the sentimental value of being a child, and we see this in moments where the author asks the audience to clap if they believe in fairies, something that adults would handle differently in their mature mindset. Meanwhile, Tom Sawyer’s story is about the life of a child. Take for example the various events that occur. With Injun Joe committing these crimes, the whole town is in a panic, knowing that there is a dangerous criminal on the loose. Of course this concerns our young hero and his friend, although their main concern is easily shifted to Injun Joe’s buried treasure and the ghost possibly haunting the two boys. Earlier on, when Tom and Huck witness the crime, they are instantly terrified and contemplate whether to tell anyone, with their problem being that of snitching, a common childhood worry that many of us have heard of. The story is also told so that we see the mindset of a child, with their innocent games that they play throughout the typical day.

Visual Representation:

The illustrations provided by Norman Rockwell in certain editions of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer actually provide a relatively accurate setting of the Deep South. His paintings are also accurate in capturing the mood of this book. It can be one that could be further analyzed, and of course, this is a book that can be looked at upon a much deeper basis. However, on the outside, it is a pleasant and enjoyable read, with commonly lighthearted moods and a beautiful and bright setting. The vibrant colors go only further to show the light tone of this book and the joy that the boys find in their adventures. The characters' emotions are also well displayed in this and show a typical childlike behavior, full of natural curiosity. Tom, painting the fence, has a mock determined look on his face as he paints, also a nonchalant expression at the same time to express his feelings on painting this fence. Meanwhile, his friend, crouched over with his lips pursed in interest shows a curious expression, even one that is in wonder as he sees this fun activity being done. Going even further, it can be noted that the image selected is from the scene in which Tom Sawyer tricks his friends into painting his fence, which is a very important scene from the book, especially when it comes to the analysis of the character Tom Sawyer, the central character of the book.

Questions:
1. What would be a fitting career for the young Tom Sawyer?
2. Does Tom mature throughout the course of the book, and in what ways?
3. Consider the setting of the book: Is the setting fundamental to the plot or any morals that might be portrayed in this book, or not? Why?
4. Based off of Tom’s experience with the church and Sunday school, what might one conclude on Mark Twain’s view on religion?
5. What sort of commentary is Mark Twain providing regarding the benefits and disadvantages of childhood?

Reflection:
The interesting aspect of reading this book was the language used by Mark Twain in order to create an authentic experience for the reader. I felt fully immersed in the world of Tom Sawyer, where newfangled technology felt like an extraordinary wonder and impressed me, despite this technology being outdated to someone like me. However, at the same time, this made the text harder to understand, seeing as Twain frequently cut out letters and used apostrophes, and intentionally used incorrect verbs to make thins more believable. The book was still regardless an interesting and beneficial read. The short chapters were divided as to split up the many adventures that Tom and his friends embarked on. No matter how mundane these appeared to an average reader, or how uneventful they were, the characters made the tasks all very highly interesting. Considering the insightful perspective we had, the story was told in a fashion that allowed the reader to fully get into the mind of Tom. As we had described in class, magical realism is seeing things through the perspective of a child. When Tom and his friends pretend to be pirates, they do so in a naïve manner. We all know that pirates, regardless of the glamorous reputation they had, were actually ruthless when it came to violence. People like Tom Sawyer however, have yet to be exposed to that, and therefore, pretend to be them, without realizing the evils behind their activities.
This perspective also contributes to the main plot. This plot takes rather long to set up, it is really only introduced after the second half of the book, however, is blended into the rest of the story very well. Since the kids witness a heinous crime committed, they begin to fear for their lives, and end up swearing to "keep mum" about what they witnessed. While fearing that they are going to be caught by Injun Joe, after having exposed what Injun Joe had done, they also quickly move on to their next adventure, endangering themselves even more. What is great is to see a book in which we can all revisit the reckless acts committed as a child, and realize we were not alone, nor were we completely wrong in doing any of these actions.