The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

1518 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Tom sawyer character development

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer revolves around the youthful adventures of the novel's schoolboy protagonist, Thomas Sawyer, whose reputation precedes him for causing mischief and strife. Tom lives with his Aunt Polly, half-brother Sid, and cousin Mary in the quaint town of St. Petersburg, just off the shore of the Mississippi River. St. Petersburg is described as a typical small-town atmosphere where the Christian faith is predominant, the social network is close-knit, and familiarity resides. Unlike his brother Sid, Tom receives "lickings" from his Aunt Polly; ever the mischief-maker, would rather play hooky than attend school and often sneaks out his bedroom window at night to adventure with his friend, Huckleberry Finn ­ the town's social outcast. Tom, despite his dread of schooling, is extremely clever and would normally get away with his pranks if Sid were not such a "tattle-tale." As punishment for skipping school to go swimming, Aunt Polly assigns Tom the chore of whitewashing the fence surrounding the house. In a brilliant scheme, Tom is able to con the neighborhood boys into completing the chore for him, managing to convince them of the joys of whitewashing. At school, Tom is equally as flamboyant, and attracts attention by chasing other boys, yelling, and running around. With his usual antics, Tom attempts to catch the eye of one girl in particular: Becky Thatcher, the Judge's daughter. When he first sees her, Tom immediately falls in love with Becky. After winning her over, Tom suggests that they "get engaged." But when Tom accidentally blurts that he has been engaged before to Amy Lawrence, he ruins his relationship with Becky and becomes heartbroken. One night, Huck and Tom sneak off at midnight to the town's graveyard, where they are planning to carry out a special ritual used to cure warts. Believers in superstition and folklore, the two expect the graveyard to be full of ghosts. After hearing voices approach them, the two boys hide in fear; the voices belong to Injun Joe ­ the villainous savage, Muff Potter- the town drunk, and Dr. Robinson. The three men are grave robbing! Soon, a fight breaks out between Dr. Robinson and the two other men. As Dr. Robinson grabs a headboard and knocks the liquored Muff Potter into unconsciousness, Injun Joe grabs Muff's knife and stabs the doctor to death. The boys run away from the graveyard before they learn that Injun Joe is planning on framing Muff for the doctor's murder.

Show More
Related

  • Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the greatest American novels ever written. The story is about Huck, a young boy who is coming of age and is escaping from his drunken father. Along the way he stumbles across Miss Watson's slave, Jim, who has run away because he overhead that he would be sold. Throughout the story, Huck is faced with the moral dilemma of whether or not to turn Jim in. Mark Twain has purposely placed these two polar opposites together in order to make a satire of the society's institution of slavery. Along the journey, Twain implies his values through Huck on slavery, the two-facedness of society, and represents ideas with the Mississippi River.

    Read More

  • The N-Word in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

    521 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tom Sawyer serves as a foil, or a contrast character, to Huckleberry. His ideas for adventures usually come from books he reads and is rebellious to authority. Even with this, his novel showed that he st...

    Read More

  • Huck Finn Coming Of Age Analysis

    2074 Words  | 5 Pages

    Huck uses trickery on Jim and others, allowing him to maintain his right to be a child. Huck is known to play tricks on many people much like his sly best friend Tom Sawyer. He decides to have fun one night and play a trick on Jim after they get separated on the river:

    Read More

  • Free College Essays - The Role Model in Huckleberry Finn

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is written from the view point of the boy Huckleberry Finn. He tells about the adventures he is having on the Mississippi River with a runaway slave, whose name is Jim. It becomes apparent early in the book that there are a couple of people who play major roles in Huck's life. One is Jim and the other is Tom Sawyer, the person Huck wishes he could be like.

    Read More

  • Hucklebery Finn by Mark Twain

    923 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak just because a baby can’t chew it.”(1) This is a quote from author Mark Twain in response to the banning of his novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from public libraries. Huckleberry Finn has proven to be one of the most controversial books in the United States since its first publication in the 1880s. Many people disagree with the language and themes of this book, and bemoan the teaching of it in public high schools. Others argue that Mark Twain’s narrative is an important work of American literature and students that are mature enough for these topics should be exposed to it. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain should not be banned from public high school curriculums because it teaches students about Southern culture in the 19th century, introduces students to information for learning and discussion, and brings up social issues that need to be addressed in today’s society.

    Read More

  • The Character Huck Finn in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    1412 Words  | 3 Pages

    While Huck is traveling down the river with Jim, he must lie and often disguise himself to survive on his own to conceal his identity. Huck rebels because he does not want to follow his aunts house rules or live up to her expectations which are to conform to social norms. This means he has to dress cleanly and neatly, use manners, go to school, and be polite to everyone. Huck also is confused because he wants to get away from his abusive father who excessively drinks. Huck is afraid of his father who has beaten him and verbally abused him repeatedly therefore, his only solution is to run away. He does this by faking his own death. Curiousity overwhelms him and he wants to know how society has taken to the news of his death. In order to get some information Huck disguises himself as a girl. He meets with Judy Lawson, a local woman, and asks about the disappearance of Huck Finn. Although his disguise works well, Judy Loftus starts to test him to disguise whether Huck is really a girl. As soon as Judy says, "What's your real name? Is it Bill, or Tom, or Bob? -or what is it?"(Twain 70) Huck realizes he has no chance in pulling such pranks. When confronted with his lie Huck tells the truth and ends up making a friend who says he can count on her. Huck also tries to protect Jim from being captured by lying about himself and his situation.

    Read More

  • Huckleberry Finn Father Son Relationship Analysis

    816 Words  | 2 Pages

    At first, Huckleberry treats, Jim as an ignorant slave and plays tricks on him. “Tom he made a sign to me—kind of a little noise with his mouth—and we went creeping away on our hands and knees

    Read More

  • Mark Twain, The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

    1545 Words  | 4 Pages

    Soon after joining Jim on the island, Huck begins to realize that Jim has more talents and intelligence than Huck has been aware of. Jim knows "all kinds of signs" about the future, people's personalities, and weather forecasting. Huck finds this kind of information necessary as he and Jim drift down the Mississippi on a raft. As important, Huck feels a comfort with Jim that he has not felt with the other major characters in the novel. With Jim, Huck can enjoy the best aspects of his earlier influences. Jim's meaning to Huck changes as they proceed through their adventure. He starts out as an extra person just to take on the journey, but they transform into a friend. "It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger."(chap. XV) Huck tries to squeal on Jim but can't because he remembers that Jim called him "de bes' fren' I ever had;...de on'y white genlman dat ever kep' his promise to ole Jim."(chap. XVI) Huck realizes that he can not turn Jim in since they both act as runaway outcasts on the river. The support they have for each other sprouts friendship. As does the Widow, Jim allows Huck security, but Jim is not as confining as is the Widow. Like Tom Sawyer, Jim is intelligent but his intelligence ...

    Read More

  • Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    654 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is a person to be admired. His caring attitudes and blunt honesty prove that he is a great person. Although Huck can be seen lying, cheating and stealing, he does these things out of necessity and as a result of his poor upbringing. These negative attributes don’t affect his overall high character.

    Read More

  • Injun Joe Research Paper

    378 Words  | 1 Pages

    Huck and Tom witness the murder of Doctor Robinson ,and they swear a blood oath. Huck and Tom noticed three approaching figures and it was Doctor Robinson , Injun Joe, and Muff Potter.“Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer swear they will keep mum about this and they wish they may drop dead in their tracks if they ever tell and rot”. Tom shouldn't tell the sheriff what he has seen, because he could be killed by Injun Joe, no one will believe them.

    Read More

  • Positive Changes in Character in "The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain

    1973 Words  | 4 Pages

    Huckleberry Finn, the son of a known drunk in town, is already able to look back at some exciting adventures and a chaotic and disobedient lifestyle. As he was taken under the wings of the widow Douglas. He lived in her nice house with the intentions of making him an acceptable figure of the american society. After three months Huckeberry Finn cannot take, living a high social life, full of annoying expectations, that he eventually leaves the town St. Petersburg. On his way to freedom and away of authority he gets to know Jim. A colored slave who also escaped from his owner because he was about to be sold to a new plantation owner. They become friends and start to head down the Mississippi river on a self-made raft. On which they experience a bunch crazy adventures, sometimes even dramatic ones. While on their trip Huck basically only experiences fraud, theft and lies as he runs into his father and a clever couple of swindlers. He soon notices that justice, faith and humanity is only presented as a camouflage. At the end of their travels Huckleberry Finn and Jim meet Tom Sawyer and eventually return back to St. Petersb...

    Read More

  • Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe

    1058 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1962, Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe. According to legend, he said, “So you’re the little lady who wrote the book that started this Great War” (Harriet Beecher Stowe Center). Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a controversial novel written about slavery during the 1800s, sparked many of the feelings that would eventually escalate into causing the bloodiest war America had ever seen.

    Read More

  • How Is Tom Sawyer Alike

    511 Words  | 2 Pages

    In my opinion, Tom Sawyer is very mischievous when he is with his friends. He seems to demonstrate his mischievous and adventurous character when he and some friends go out pirating. Another thing that Tom Sawyer does is a little more dangerous because he interferes with the affairs of Injun Joe. This gets him in big trouble. He goes and spies on Injun Joe, which wouldn't have been a bad idea except that Injun Joe had murdered someone and blamed it all on Muff Potter. At the trial Tom has to tell so that Muff Potter does not get hanged; as a result, Injun Joe now wants to kill Tom Sawyer. Tom loves adventure, but does not always consider the consequences of what he is doing.

    Read More

  • Why Is Tom Sawyer Fake His Death

    636 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tom Sawyer, who had always been known as a trouble maker in the small town of St. Petersburg, Missouri. He had played hooky, lied, cheated, and stole. So When he was out with his two friends, they decided that they wanted to be free, like the pirates they pretended to be. Both sides agree that Sawyer needed discipline, although they disagree that his aunt was doing her best to raise him.

    Read More

  • Tom Sawyer

    530 Words  | 2 Pages

    Friendships are a major theme in the story and are expressed through having faith, their explorations, exchanging items, and sharing similar views. When Tom and Becky separate from the rest of the group, they venture throughout the cave by themselves. Soon after realizing that they are both lost, they rely on each other to find a way out of the cave and back to civilization. Another journey is when Joe Harper, Huckleberry Finn, and Tom go to Jackson’s Island which indicates the boyish, sociable relationship among each other. The companionship between Huck and...

    Read More

More about The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Open Document