Milan Bui
Campbell
Period 2, Row 2
May 9, 2014
Tom Sawyer Essay: Second Prompt
"I can lick you!" In the book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain, Tom begins as a very immature and sneaky boy; however, he grows into a responsible and considerate person. He is immature and reckless by starting an argument with a boy who just moved into town. He then matures during the Muff Potter case, and we finally see him become responsible and caring when he and Becky get lost in the cave. Tom not only grew out of his recklessness and selfishness, but he also learned to tell the truth.
During the first chapter, Tom got into an argument with the new boy in town and lied to his aunt about going swimming. In the beginning of the chapter, Tom’s aunt, Polly, mentioned that is was a hot day and asked Tom if he felt like going for a swim. While Tom did, he answered that it was indeed hot, but he did not feel like swimming. Aunt Polly didn’t notice until Sid, Tom’s brother, said, “Well, now, if I didn’t think you sewed his collar with white thread, but it’s black” (Twain 9). When Sid said this, Aunt Polly noticed that she did sew Tom’s collar with white thread, and she came to the conclusion that Tom did go swimming. Later, Tom saw the new boy and kept staring at him, and the more he looked at the boy’s clothes “the shabbier and shabbier his own outfit seemed” (Twain 10) to him. To break the ice, Tom exclaimed, “I can lick you” (Twain 10). Using today’s vocabulary, Tom is basically saying I can beat you up. This is quite immature of him since he has not even spoken to this boy prior to the conversation. Later, Tom “[sat] astride the new boy, and [pounded] him with his fists” (Twain 13). He was being reckless and was not thinking of the conse...
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...archers or an escape from the cave” (Twain 246). This means that Tom put up an act, so Becky would stay calm and feel assured that they would be saved. Obviously, by this point in time, Tom has become more caring and courteous, and he has matured a lot.
This paper clearly shows that Tom has matured and how he did so. All the events fit together in chronological order, and showed how Tom changed throughout the book to become more and more established. He started out very immature when he got into an altercation with a boy he didn’t even know. Later, Tom grows to be a little more mature as the case of Muff Potter progresses. Lastly, when Tom protects Becky in then cave, it showed how much he had matured and thought less of himself and more of others. By the end of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom has become more considerate of others, and has turned into a fine boy.
This early characterization keeps readers interested in Tom and what he will do throughout the novel due to his intriguing early rebellious behavior and personality. To start analyzing Tom’s life one must start with the earliest mention of him as a child, this being a scene of Tom harassing young girls during his own baptism, ignoring those who tell him to stop. This shows early rebellion and an apt for trying societal rules, revealing that he does not care about the outcome of any situation as long as he is enjoying himself. This is backed up later in his life when Tom gets into a fight at a bar and ultimately kills a man, resulting in him going to jail for multiple years, in which he does not break maintaining sanity revealing his aptitude and strength in his ways of leading his life. This philosophy would follow him through his life, ultimately starting to take a new shape when he would later meet again with the preacher who baptized him, Jim
To conclude Tom by page 164, is slowly but surely getting more confident in himself and also tries to
During the book, Tom attempts to get Becky jealous by using Amy Lawrence. “The little girls showed off in various ways and the little boys showed off with such diligence” (Twain 34) Showing off is a way to attract attention. Tom thought making his opponent jealous would be the way to impress someone. In the novel, Twain reveals that humans should not use other people to make an impression on someone. Mark Twain tells that in this world, perfection is craved but is not
Often times, people view Tom Sawyer as inherently mean, but after reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, I believe Tom's upbringing led to his behaviors. Throughout the whole novel, Tom goes on various adventures and behaves in a way that many people interpret as immature and selfish. Tom Sawyer's situation explains his behaviors because Aunt Polly struggles to discipline, Tom is still just growing up, and Tom Sawyer wants to receive the attention he lacks from not having a mother and father.
Importance/Analysis: This scene instantly made me admire Tom. His actions and revelation demonstrate how clever and mischievous he is and how he utilizes his power over the other boys for his own personal gain. Tom is aware that he is smarter and more mature than the others and takes advantage of that. This scene drew me into the book and had me wondering what clever ploy Tom Sawyer would pull next to entertain me.
The author continuously characterizes Tom in a way that makes the readers deride him and not want to follow the example of his like. For example, after Tom's wife takes all their valuables and tries to strike a bargain with the devil as Tom won't do it himself, Tom goes looking for her. The reader sees that he doesn't really care about her as much as he cares about the valuables: "He leaped with joy; for he recognized his wife's apron, and supposed it to contain the household valuables"(263). That shows that he is really greedy and ruthless; no one wants to follow someone portrayed like that. Furthermore, Tom had evidence that his wife was fighting with the devil when she tried to strike that bargain. The passage that provides his reaction has a satirical tone: "He shrugged his shoulders, and he looked at the signs of a fierce clapper clawing."Egad," said he to himself, "Old scratch must have had a tough time if it!" Tom consoled himself for the loss of his property, with the loss of his wife"(264). Contrasting words like fierce and prowess, which are serious words, with words like clapper clawing, egad and old scratch, Irving highlights...
The first step taken in Huck’s moral journey occurs after Huck has escaped the cabin he was held captive in by Pap, and safely lands on Jackson’s Island. Upon his arrival Huck runs into Jim, Miss Watson’s slave who has run away. When Huck and Jim bump into each other, Huck’s first response is “I bet I was glad to see him.” (Twain, 41) This sign...
In the short story “Cornet at night” by Sinclair Ross, Tom Dickson is a young farm boy who lives on a farm with his parents. He is very naive and has not had a chance to experience the outside world for his own. He knows only what he learns from the farm and school, but now that he gets to go on a small adventure on his on, he grows up in a variety of ways. One way in which Tom grows up is when he goes to town by himself. He has gone before, but with the security of his parents with him, and for a young boy to go to another town “eight miles north of here” is a large task for such a young boy, thus showing one way that he matures. To illustrate this, as Tom rolls into town with Rock he says, “I remember nothing but a smug satisfaction with myself, an exhilarating conviction of importance and
In the first few chapters of the book, we can already see just how spoiled Tom becomes due to his indulgent lifestyle. While Chambers is being fed “mush and milk,” Tom is being spooned “delicacies” with no limits (Twain 17). This leads Tom to always getting what he wants and bullying those who don’t comply to his rules. Although I might have thought this pampered lifestyle would fashion Tom into a strong and credible young man, much like a prince grows into the leader of a kingdom, it ended up ruining him into a weak and almost sickly child, with a character to match. Because Tom was always being ushered his life on a silver platter without lifting a finger, he later develops into someone who is unable to look after himself and solve his own problems. Later on in the book, we can most clearly see the effect of Tom’s upbringing onto himself after Roxy admits to Tom his true herita...
We do not know much about Tom’s childhood; however it is clear that his life has progressed into a sociopathic lifestyle. We do know that, “[His] parents died when [he] was very small” and that “[He] was raised by [his] aunt in Boston.” (25) He disliked his aunt, hated her, and wanted to kill her.
Tom is good natured and deals with what life throws at him, during the long trip towards work the family has realized the can count on Tom to help protect them. His past isn't going to define his future or change the way he feels about his family. As they arrive to California they get the devastating news that work is sparse and many people are dying of starvation, including Grampa who dies of a stroke. When the major change of losing a family member Tom realizes that life can be gone faster than you think and you see him changing into a more considerate person and a more sentimental person towards others. After they have buried Grampa, Tom comes across a “one eyed mechanic” who he helps fix his touring car. An act that he would probably never do in his past. Steinbeck shows Toms development into a more considerate person as the book
Moreover, Tom’s rigid adherence to rules and society’s conventions aligns him with the “sivilizing” forces that Huck learns to see through. While Tom’s role in the plot of the novel is small, his contribution to the overall message is integral. His nonsensical antics and wild imagination provide for amusing scenes and moments, however they share a deeper meaning that Twain means to convey to his audience. Representing the juxtaposition of a privileged man in Southern Antebellum society in the character of a young boy contributes to the satiric nature of the novel by providing a certain hilarity to the seriousness of Tom’s cruel nature.
Tom Sawyer, the main character of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, written by Mark Twain, is an average boy who is bored with his civilized life and escapes these constraints by pulling pranks. The character, Tom is presented as a realistic and convincing boy. He is kind and loving, but also cruel, stupid, and hypocritical. As the story progresses, Tom shows signs of maturity. The story of Tom Sawyer, as well as TOM being about a realistic character, is a story that is instructive to adults and children.
Tom Sawyer, a mischievous, brave, and daring boy that goes through adventures in love, murder, and treasure. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is about a boy maturing from a whimsical troublemaker into a caring young man. In the "conclusion" Mark Twain writes, "It being strictly a history of a boy, it must stop here; the story could not go much farther without becoming a history of a man" Tom is now maturing throughout a span of adventures in love, treasure, and everyday life that make him more of an adult, then a boy.
Early in the book, Tom and Huck witness a murder at a graveyard, and the town tries to convict an innocent man of the murder, only they know the truth, and use their friendship to prove an innocent man innocent. Later, the friends find a haunted house where Injun Joe, the true murderer, and an accomplice of his are stashing treasure. Finally, Tom and his love Becky get trapped in a cave and Injun Joe is following them to kill them. This is when Tom finds the treasure, escapes, and gets rich with Huck. The friendship of these two characters can get them through anything.