Tom Sawyer Criticism

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Daniel Cai, Ivan Li, William Kang, Shaun Li Meyer, Per. 5 10/25/17 “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Classic for Centuries” The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain, is a captivating novel chronicling the adventures of a young boy, Tom Sawyer, along the Mississippi River. Since its publication in 1816, it has become a literary classic that has captured America's imagination. Because of the novel’s catholic appeal, dynamic yet realistic plot, and unorthodox use of language, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer has made its way onto the bookshelves of millions of Americans. Although Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is primarily a children’s book, to older generations, it is reminiscent of childhood times. In fact, in the preface to the first edition of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Twain noted that “part of my plan [in writing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer] …show more content…

Twain’s writing style in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer can be best characterized as saturnine humor along with satirical jeers at society. For instance, Twain writes, “There was once a church choir that was not ill-bred, but I have forgotten where it was, now.” (36). In this excerpt, Twain is poking fun at churches in general, as he satirically describes the poor quality of their choirs. Along with this new form of writing, Twain also freely includes unorthodox language, mainly in dialogue. In the world of Tom Sawyer, children respond to their mothers with a “Yes’m”, friends trade “hoopsticks”, and society uses words that would be considered obscene today. With his revolutionary writing style, Twain imposes a blithe disregard for American literature at the time, which allows him to develop one of the most captivating and enthralling chronicles of any character in the history of American

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