Heroic and Maturation
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 is shown, throughout the story, as a typical boy of his time. He has a loving, happy home, with his devoted Aunt Polly to care for him. He is restricted by his home routine of prayers, meals, chores, bedtime, but when his routine life gets too dull, he has the nearby river and woods, where he can go to escape. Though Tom is not "the model boy" of the village. He plays boyish pranks on Aunt Polly, Sid, his friends, and everyone in town. He steals, lies, plays hooky, fights, and goes swimming secretly, but he is a normal boy, what normal boys do at his age.
Tom is an imaginative boy who has a good knowledge about human behavior and knows how to use it. He continually outwits his Aunt Polly, and also persuades other boys to do his work for him, without them even knowing of his trickery. One example of this is in the whitewashing scene, when his Aunt Polly makes him whitewash the outside fence before he is allowed to play. He slyly convinces the first boy by saying "...I don't see why oughtn't like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence everyday?" (21) With this cunning use of words he manipulates the boy to whitewash the fence, which leads to others also joining in to help. In the end, Tom has made a little profit as well as getting the whitewashing done without actually doing it.
As well as Tom being known as a strong boy, he also has fears. He is afraid, at various times in the book, of being harmed by Injun Joe, starving to death with Becky in the cave, of witchcraft, and of death during the thunderstorm when he is ill with the measles. Some of his fears are based on real dangers, such as with Injun Joe. Others are simply fears in his mind, partially by luck and partly by using his mind and courage, Tom is able to eventually triumph over his fears.
Tom, who is usually a spirited guy, sometimes goes off by himself to think about his death. Usually these dark moods only last a very short time, and then he is back to his rowdy self. For example, after being rejected by Becky, he goes off into his comforting woods and thinks about ways to get back at her, and even thinks about running away. Though he gets into these moods occasionally, a quick visit from his friends he totally forgets his depressed mood, and resorts back to his spirited self.
Although Tom rebels against society and its restrictions, he is basically respectable. He is the nephew of a woman who is the soul of suitability and who is instilled him with these values, When Tom calculates his pranks and adventures in terms of society's reactions. At the end of the story, he even persuades his best friend Huck, who is an outcast in the town, to become "respectable" by telling him "Well, everybody does that way, Huck." (243) Tom also convinces Huck to be respectable by telling him he will not let him join his robber gang.
Also another aspect of Tom, which is realistic, is how he grows throughout the story. Tom starts out acting childish and irresponsible and ends up acting more mature and responsible. The story of Muff Potter begins with Tom and Huck going to a graveyard to try a superstitious belief. It ends with Tom defying superstition and fear of bodily harm and testifies against Injun Joe in court, which then gets Muff Potter freed.
An example of his maturation, which is an aspect of a realistic character, is the relationship of Becky and Tom. It begins with Tom's desertion of his sweetheart, Amy Lawrence, when he sees the pretty Becky in the Thather yard. The feud between the two is childish and petty. In the end, though, Tom keeps Becky from harm by taking her whipping for her in the school. Also Tom and Becky get lost in the caves, due to Tom's childish wish to explore, but he later shows maturity and courage by taking care and eventually rescuing Becky by finding a way out of the cave. He even risks meeting Injun Joe in the cave in order to find a way out of the cave.
Another example of Tom's maturation is the Jackson Island story. Tom runs away form Aunt Polly and Becky to play pirate. He and his friends camp out for many days, feed and amuse themselves, and even protect themselves when a terrible storm hits. Tom shows concern for his aunt's feelings by sneaking off the island and letting
her know he is safe. Because he wants to see his own funeral, he does not tell his Aunt Polly of his safety, but at least he had the thought to tell her, which shows somewhat of his maturity.
The most important example of Tom's maturation is the story of Injun Joe. When Tom and a rescue party find Injun Joe dead in the cave, "Tom was touched, for he knew by his own experience how this wretch had suffered." (227) This shows how Tom has learned the ability to consider the feelings of even an evil person like Injun Joe.
As well, the character of Tom is portrayed as a real boy living in a real time and place he is also a symbol of eternal boyhood. Tom's dreams are the dreams of all boys, which are to find treasure, to save his beloved from death, to triumph over the enemy, and to be a hero in the eyes of the entire world. Tom's dreams do come true in the book, and he enjoys the admiration he gets from everyone. This story basically shows how a child, whether it is a boy or a girl, should be let to do what they want to do. Through these experiences, the child will learn and understand the world better. He or she will also come out of the situation or experience with a sense of maturation, though they may not realize it.
An adult should perceive the message they should not let society dictate what they should feel or think, but they should decide for themselves about their own situations or lives. The village, in relation to the adults, is a place where the adults are shallow, self-centered, and caught up in their appearances. The townspeople are only concentrating on making sure they look the part of a well-evolved town. The church is not used as a place of worship, but simply a place to put on a show for their neighbors. This use of satire may show adults how outside appearances have limited value, what counts is who a person is on the inside.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a book about a realistic and convincing boy he is smart, yet stupid, also cruel, yet caring. The character of Tom continues to learn and grow during the story and eventually becomes a more mature boy, ready for adulthood.
Work Cited
Samuel Langhorn Clemens. May 17, 2008 .
DeKoster, Katie. Readings on Mark Twain. San Diego, CA: The Greenhaven Press, 1996.
Uncle Mark. Prod. Thomas S. Klise. Peoria, IL: 1985.
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