The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Introduction

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer focus upon the actions of the youthful Tom Sawyer and his friends, who seek adventure and excitement to escape the monotony of their “mundane” lives. Characteristic of the conflicts between Tom, his half brother Sid, and his Aunt Polly with whom he lives is the book's opening, Sid reports to Aunt Polly that Tom played hooky from school and went swimming. Although torn between the appeal of Tom's basic good nature and his winning ways and the belief that such behavior must be punished, Aunt Polly assigns work duty to Tom for the following Saturday. As is typical of Tom's appealing character throughout the novel, he turns the Saturday punishment of whitewashing the fence into play. Convincing his friends that whitewashing the fence are fabulous fun, Tom quickly sits idly by while friends offer a kite, marbles, tadpoles, firecrackers, brass doorknobs, and other valuables for the chance to whitewash (Robinson, 24).

Discussion and Analysis

Throughout the novel, this motif is repeated: Each time Tom violates the rules and conventions of St. Petersburg society he becomes a hero through innate cleverness and ingenuity. For example, repulsed by the requirements of memorizing Scripture, Tom trades his various trinkets for tickets that the faithful Sunday school students have earned through such study; he later applies these tickets toward the prize of a Bible. Confounding the minister with his questionable collection of tickets, Tom impresses Judge Thatcher's family, prestigious new arrivals in town and wins the admiration of the judge's daughter, Becky.

An exception to the Tom-as-hero episodes is the graveyard adventure with Huck Finn. One night, seeking adventure and a cure for warts at the graveyard, Tom and Huck discover Muff Potter and Injun Joe assisting young Doc Robinson in robbing a grave for a body the doctor ...