The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is one of the great classics of children’s literature of the world. The wit and humor used to describe nineteenth-century small town life in the Midwest has captured the hearts of child and adult readers alike for decades. With this book we have moved from fantasy to adventure stories on our syllabus. You will notice that in terms of its structure this novel is highly episodic and contains some highly entertaining adventures of Tom and his crew. There are many ways we can look at The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The first and perhaps most obvious is to look at it as a loosely related autobiographical homage to the youth of Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain (1835-1910). Pay careful attention to the preface where the author announces:
“Most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred; one or two were experiences of my own, the rest those of boys who were schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from life; Tom Sawyer also, but not from an individual—he is a combination of the characteristics of three boys whom I knew, and therefore belong to the composite order of architecture. The odd superstitions touched upon were all prevalent among children and slaves in the West at the period of this story—that is to say, thirty or forty years ago. Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women in that account, for part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and of how they felt and thought and talked, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in.”
Hartford, 1876 THE AUTHOR
Watch the video I have included in this Module to gain some more insights into Clemens’ background.
The second way we can look at the Adventures of Tom Sawyer is as an affectionate satire on small town life. Satire can be defined as “a literary composition in verse or prose in which human folly or vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule.” Laughter often results when satire is well done. Satire is a very old literary genre which can trace its beginnings as we know them to ancient Rome. There are two basic types of satire developed at that time which are often referred to in literary criticism: Horatian and Juvenalian satire. Horatian satire is named for the Roman poet Horace (65 BC-8 BC) who was known for a gentle laughing brand of satire. Juvenalian satire is named for the Roman satirist Juvenal who wrote in the late first century AD into the second. This kind of satire is sharp and lashing. The satire in the Adventures of Tom Sawyer is more Horatian in tone, with a kinder and gentler impact.
Another avenue of analysis for this novel is to see The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in the context of the “bad boy tradition” in the history of Children’s Literature It is one of several bad boy books that came out in the nineteenth century in reaction to a lot of children’s literature that was filled with overly pious cautionary tales that children were given to read to promote religious instruction and proper behavior.
Finally The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a book that presents a very interesting contrast in value system and philosophies of life when we compare the characters of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. As you might already know, Twain went on to give Huck Finn his own adventures in another book. Although Tom is bored with small town life he lives within its confines in a way that Huck does not. Since Huck is one of the most interesting characters in literature, I am also going to be asking you to write about him shortly. I very much look forward to your responses.
QUESTION:Write a character analysis of Huck Finn in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. What is he like? Why is he such a popular character in American literature? What philosophy of life/values can he be said to represent? Your post should be four well developed paragraphs at a minimum.