Pudd’nhead Wilson and the Question of Identity

then he was forced to send his brother away. After so many lies it’s only logical that Tom would be wary of authority figures.

     The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson juggles three plot lines, which all come together in a murder trial at the novel’s end. Pudd’nhead Wilson is a Northerner who comes to the small Missouri town of Dawson’s Landing to build a career as a lawyer. Immediately upon his arrival he alienates the townspeople, who don’t understand his wit. They give him the nickname “Pudd’nhead” and refuse to give him their legal work. He scrapes by on odd work and spends most of his time dabbling in scientific hobbies, most notably, fingerprinting.

Some may argue that Tom’s characteristics are developed more by nature rather than nurture. Some believe that Tom being born as an African American slave has influenced his personality in many ways. “Tom was a bad baby from the beginning of his usurpation. He would cry for nothing; he would burst into storms of devilish temper without notice” (Twain 18). This argument is not valid because even though he was a “bad” baby does not automatically make him a selfish, thieving, liar. All babies cry and whine when they are little and it doesn’t make them bad people. I think Tom is mainly affected by finding out that he is really a slave and that he’s African American. An example of when Tom displayed being ashamed in himself is, “ He dreaded his meals; the “nigger” in him was ashamed to sit at the white folks table” (Twain 53). This displays that Tom’s negative action came from him finding out that the person he thought he was all his life, is really a lie. Tom finding

Tom is definitely maturing throughout the chapters, slowly but steadily. Tom senses the seriousness of Aunt Polly’s grief when she takes him aside after breakfast on the morning after Dr. Robinson’s murder. When he realizes that Aunt Polly is extremely disappointed in him, Tom feels that her disappointment in him “[is] worse than a thousand whippings, and “[his] heart [is] sorer… than his body” (105). The evidence of hurting others depresses Tom for the first time, revealing that he has grown up a little. In addition, as he falls asleep on their first night in Jackson’s Island, Tom realizes that taking food from home is “plain, simple stealing” not just “ ‘hooking’ ”, and prays out of fear(131). This is the first time in the novel that Tom

When a person is born, they are not born blank. Ahead of them are expectations set by their society, their fate predetermined, and their free-will already diminished. Based on social status, an individual has a role to play; the media and the environment will groom until they are fit to accept that role. In Richard Wright’s Native Son, this is Bigger Thomas’ reality, as well as any other African American male. Based on skin tone, they will ultimately form to society’s stereotypes and expectations.

Tom has changed drastically through this book from beginning to end. Tom has become very knowledgeable from the whitewashing of the fence to the cave incident. When aunt Polly assigned tom to whitewash the fence all tom could think of was how he was going to get out of it and do as little

Tom starts out in the beginning of the book as assertive. However, he grows more noble throughout the book. In the beginning of the book, he tries to obtain other people to do his work, and he blames his accidents on others. Towards the end, he actually ends up doing work for others, and taking the blame for some people. Specifically

He couldn’t carry a simple conversation with his mom without arguing with her. He hated everything about his mother and everything she tried to do to keep their family together. (insert quote context and quote). One can see that from this, that Tom did not even have the maturity level to get along with his own mother. He was stubborn, inconsiderate, and rude and for that he is the worst

This shows that in the beginning Tom acted as a foolish young boy. Nearing the middle of the novel, Tom still tricked Aunt Polly into thinking that he had the exact same dream of an event that went on at the house while he wasn’t there, when really Tom was there but no one nnoticed him because he was hiding. Tom even said, “I think he said he hoped I was better off where I was gone to, but if I’d been better sometimes------.” Then Aunt Polly replied, “There, d’you hear that! It was his very words!” (Twain 123). This proves that Tom isn’t maturing because he is till continuing to trick Aunt Polly to think certain things just so he gets what he wants. If he truly has grown up he wouldn’t have lied like that and would’ve had to face reprimands and the truth. Furthermore, in the beginning of the novel Tom had a relationship mishap with Becky. Tom proposed to Beck and Becky had to do things that she wasn’t fully comfortable with so she just started to cry, then Tom didn’t know what to do so she thought “she had no companions but silence and loneliness. So she sat down to cry again and upbraid herself; and by this time the scholars began to gather again, and she had to hide her griefs and still her broken heart”

Completely contrary to Dorian Gray, Thomas Ripley absolutely abominates not only his own features, but also his own life. He describes his face as the dullest of the world, and admits to have felt very rarely pleased with himself. So strong are his feelings of self-hatred and dissatisfaction with his life as Thomas Ripley, that he murders a well heeled man and afterwards purports to be him. When he is required to return to living under his real identity, his far from narcissistic nature is elucidated by the following thought: “He hated becoming Thomas Ripley again, hated being nobody…” Nevertheless, it has been suggested that Tom does develop some self-esteem in the novel, as he seems to be proud of successfully pretending to be someone else and escaping arrest for murder. His growing appreciation for his inherent talents for impersonation and deceit may be the first stage of developing an incandescent love for himself, The talented Mr Ripley, and in stark contrast to Dorian Gray, this doesn’t turn out to be Tom’s downfall, but instead brings him a mindblowingly healthy bank

After these few incidents, Tom showed a lot of improvement in the ways that he acted. Tom is now a much more respected person by the people in his town. He shows that he has become more responsible and more obedient in what he does and what he is asked to do by others. Tom also shows signs that he cares very much for the people around him, their wellbeing, and for their feelings. These are the reasons why I feel my client, Aunt Polly, no longer needs my services and why I believe that her nephew, Tom Sawyer, has mature greatly this past

Tom’s ego helps him to understand that he cannot always get what he wants immediately and that if he had compromised and waited, he might have been happier, and it is this realization that makes him feel isolated and alone. By the end of the novel, Tom’s ego resurfaces and he changes his attitude toward others. While before he only thought of what he wanted, he now “…was inspired to spend hours with [Mrs. Cartwright] in the deck chair, talking to her and listening to her talk about her life in England and Greece…” (Highsmith 267) As Tom realizes that the evidence that has been unveiled thus far in the murders is pointing towards his guilt, he begins to reason that his new life may come to an end and he recognizes other people’s solitude because he too feels the same way.

Tom apologizes to Aunt Polly and tells her the whole story of what happened the night he was at his house. He feels bad about running away and learns that his actions can hurt other people. When he realizes what he did, learns from it, and acts selflessly, he grows in emotional maturity. At the end of the story, Tom is more emotionally mature than he is at the beginning of the story, but still not fully mature.

One of the ways Tom has changed is that he has got more responsible and came out o tell the truth about the murder.

In the beginning of the book, Tom is very immature. He picks fights and tricks people. In chapter one, Tom taunts a new boy and fights with him for no reason other than he wants to. The new boy was pretty immature too, but Tom was the challenger. He tries to trick his Aunt Polly into thinking he didn't skip school and go swimming by by re-sewing his shirt collar together after he took it off (Twain, 2). His half-brother, Sid, calls him on it and Tom gets in trouble. To get back at Sid, he throws mud at him.