Themes of Freedom and Childhood Fantasy in Tom Sawyer “There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy’s life when he has the desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure” -Mark Twain. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is about the boyhood of a troublesome kid named Tom who goes on many adventures. Tom causes lots of trouble in people’s lives, but is also a hero to many in his town. Through Tom’s ideas, adventures, and interactions between things and people, Twain explores themes representing freedom and childhood fantasy. Tom has many ideas that show he wants to be a free person and childhood fantasies of growing up. When Tom is whitewashing for playing hooky and skipping school, he shows he doesn’t wish to be doing this …show more content…
When Tom runs away to become a pirate, he has many newfound freedoms. His dream of being a pirate is coming true. Tom feels free when being a pirate. He says, “You don’t have to get up mornings, and you don’t have to go to school, and wash, and all that blame foolishness. You see a pirate don’t have to do anything” (Twain 85). Tom thinks he is finally free by going on this adventure. He doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to do. The childhood fantasies of Tom’s are coming true by going on this pirating exploration. Tom also is trying to to be free by going on an adventure with Becky. On page 184 Tom and Becky go into a cave together, when they aren’t allowed. They end up getting separated from the tour group, exploring the cave. Tom wants to be free with Becky, not being told what to do. Becky and Tom go into the cave, living a childhood dream of them being together forever. Twain shows how Tom is free from having to be told what to do. Going on this adventure allows Tom to have the childhood fantasy of love come true. Tom also goes on another adventure in the cave to get money. Tom says to Huck, “The money’s in the cave!” (Twain 198). Tom wants to get the money, because it means he can free of poverty and have what he wants. As a child Tom has always dreamed of being rich and now his dream can come
The theme that I think the story has presented was the growth of the character Tom. In the first part of this book Tom participated in many pranks and adventures not caring about the consequences that could happen after each prank or adventure. After witnessing a murder with his friend he shows a little bit of growth from the prankster he is. He had done the right thing to testify against Injun Joe. Doing the right thing helped him grow as a person and the reward of becoming more of an adult.” Auntie, I wish I hadn’t done it—but I didn’t think.” Chapter 19, pg.118 When Tom realized he had hurt aunt Polly by not telling her he was still alive. He tells her that he cares about her a lot. Tom had matured enough to take the blame for something he had not done to keep Becky out of trouble. Throughout the story he grew as a
Tom Sawyer was an adventurous little boy who was always looking for attention. Throughout the chapters that we read I could understand that Tom had an enormous imagination and that he would do basically anything to receive some attention in return. Tom acted the way that he did so that he could receive some of the attention that he was missing with being an orphan.
Tom is on the verge of gaining everything he wants such as the inheritance from Judge Driscoll. Just as being able to gain everything he wants Tom is still also vulnerable to losing everything him has. He is a literate man who lives free his whole life and owns slaves instead of being a slave. Tom’s mother is willing to sell herself to slavery in order to help her son but by sacrificing her freedom through love she finds out that she is betrayed by her son. Her only requests were to be sold up the river and to be bought back in order to allow Tom to pay his debts back.
“My, but we’re rich, Tom!” Huckleberry Finn says after taking a glimpse of the treasure-box (Twain 240-241). When looked from afar, the small town in Missouri seems slow, boring, and awfully religious, but Tom Sawyer, the protagonist, finding treasure is one of the many instances where even a small town is full of adventure. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is a fictional novel that highlights some of the experiences that the author had as a boy. It is a novel about boyhood during an era before American industrialization, emphasized when Twain concludes the story with, “It being strictly a history of a boy, [the chronicle] must stop here,” (Twain 253).
Tom symbolizes the South, who only care about personal morality rather than morality to the entire population. Tom’s ideology influences Huck’s decisions for both him and Jim when faced with risk of exposure as Huck exclaims that “[Tom] would call it an adventure--that's what he'd call it; and he'd land on that wreck if it was his last act. And wouldn't he throw style into it?... I wish Tom Sawyer was here” (Twain 50). Instead adhering to the practicality of the situation, Huck is pulled by his id to pursue an “adventure” at the risk of both his and Jim’s lives.
A boring lifestyle is never appealing to an imaginative child. In Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, Tom is a young child who dreams of an exciting and adventurous life outside his small town. Although while his dreams become more and more ambitious so does his reality. The sudden change in events soon begin to change Tom’s life. As Tom’s small town attracts a criminal everything Tom wishes for begins to come true only in a corrupt way that he never imagined. With all new to keep up with Tom is forced to mature and develop as a character along with those around by leaving behind his childish games and accepting reality. Twain uses character development in Tom and Huck Finn to create unique and special characters.
Thesis: the Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is a classic novel of American literature while it shows artistic qualities, merits the lasting recognition, and integrates everything that is so common for readers.
Having freedom over yourself only helps if you use it wisely. Finally, even though the kids admire him, their mothers have forbid them to play with the village outcast. Teachers know the child is vulgar and lawless, and it is seen as a crime to be caught with Huckleberry Finn. Tom’s teacher proves this by wiping him after he announced he was late due to talking to
“All modern American Literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing good since.” Famous author, Ernest Hemingway, praised Twain. The book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn tells the story of a runaway boy who encounters an escaped slave. The pair begins an unlikely friendship and even learns life changing lessons while they venture the Mississippi River. Throughout this coming of age novel, Huck must decide on whether to use his better judgement or the morals he was taught growing up. This is a continuation of Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer leaves off with the titular character and his best friend Huck Finn, whom finds stolen money totaling in six thousand dollars. The town Judge, Mr. Thatcher keeps the money and evenly distributes it to the boys all year round. Twain’s Huckleberry Finn incorporates each major theme in American literature; the journey from innocence to awareness, the American dream, land of the frontier, the hero and community.
For the most part, Tom dreams of running away and becoming a pirate or a soldier or a robber are fun ways to spend time and escape from his ordinary life. We see him playing games involving these characters and we see him dreaming about them when things aren't going well in real life. But then Tom's fantasies start playing out in his real life. As it just so happens, his town has attracted a criminal, Injun Joe, who doesn't think twice about murdering or stealing. Now, Twain could have come up with any number of villains for Tom to meddle with, but he chose to create a character that embodies everything that Tom wants to be – gone wrong.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is a story of a young, mischievous boy who did not like punishment, school, or church. Tom Sawyer had learned a lot and had matured a lot by the end of the book. As a reader reads this book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer he will see that Tom Sawyer gets into a lot of trouble. Through this paper I hope to teach you that Tom Sawyer grew out of his mischievous ways eventually.
This inspires him to find a way out, which he does. After Tom and Becky are home the caves are sealed, leaving Injun Joe and his treasure locked inside. Injun Joe dies of starvation at the gated entrance of the cave and his treasure is discovered buy Tom and Huck who had found a secret way into the cave. The boys become the richest men in town. Huck decides to break away from the outcast life and moves in with a respectable widow in town.
In The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain, Tom lives with his Aunt Polly and constantly gets into trouble. He witnesses a murder, goes to an island and pretends he’s a pirate, gets lost in a cave, finds buried treasure, and goes on other amazing adventures. Throughout the novel, Tom Sawyer matures and become more of a man.
Tom’s adventurous and reckless personality led him to go into the caves, with only him and Becky. Twain expresses the fact that people who don’t follow the rules, or think before they do something they may regret, get themselves into trouble. In the movie Finding Nemo, Nemo leaves his class, and in result, gets captured by divers, because of his reckless and young
Tom throughout the story displays many characteristics including the previously discussed, but the most noticeable and important is his adventurous nature. Toms sense of adventure is what drives the story forward more times to count. The audience gets the first taste of Tom's adventurous nature is when Tom accompanies Huck to the graveyard where they encounter the villain of the novel, Injun Joe, killing a man. This demonstrates that Tom's adventures also are the cause for most of the novels conflicts, even if he doesn’t see it. Another adventure, or misadventure, is the trip to the island that Huck, Tom, and Joe take to be “pretend” pirates. This is where Tom, demonstrates his wide imagination (and, as previously