TOM SAWYER

Caitlin Mattar
English 6, Period 3
..

In the The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Tom can be a hassle at times, but will he be able to
do the right thing when it comes to the people he loves? Tom is a troublesome child. He
somehow always gets himself in trouble. Tom is not only a troublesome child, but he also is very
self-centered like in the whitewashing scene when he was too lazy to do the white washing
himself. Therefore, he used and manipulated people by convincing them it was fun .He also
made them pay to whitewash with riches. Young Tom isn't a "bad" boy, but instead a thoughtful
and sensible kid who happens to be a magnet for trouble. In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark
Twain makes Tom a dynamic character.
Tom mostly starts to change at the schoolhouse. Becky rips Mr. Dobbins anatomy book,
but when he finds out, he is furious. He wants to figure out who ripped it, so he asks everyone.
When he asks Becky, Tom does the right thing and takes the blame for the anatomy book. Tom
stood a moment, to gather his dismembered faculties; and when he stepped forward to go to his
punishment the surprise, the gratitude, the adoration that shone upon him out of poor Beckys
eyes seemed pay enough for a hundred floggings.1 Tom shows compassion to Becky and he
stood up for her. If Tom did not stand up for her she would be whipped for the anatomy book.
Tom on the other hand has been whipped before and it will not be as bad on his reputation as
Beckys will. This changes him because if he were still selfish he would just let her be whipped.
Additionally, Tom continues becoming more mature when he is in the cave with Becky. Tom and
Becky go to the cave as a little adventure, but while they are there, they lose their tracks. Tom
and Becky are scared, so Tom tries to help and look for ways out. After a while, they get hungry,
but they were not thirsty. Tom takes out the very small wedding cake and splits it, but Becky
got most of the cake. Tom divided the cake and Becky ate with good appetite, while Tom
1 (Twain 2001) p150

nibbled at his moiety.2 Tom gave Becky most of the wedding cake. This means he was caring
about Becky and giving her food to eat from when he did not have that much. He was hungry
too, but he did not care about himself at that time. He was very selfless, which is a surprise
because it is the complete opposite of what he was at the beginning of the book.
After all, he changes a lot, like when he finds treasure in the cave with Huck. When Tom and
Huck find out Injin Joe has died in the cave, they knew the treasure was still there, so they go
after it. They finally get to the cave and find a big X on a rock, so they dug under the rock and
found the treasure. Everyone in the town is amazed by the treasure they find, so many others
decided to look themselves. It was the treasure box, sure enough, occupying a snug little cavern
3 Tom is fair with Huck because he spits the money instead of keeping it all. In addition,
Huck did not really need the money, but he knew that if he worked for it, he should get it. He has
changed a lot, if he were still the same he would take all of the treasure, but he was very fair and
split half.
At the end, Tom does change by a lot from the beginning to the end. At the schoolhouse,
if Tom were still immature and not compassionate he would not stand up for Becky, and might
have even mocked her. In addition, in the cave he would have ate the whole cake, but he was
selfless and gave Becky most of the cake. Finally yet importantly, he could have kept all the
money to himself, but he knew that he had to be fair. Toms return marks a greater sense of

2 Ibid. p225.
3 Ibid. p242-243.

responsibility when, racked by conscience4 Even if he still gets in trouble, he still has a kind
heart!

4 (Twain 2001)

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jana, Dr. Arghya. "Critical analysis of The Adventrues of Tom Sawyer." Arghya
Jana Literatrue Guide. n.d.
http://arghyajanaliteratureguide.blogspot.com/2011/09/criticalanalysis-of-adventures-of-tom.html (accessed 12 02, 2014).
"Tom Sawyer-Themes and Characters." Novel Explorer. n.d.
http://www.novelexplorer.com/tom-sawyer/themes-and-characters-70/
(accessed 12 02, 2014).
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. New York: Modern Library ,
2001.