Abstract…………………………………………………………….1Introduction………………………
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
.
.
2
Chapter 1 Tom Sawyer’s Innocence and Romance……………...6
1.1 Tom Sawyer’s Innocence……………………………………....6
1.2 Tom Sawyer’s Romance……………………………………….9
Chapter 2 Tom Sawyer’s Wit and Leadership………………….13
2.1 Tom Sawyer’s Wit…………………………………….……13
2.2 Tom Sawyer’s Leadership…………….…………………….15
Chapter 3 Tom Sawyer’s Rebellion and Heroism………………19
3.1 Tom Sawyer’s Rebellion……………………….………….….19
3.2 Tom Sawyer’s Heroism………………...…………………….22
Conclusion……………………………………………………..….26
Notes………………………………………………………………28
Bibliography………………………………………………………29
Acknowledgements……………………………………………….30
An Analysis on the Character of Tom Sawyer
Yuan Qing
（Foreign Language Department, Hunan City University, Yiyang, Hunan
413000, China）
Abstract: As one of Mark Twain’s representative works, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, successfully illustrates a lovely character of a child, Tom Sawyer, who is
a naughty and brave boy, and a perfect dreamer as well. Since the book published, it is greatly reviewed by thousands of Americans, both children and grown-ups, as this novel is not solely a description of children, but also a symbol of the author’s ironic attitude to the hypocritical of the adult world. This paper probes into the analysis of Tom Sawyer’s character in three aspects, namely, innocence and romance, wit and leadership, rebellion and heroism, all of which shapes Tom Sawyer’s unique charm. A conclusion is drawn through the analysis of Tom Sawyer’s human character.
Key words: Tom Sawyer; child; character; adventurous spirit
摘 要：作为马克·吐温的代表作之一，《汤姆·索亚历险记》成功地塑造了汤姆·索亚这个非常可爱的儿童形象。汤姆·索亚是一个调皮捣蛋、内心勇敢的孩子，同时也是一个出色的梦想家。这部作品一问世，就受到成千上万美国读者的关注，不光孩子们喜欢，成年人
1
也不例外。因为这不仅仅是一部儿童读本，更是作者从一个孩子的角度，对虚伪的大人世界所作的讽刺。本文从性格方面着手，分三个章节来分析出汤姆·索亚的性格，分别是天真浪漫、聪明机智、叛逆勇敢，这三方面的性格特点使得汤姆·索亚极具个人魅力。通过对汤姆·索亚性格的分析，本文揭示了该人物形象的深刻意义。
关键字： 汤姆·索亚；儿童；性格；冒险精神
Introduction
Mark Twain (1835-1910), the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, who was regarded as the greatest humorist in the 19th century. His works of realism was the landmark of the American literary history. Mark Twain was born at the riverside of Mississippi. His life experience filled with changes, as he used to be apprentice, typesetter, sailor, and soldier. In 1863, he began to write with the pen name Mark Twain. His colorful life experience helped him a lot, since they were the best sources of his creation.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was finished in year 1876 when the United
States ended the Civil War. Since the nation had thousands of things to do to rebuild their homeland, people were inspired to create a new country with all their efforts. This was also the time when Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Lincoln in 1863, which freed the Negro slaves from the oppression of Capitalists. The traditional economic model was corrupting, and doomed to be replaced by Capitalism coming from the North. People in this country all lived with hopes.
2
In the preface to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain writes “most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred” [1]. Indeed, we can easily find the prototype of Tom Sawyer in his diary which is written in 1866, where Mark Twain recalls his childhood. However, Mark Twain does not simply copy the diary; instead, he rearranges a number of details to make his work a novel rather than a pure memoir. Immediately after the publication of this novel, it elicited a strong response, not only from the children, but also from numerous adults. Therefore, Tom Sawyer, the naughty boy, soon become one of the well-known characters through American literary history.
In writing about childhood experiences, Mark Twain shows the trustworthiness of the heart as seen in children, the pleasure of rural American as seen through children’s eyes, the moral decline that could accompany growing up and the sense of loss when childhood is gone. If Mark Twain does not directly make social criticism as a theorist in economics and philosophy, he is in fact more effective in that he shows a genuine hatred for social hypocrisy and pretentiousness through his use of humor. He is relentless with his humor in exposing the importance of religious teaching in the face of temptation and the iniquity of slavery. In sum, Mark Twain’s assault of the hypocrisy in the adult world shows that he remains a child of innocence in his heart.
However, Mark Twain is not a romanticist because he knows that child-like innocence has no place in the real world. The innocent character built by Mark Twain always couples with irony. As an ironist, Mark Twain allows us to see the adult through the eyes of a child, and to see the child through the adult’s
3
perspective. His greatest gift is therefore his multidimensional understanding of innocence. This understanding of innocence in Mark Twain has been deeply extended to Americans encountering Europe. In much encounters, the irony of “innocence” mocks both the American naivety and the European pretentiousness. America and Europe take on the same ironic dynamisms that involve a child and an adult.
This paper dedicates to analyze Tom Sawyer’s character in three aspects, namely, innocence and romance, wit and leadership, and rebellion and heroism. Among those characters, rebellion is pejorative. Mark Twain aims at nothing but describing Tom’s eagerness for freedom. To Mark Twain, rebellion is not to blame, because children are tired with the hypocrisy and greediness in adult society. Tom is a fighter, and his enemy is the complicated adult world. Tom is restrained by the social rules, even feels hard to breathe. He performs impolitely in the Sunday school, he dislikes the teacher, and never have been able to recite The Bible, he seldom listen to what Aunt Polly orders him to do, always walk with his feet naked.
Tom Sawyer’s individuality is interesting. He wants to do everything in his own way which is quite different from what is supposed to be, but somewhat similar to the knight novel. He admires pirate very much. This is understandable if we pay attention to the difference between the life of a pirate and a child, especially when the child has little freedom in choosing his lifestyle.
Anyhow, Tom Sawyer is a tough boy. He dares to oppose to the social rules, the adult’s authority. He never stops making efforts to live his own life where only
4
love, justice, and peace exist. The reason why people worship Tom Sawyer from generation to generation is that people’s dream for freedom never die easily.
Chapter 1
Tom Sawyer’s Innocence and Romance
Like any other children, Tom Sawyer is innocent and carefree. He owns a pure and naïve inner world. Mark Twain puts emphasize on describing his personalities as an innocent boy who is quite fond of play. In the novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom’s innocence is perfectly described together with his romantic nature.
1.1 Tom Sawyer’s Innocence
The world in children’s eyes is pure and simple. They always explain the things happened around them with their innocent mind, and they think with their unique simplicity. In this novel, Mark Twain has skillfully shaped Tom Sawyer as a standard bad boy, one who owns the traits that can be seen in the other average kids. Whatever situation Tom meets, he can successfully solve them by certain means.
Generally, children indulge themselves in playing games, which is true for both boys and girls. In their opinion, there is nothing in the world that is more attractive and exciting than being allowed to play as long as they possibly can. Tom Sawyer owns various kinds of toys, and he takes much pride in showing his wealth in front
5
of his pals. He prepares for exchange whenever he finds there is something better than he has on hand. One Saturday morning, “Tom appeared on the side walk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush.” [2] Aunt Polly orders Tom to whitewash the board fence which stretches for almost thirty yards. This is a hard punishment for Tom’s naughty behavior happened the day before. Thinking it is nearly impossible for him to finish the task; he believes that there should have some shortcuts. Tom always has measures to deal with any kinds of difficulty.
He signs to Jim, a little slave, when Tom saw him with a tin pail. Jim knows Tom is going to bring water from the town pump, which has always been hateful work in Tom’s eyes before. But this time, he would like to try by asking Jim to make a deal. He says “Say, Jim, I’ll fetch the water if you’ll whitewash some.” [3] But Jim refuses Tom’s proposal, as Aunt Poly has already told him to do his own job and leave Tom away. Tom fails in this exchange after he tried to persuade Jim again and again. Then he begins to tempt Jim with his toy which would be a big lure to Jim. He tells Jim his bargaining chip is a white alley, besides, he will show Jim his sore toe, which is truly a powerful attraction for Jim. The business is done, only if Aunt Polly does not notice. “In another moment he was flying down the street with his pail and a tingling rear, Tom was whitewashing with vigor, and Aunt Polly was retiring from the field with a slipper in her hand and triumph in her eye.” [4] Tom’s reaction against Aunt Polly’s punishment perfectly shows his innocence and loveliness. Mark Twain describes the children’s innocent and pure inner world from the adult’s viewpoint, and makes us recall our childhood where no hypocrite exists.
6
In this novel, Tom Sawyer’s ability of making himself happy is impressive. His toys can be anything, such as tooth, stone, frog, and even a tick. In a sleepy noon, the air is dead, and no wind outside. Tom feels dreary, then his hands search for a box in his pocket, he opens the box, there is a tick inside. Tom sets the tick free, and the tick begins to move around the desk. Tom’s bosom friend, Joe Harper, feels like just as the same. He is desperately eager to join Tom’s entertainment. Tom permits Joe, and he then draws a line in the middle of the desk, which means they will play it in sequence. Tom says: “as long as he is on your side you can stir him up and I’ll let him alone; but If you let him get away and get on my side, you’re too alone as long as I can keep him from crossing over.” [5] Tom makes this rule to guide their entertainment. However, the game goes out of their prediction, because the tick does not run cross the line to Tom’s side. By and by, Tom sits there angrily, as the tick remains at Joe Harbor’s desk. He glowers at Joe having a lot of fun and he could do nothing but watching all this happening. In the end, Tom breaks the rule and fight against Joe. “A tremendous whack came down on Tom’s shoulders and its duplicate on Joe’s; and for the space of two minutes the dust continued to fly from the two jackets and the whole school to enjoy it.” [6]
It is quite difficult to depict a child’s behavior so vividly from the adult perspective, but Mark Twain has done it well. In the story Tom fights against his bosom friend, we can realize that the friendship is quite different for children when comparing with the adult friendship. What makes the children’s friendship tight is they can share the happiness. When it is impossible for them to share fun, the friendship breaks up. In this regard, Mark Twain expresses his will for the pure friendship. However, that kind of relationship does not exist in the adult world, as
7
adults are hypocritical and snobbish, even some of them are trained to be, and the rests are forced to be.
1.2 Tom Sawyer’s Romance
Every adult has his own memory of childhood. The first time they do something must be funny and unforgettable, the first school day, first trip, first examination, and the first romance.
In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain managers his delicate pen well to delineate Tom’s romance with Becky Thatcher, a beautiful girl who attracts Tom at their first encounter. Tom immediately loses himself, and he forgets Amy Lawrence, with whom Tom makes engagement before. After Tom finishes his whitewashing, Aunt Polly gives him praise and permits him to go out. That is a good day, because he meets an angel when he is passing by Jeff Thatcher’s house. “A lovely little blue-eyed creature with yellow hair plaited into two long tails, white summer frock, and embroidered pantalets.” [7] That beautiful girl ruins Tom’s mind, he thinks himself has fell in love with the girl, and his engagement with Amy Lawrence is a fault. Then Tom tries everything to show off to draw Becky’s attention. For some reason, Becky seems to be hard-hearted; she does not show her interests in Tom’s performance. Tom keeps his showing off until nightfall. Finally he runs back home with much disappointment. That night, Tom does not sleep well, as Becky keeps wandering in his mind.
From that day on, Tom Sawyer becomes sentimental. He cannot help thinking
8
of Becky, he cares everything he acts in front of her. He thinks that is love, and hopes Becky will love him in return, thus they can make an engagement. In order to get closer to Becky, he sits right beside her in class, teach her drawing picture, and even take the punishment for her. Tom has done all that intentionally. By and by, he wins Becky’s affection. Their engagement seems to be possible. When school breaks up at noon, Tom has figured out a plan. He whispers in Becky’s ear to ask her pretending to go home, therefore they could be together without others’ attention. The children sit in the classroom alone, quietly they has a good time. Tom tells Becky he wants to engage himself to her. Tom seems like knowing everything about love, which is hard for us to believe. He knows a boy and a girl have to kiss if they have engaged. From this point, we can find that Tom is not merely a carefree boy, but also a romantic man. He proposes to his beloved girl, and kisses her in her face. Tom’s way of loving Becky is similar to the way adults do. He acts as a grow-up in front of Becky; he feels happy when Beck does, and he becomes depressed when Becky is facing difficulty. They will be jealous when either of them is playing with others of opposite sex, which is an interesting but an essential part of love.
All men fell in love are romantic, even a boy. In this novel, Tom shows his romantic nature, just like the above mentioned, he acts like a man. The first time Tom sits with Becky is interesting. Tom is late for class, and because of this, he gets punishment from the teacher, but that could not be a threat to Tom, since he is used to it. Not long after that, the teacher requires Tom to sit with girls, which is exactly what he wants, as he notices Becky is sitting alone there. He inches towards her and sit down. He glances at the girl and she makes a mouth as reply. In a
9
minute, he takes out a peach and lays it on Becky’s desk when she cautiously faces around. In this plot, we can see Tom is considerate and good at pleasing girls.
Love is an important part through one’s life. It helps to build one’s value of life, and makes one mature. True love is beautiful, and eternal. Poets never feel tired to express their praise and longing for true love. Man always falls in love with a woman unconsciously, and it may take his whole lifetime to forget. Love is pure, and it is weak too. Actually, love is always twisted by the outside world, such as, family restrains, class status, power, racial discriminations, and etcetera. In this regard, the relationship between Tom and Becky is far from love. It is a kind of special friendship, since they are too young to know the true meaning of love--responsibility.
Tom is romantic, and his understanding of romance is originated from the medieval romance he read. He imitates the books, for example, the way of he make engagement with Becky. Tom does not know what a kiss truly mean, but he kisses Becky. Thus, the romance between Tom and Becky is substaincially different from adults. For the children, love is a pure game and is not related to sex or marriage. In this novel, Mark Twain on the one hand, portrays Tom Sawyer’s innocence and romantic gift, which deeply impressed the readers; on the other hand, criticizes the hypocrisy and snobish in the adult’s world.
Chpter 2
Tom Sawyer’s Wit and Leadership
10
A competent leader must be a wise man. He ought to have the ability of making right decision at the right time, and it will be better if he knows much more than his partners do. It is reasonable that the one knows the most is likely to be admired by the others, thus he is regarded as the leader. In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom is a good leader.
2.1 Tom Sawyer’s Wit
Tom Sawyer is an intelligent boy, even if performs badly in the Sunday school. He can hardly recite a few lines of The Bible, but the fact is that he has a new Bible, while other boys have none. He can always find ways to escape from Aunt Polly’s punishment, and even makes Aunt Polly live in distress. We are astonished by Tom’s smartness when we see him tactfully makes the other children to help him to whitewash the board fence which is really a hard task. The other children voluntarily do as whitewashers, and they are convinced that is an honor.
When Tom fails in persuading Jim to replace his job, he begins to seek for other means. He thinks it would be a shame if other boys saw him, because they would make fun of him for having to work in such a beautiful day. He then plans to buy an exchange of work with his toys, but he soon finds his prosperity is too poor to buy half an hour. In a moment, he gets an idea. He works like an artist; he pretends to be obsessed with his job when he saw Ben Rogers is coming towards him. Ben Rogers is commanding his steamboat, the Big Missouri, and considers himself to be drawing nine feet of water. He is playing the captain, the sailor, and the steamboat all by himself. He believes Tom would be eager to join his play, but
11
to his surprise, Tom does not show any interests to that.
Tom went on whitewashing-paid no attention to the steamboat. Ben stared a moment and then said: ‘Hi-yi! You’re up a stump, ain’t you!’ No answer. Tom surveyed his last touch with the eye of an artist, then he gave his brush another gentle sweep and surveyed the result, as before. Ben ranged up alongside of him. Tom’s mouth watered of the apple, but he stuck to his work. [8]
Tom does not show his real feeling toward the temptation from Ben Rogers, as he knows once accept his disadvantage, the initiative goes away. Tom tells Ben that one cannot get a chance to whitewash without a hitch, so it is much more valuable than being a captain if one obtains the chance. Ben is not able to see through the tricks; he gradually retracts his scornfulness and asks Tom if he could try some of them. That is exactly what Tom wants. He grants Ben a chance with bargaining chip, the apple. He successfully makes a deal with Ben and many other boys.
That afternoon, being a poor, poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom is literally rolling in wealth. But the most important is that the whole board fence have been whitewashed. Finally, Tom discovers a great law of human action: in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make it difficult to attain. Mark Twain here uses Tom’s whitewashing to express his own thoughts. The difference between play and work, Mark Twain points out that work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do and play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. He powerfully criticizes the luxury of the aristocratic life. The wealthy gentlemen do not work but indulge themselves in wasting wealth.
12
To portray a hero, Mark Twain intentionally enlarges Tom Sawyer’s wit. For example, when Tom and Becky get lost in the cave, Tom behaves not like a child; he is calm, brave and not scared at all, meanwhile, he comforts Becky that there must be ways to survive. He searches for the path with a candle, and uses the kite strings to mark their trace. Everything seems to be useful for him. Tom’s potential of being a hero is stimulated by the tough situation, the situation of choosing life or death.
2.2 Tom Sawyer’s Leadership
Tom’s wit is embodied not only in play, but also in something more significant. He is a good commander, which is testified in the whole process of adventure to an island named Jackson. The island is narrow but long, lies in the middle for Mississippi.
Tom makes up his mind when his affection is trampled by Becky. He feels like being abandoned by the world, he thinks the best choice is to disappear from their sight. Tom has always wanted to be a pirate, and now it is the time. He tells his best friend the plan, and they soon draw an agreement. Tom suggests that maybe Huckleberry would like to join them. The night they set off under the command of Tom, they bring food, and each of them is granted a title. Tom’s title is Black Avenger of the Spanish Main, Joe Harbor the Terror of seas, Huck Finn the Red-Handed. It is interesting when we judge the children’s dream. Actually, the title shows their dream, their sense of justice. Children always admire hero, since hero is the one that enjoys freedom, and sacrifices to save the people.
13
Tom tells them a pirate should do things as a pirate. On their way to the Jackson Island, Tom’s desire of being captain is entirely satisfied when crossing the river. “They shoved off, presently, Tom in command, Huck at the after oar and Joe at the forward. Tom stood amidships, gloomy browed, and with folded arms, and gave his orders in a low, stern whisper: ‘Luff, and bring her to the wind!’ ” [9] Tom is a captain of the small boat, but it shows his will of being a leader. In the movie Pirates of The Caribbean, we love captain Jack Sparrow for his wit, his way of doing things, and his leadership.
When Tom and the other boys reach the destination, they immediately settle down, spread the tent as their bed. Since it is dark, they light a fire, with which they are capable of roasting food. Huck is smoking, which makes Tom and Joe jealous a lot, then they resolve to acquire. Tom thinks a real pirate should be able to smoke. He knows a lot about pirate, the way they work, talk and the rule they obey. He talks perkily when Joe asks him what pirates have to do. Tom says: “Oh, they have just a bully time--take ships and burn them, and get the money and bury it in awful places in their island where there is ghosts and things to watch it, and kill everybody in the ships--make them walk a plank.” [10] The first night of the adventure excites them very much; they do not sleep well except Huck who has nothing to concern.
Their disappearing upsets the whole town. Their family falls into deep sorrow, and people in the town begin to search the children’s corpses, as they are convinced the boys have died. The boys notice when they heard the thunder from the river. Tom knows that people are seeking for their bodies as the villagers think
14
the boys drowned. However, the boys do not feel sad at all, instead, they think themselves as heroes, because they feel how important they mean to their family and the people all through this village.
However, the ecstasy does not last long. The boys become depressed when they are thinking about their family. Joe speaks out something suggest his mind of going back, and Huck seems to be the same. Tom laughs at Joe and Huck for he looks down on their cowardice. His excellent eloquence oppresses the insurgency. Tom misses Aunt Polly too, but he knows that once he shows his feeling, their pirate-like life come to the end. However, Tom has to consider what others do not need to, and do more than others do. After a serious consideration, Tom makes up his mind to go back secretly to tell Aunt Polly their situation that they were not dead. Tom is a good boy at this point. He loves his family, and does not want to cheat Aunt Polly any more. Going back and tell the truth is a good decision. It shows Tom’s paradox, keep living the free life and leave Aunt Polly in deep sorrow, or tell the truth to abandon the adventure. The decision is a compromise. Tom sneaks back to Aunt Polly’s room, and leaves a paper where he writes down the truth.
Mark Twain does not like dull boy. He thinks a boy should be active and vigorous, and able to deal with problems. Those children performs well at school are production of the unenlightened education system. In this novel, there created an opposite character, Sid, who is Tom’s cousin. Sid is a well-cultivated boy, a real pedant. He studies hard, never play truant. He lives in the same family with Tom, but behaves completely different. Tom always makes fun of Sid, and Sid cries every
15
time. Mark Twain satirizes the Sunday school by praising Tom and mocking Sid.
Chapter 3
Tom Sawyer’s Rebellion and Heroism
“Mark Twain adopts his creation material from the place and people’s life which is most familiar for him. He always thinks that the most valuable capital that can be applied to novel writing is not culture and education, but the real experience.” [11] In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain duplicates his childhood in Tom Sawyer, that is why he can depict Tom Sawyer’s character so vividly. Tom Sawyer is a boy with a great deal of charms, thus not simply as good or bad. He is an “also are also evil” character. Not everyone like naughty boy, but when reading the book, they find deep inside, everybody hopes himself is Tom Sawyer. And this is human nature, the eager for freedom. Due to the realistic reasons, people hide their nature, but they discover it when reading Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer has completely caught the world's resonance.
3.1 Tom Sawyer’s Rebellion
Tom hates the Sunday school. He would prefer to swim down the river, even at the expence of being scolded by Aunt Polly. This is experience that many people once share. Tom wants to do what he likes, skips classes, and makes fun of the pedantic teacher. Every Sunday morning, Aunt Polly will take Tom to the church, with which Tom is completely tired. In Tom's eyes, Sunday is troublesome and
16
rebarbative, since he is required to be well-dressed; wearing the socks which makes him feel uncomfortable. Every second in the church makes Tom suffocate; he gets drowsy in Lengthy dull sermon. He wishes he could get rid of these nonsense. but he had no choice.
After Sunday, the school life starts again, he has to go to school, which make Tom depressed. He would rather to be ill, camparing to go to school. Tom is desirous for freedom. He wants to play, to be a pirate, but the world he lives prevent him from doing that. Aunt Polly wants him to be a good boy, like Sid. Teacher wants him to listen carefully in class, and recite The Bible. These are all Tom’s hatred. He lives in such a complicated world where everything has rule, and everything is no more than a senseless reiteration. His feels despair when he realise impossible to live in his own way, that is why he wants to be pirates.
In sum, Tom is rebellious to the formal social system. In Chapter 1 of this novel, Tom easilly crosses the fence in the backyard. And the same plot appeare several times in later chapters. Tom’ desire for crossing fence is funny but meaningful. The fence itself symbolizes the shackles of his mind. Even when Tom does not want to go out, he has the idea of trespassing it once he see it. he wants to live his own life, the fence has become an fetter of his heart. His eagerness to break the social laws is strong, and becomes stronger when being punished. Everyone longs for freedom, but in the heart there are invisible barriers. We have to follow certain rules in the real world. In front of these barriers, people hang back, but the human spirit is free. Human can be in pursuit of freedom spiritually. Tom’s character reflects the human instinct, awakens people’s feral side, gives people a
17
permanent free complex.
In Chapter 4 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, there is a vivid descripsion about Tom’s showing off in Sunday school. Since every child were supposed to recite certain paragraghs of The Bible, Tom has to prepare for it too. Sid has learned his leason well as usual. But Tom could not recite even the shorest one, though he has been trying to. Before Tom enters into the church, he waylays other boys when they walk closer, he makes exchange with children who have tickets. He gets tickets and gives them his toys in return. In the end, he has collected nine yellow tickets, nine red tickets, and ten blue ones which is enough for the reward,
The Holy Bible. When Mr. Walter, the principal of Sunday school, asks if there is
anyone possess enough tickets to get a Bible, Tom puts his hand up, which is much to Mr. Walter’s surprise. Mr. Walter can hardly believe such a bad boy would be the only qualified one. Tom comes forward and demands the award, he is envied by other good boys. Mr. Walter has no choice but to give The Holy Bible.
Mark Twain satires the Sunday school. A naughty boy is rewarded with The Bible which belongs to the hard-studying child, but principles exist in this world,
and people are forced to obey once it is constituted. That is the rule. Mr. Walter is a sanctimonious man, he acts politely in front of lawyer Thatcher, he gives his speech which sings praise to Mr. Thatcher. He seems much more gentle and kind than he used to be. He hates bad boys, especially Tom Sawyer. Those students who learns hard is supposed to be rewarded, but they in fact get nothing, one of them even becomes insane. In this way, Mark Twain is strongly dissatisfied with the Sunday school, he feels the children’s minds have been imprisoned by it.
18
On the other hand, Tom’s rebellious behavior is a protest to the old education. He hates the principal, he has never been able to recite The Bible, and does not show his worship to the upper classes. He does not call lawyer Thatcher “Sir”, because he does not want to act well-educated in front of anyone of authority. Mark Twain pours his taunts on the decayed American education system, by laughing at the primary school principal.
3.2 Tom Sawyer’s Heroism
Tom’s view on life oringinates from the medeival romance. He has always been dreaming to be a pirate or a soldier. He wants to be a hero who is admired by his people. His sense of justice is strong, and he detests evil and sympathizes the poor.
Tom is fond of reading heroic story. When Joe asks him what do pirates do, he talks fluently and logically. During their adventure in the island, he tells Joe that he wants to become a soldier, defeat his enemy in the batterfiled. He would be rewarded the highest honor. Then triumphantly return to his home, the villagers would reagard him as hero. Smoking is a cool thing. Tom asks Huck to teach him smoke, bacause he believes a real pirate should be able to smoke. Other boys would be envious of him. Children’s sense of imitating is strong, and somewhat influences their growing. The things they imitate range from the real world to the virtual one, for example, the novel, but no matter where it comes from, they probably share one common point--exist only in adult world.
19
Tom is brave. He sneaks to the deserted graveyard with Huck at mid-night. He is extremely frightened, but his curiosity inspires him to explore. That very night, they witness a murder instead of the evil. Tom’s sense of justice is impressive. He fearlessly tells the truth in the court, which saves Muff Potter who is a kind man. His courge is then praised by the adults. All the villagers recognize his glory deeds, they look at him with new eyes. Other children worship him for his heroic deeds. The only regret is that the real murderer, Injun Joe, who is known for his evil behavior has escaped from the sanction. Tom and Huck decides to trace. They know the murderer has buried a case of treasure in some secret place. They track Injun Joe, and keep watching on him in sequence, which is a dangerous task even for an adult. Tom is smart, his plan is works well. Injun Joe does not notice them until the day he die.
Tom’s wit and courage is hero-like. His will of being a hero is impressive. To make this heroic story perfect, Mark Twain arranged a romantic plot. It is a picnic organized by Sunday school. The children enjoy themselves a lot. Near the place there is a deep Cave, the children walk in and play, so are Tom and Becky. When it is time for back, Tom and Becky get lost. The adults are panic, since the Cave is deep and dark, and there lies lots of sideways. People all of the town worry about the two kids, since they know the children must be rescued as soon as possible, otherwise, the children would be thirsty to die. Much to their surprise, Tom and Becky survive from the death, which is really a miracle. Furthermore, they find out the treasure unintentionally. Tom becomes a hero. People celebrates their narrow escape, and commend Tom’s brave deeds. Aunt Polly is proud of him too.
20
After a series of adventure, Tom Sawyer’s personality has transformed from a naughty boy to a little hero. Mark Twain shows us a bad boy is possible to be a great hero, while the good boy can merely be a spectator. Mark Twain exagerrates Tom Sawyer’s braveness to express his commends to the boy’s heroism, meanwhile, he tries to attack the stubborn traditional educational system.
Mark Twain himself is a fantasy. He recalls his own happy childhood, which is to some degree the same as Tom Sawyer’s adventure. Twain longs for freedom too. He reminds the many grown-ups’ memory of everlasting childhood. Many of us have been Tom Sawyer, both in soul and reality.
Conclusion
Tom Sawyer is naughty, adventurous, and desirous for freedom. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer actually awakens people’s instinct that hide
themselves in the buttom of heart. No matter how old one is, he is eager to be Tom Sawyer in the other side of his heart. It is no wonder that this novel is considered as a landmark of American literary history.
All of the literary works that can evoke many people's strong resonance in ancient time are excellent works in the literary corridor. These works are good at revealing the truth and significance of life by portraying an impressive literary image. They vividily show the brightness and humanity of the spiritual life, profoundly study on the pursuit and the revelations of fake, ugliness and evil. Their humane connotation, psychological model and the philosophical implication often
21
have great generality and universality, and often super a certain age, ethnic and class boundaries, They possess the meaning of mankind. [12]
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer becomes the greatest children literary work
with its deep local color, its humor and subtle observation of people’s character. Mark Twain's most children are not well-cultivated, and are regarded as bad boys. Their parents or teachers do not like them for their implite behaviors. In everyday conversation, they use non-standard oral English, even mingles with a patois slang which are not grammatically right. The language they speak is incompatible with the “civilized” social situation in Saint Petersburg, the town where Tom lives. The bad boys’s uneducated behaviors show their protest to the decayed world in which all is ruled. People feel tired with the regulations they built themselves, which is really funny. As a matter of fact, they are forced to adjust for living, but gradually, they get used to the rules, and even need it in the end. Mark Twain shows the paradox and ironizes it through the description of Tom Sawyer.
In short, “Mark Twain is unique, that cannot be compared, he is Lincoln in American literaty history.”[13] In this novel, he on the one hand, strongly satirizes bourgeois’s greed, conservative, and vulgar in gilded age, and criticizes the restrictions and fetters of the children’s education of capitalism, and the hypocrisy of moral and religion. On the other hand, he describes Tom and his partners’ pursuits of legend, adventure, and romantic life.
People’s pursuit for freedom never stops. We cherish the memory when we are young, bucause there remains a paradise where everything is pure, but finally
22
we realise that the world is same world, it is our mind have been changed. It is true that the children think the world should be free, since they don’t know what do social rule and law mean, let alone fearing the rules. All things are not changed until we feel the changes, therefore, the world is hypocritic when human become hypocritic.
Notes
[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10]. Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer[M]. New York: Bantam Books, Inc. 1966, 1, 11, 11, 12, 51-52, 18, 48, 13, 87, 90.
[11].门德松.马克·吐温传[M].杭州: 浙江人民出版社,1986,143.
[12].刘安海.孙文宪.文学理论[M].武汉: 华中师范大学出版社,2001,299-300.
[13].董衡巽.马克·吐温画像[M].上海: 上海文艺出版社,1991,5.
Bibliograghy
1. Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer[M]. New York: Bantam Books, Inc., 1966.
2. Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer[M]. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and
Research Press﹠Oxford University Press, 1996.
23
3. Wagenknecht & Edward. Mark Twain: The Man and His Work[M]. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1967.
4.常耀信.美国文学选读(上册)[M]. 天津: 南开大学出版社,1991. 5.陈建华.外国文学经典--文选与解读[M]. 合肥: 安徽文艺出版社,2003. 6.李四清.汤姆·索亚历险记导读[M]. 天津: 天津科技翻译出版公司,2003. 7.刘树魁.汤姆·索亚历险记[M]. 马克·吐温精品集，长春：长春出版社,1995. 8.马克·吐温.汤姆·索亚历险记[M]. 海口: 南海出版公司,2001. 9.王迪生.《汤姆索亚历险记》简论[J]. 外国文学研究,1987,(4). 10.肖复兴.汤姆·索亚历险记与名家品读[M]. 山西: 希望出版社,2008.
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my gratitude to all those who helped me during the writing of this thesis. A special acknowledgement should be given to Associate Professor Lin whose encouragement and useful instructions helped me a lot. I should also express my gratitude to my roommates, who offered me all kinds of help. Finally, I wish to extend my thanks to the librarians who supplied me with all kinds of materials in this field. I express my hearty thanks to all of them here.
湖南城市学院本科毕业论文诚信声明
本人郑重声明：所呈交的本科毕业论文，是本人在指导老师的指导下，独立进行研究工作所取得的成果，成果不存在知识产权争议，除文中已经注明引用的内容外，本论文不含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写过的作品成果。对本文的研究做出重要贡献的个人
24
和集体均已在文中以明确方式标明。本人完全意识到本声明的法律结果由本人承担。
本科毕业论文作者签名：
二O一一 年 五 月 三十 日
25
因篇幅问题不能全部显示，请点此查看更多更全内容