The first half of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer left me bewildered and amazed. It was really astounding that Tom and his friends could let everyone believe they were dead then show up at their own funeral. One of the themes in this novel is freedom and how far you can take it. Tom always finds a way to get into trouble and is constantly getting on his aunts nerves; "Umph! Well, you didn't get a lick amiss", [Aunt Polly] reckoned. "You'd been into some other owdacious mischief when I wasn't around, like enough."(Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 22) But for some reason, she keeps forgiving him. This is opposite to our world today where kids are coddled and watched at all times and can be punished for a lifetime for one mistake.
Throughout this section I often found myself wanting Tom to succeed even though he was not following the rules. I am usually annoyed by characters that continually ignore the rules just to have fun. But I somehow feel in love with Tom's cunning ways and his caring nature; "He thought of his flower. He got it out, rumpled and wilted, and it mightily increased his dismal felicity."(23) He is also a very free spirit which stops him from listening to his conscience. Even though he is a troublemaker, he does what he thinks is best and it usually works out in the end.
He also goes to a lot of trouble to achieve freedom. He is always scheming and coming up with ways to make life more challenging and exciting for himself. A very clear example of this is shown in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; "What's the good of a plan that ain't no more trouble than that...it wouldn't make no more talk than breaking into a soap factory."(Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 190) His impulsive nature creates a lot of excitement and I am always left wondering what he will do next.
When I first started reading my book and was learning about all of Tom's adventures, I thought he had it all. He did what he wanted when he wanted and he had so much fun. But as I got farther into the book, I realised that his freedom wasn't that great. When he ran away from home, he had to hide so that no one would find him; "[they] were cautioned to 'be mum and wait.' (Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 73) He also didn't have the trust of his family.
What I learned from this section was that it is okay to break some rules but there are limits on how far you can take them. With freedom comes responsibility and sometimes the distrust of others. But you can find adventure and fun in it when you know how to limit yourself.
I thought this was a good post. I liked how you described the contrast between the book, and the world today. I also liked how you mentioned what the book taught you, proving that, although there are differences between society when the book was written, and society today, it's still relevant in modern times.
ReplyDeletei really like that you have placed yourself in the text. You have made some personal connections as you developed your ideas about the theme. Is this what makes this book so enduring? Our ability to see ourselves in Tom's adventures? Even now?
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