Response 2

The second half of this book held many exciting and very unexpected adventures for Tom. Over the course of the rest of The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer Tom grows as a character and as a human being. He has a lot of courage and determination which helps him to mature.


At more than one point in the book, Tom has to experience things that I don't think a child should have to. He witnesses a man get murdered and has to save himself and his friend Becky from a cave. Even though these events are horrific, they don't seem to affect him. He comes out with more confidence in himself and becomes even more adventurous; "With and eager auditory about him, [he] told the history of the wonderful adventure." (Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 160) It was amazing to read that Tom could remain calm and collected in such terrible situations. The stereo-types that we have for children as being weak and fragile are disproved by this book. We shouldn't assume that children are incapable or can't handle certain things just because they are small and young. They should be given the chance to experiment and grow as human beings.


Throughout the second half of this book, Tom becomes more aware of his values and morals; "Every reference to the murder sent a shudder to his heart, for his troubled conscience." (117) He realises that telling the truth to save others is better than keeping a secret to save himself. His selfishness decreases as he realises the benefit of others was more important. In my opinion Tom becomes a more relatable character when he had to chose between good and bad. Prior to this point, I really had no personal connection to Tom because I don't really love adventure and the factors that influence his life, don't influence mine. For example, the idea that innocent people can be hung doesn't exist in Canada anymore. But when he shares that he is fighting with his conscience, I immediately understand how he feels and why he has such a hard time deciding.

His near death experience also helps him to mature and almost open his eyes to the dangers of the world around him. When he is trapped in the cave, every trick and game he played before seemed insignificant to the expedition he would have to go on to escape. This is expressed clearly when Tom's Aunt Polly says "He warn't bad...only mischeevous...he never meant any harm, and he was the best-hearted boy that ever was." (83) His maturity helps him to stay calm in this situation and think of a logical plan of escape. This situation really forces him to grow up and stop playing childish games.


Overall, Tom grows substantially as a character in the last part of this book. His reaction to events shows that children should be given a chance to succeed in what ever they do, even if it is dangerous or risky.