TOM SAWYER

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER

BY MARK TWAIN

IRENE RAMÓN ARELLANO 2ºBACH

INDEX

• CHARACTERS
• PLOT
• PERSONAL OPINION
• ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CHARACTERS

TOM SAWYER

He is the main character of the book. He lives with his aunt, Polly, and his half-brother, Sid. It is very difficult for him to be well-behaved and do his schoolwork. He is always looking for adventures with his friends. He is also very smart, imaginative and kind.

HUCK

He is the best friend of Tom. He is the son of the village drunkard. He is lazy, lawless and always wears old clothes of grown men. Moreover, he never goes to school or church and he sleeps outside and stays up as late as he wants. Owing to these facts, all the mothers think he is a bad influence. However, he is generous and warmhearted.

INJUN JOE

He is the villainous of the novel. He has been in jail several times for stealing and for violent crimes. He also murdered Dr. Robinson and becomes a robber. He wants to mutilate Mrs Douglas, because for her husband’s fault he went to prison.

MUFF POTTER

He and Injun Joe are two of the town’s bad characters. He is always drunk. He often helped Injun Joe, because he was too weak and stupid to act alone. Potter is kind and grateful toward Tom and Huck, who bring him presents after he is wrongly jailed for Dr. Robinson’s murder.

AUNT POLLY

BECKY THATCHER

Tom is her dead sister’s boy. She loves him unconditionally and does her best to bring him up well. However, this can be difficult since he is always lying and disobeying her.

She is the daughter of Judge Thatcher. Since the first time Tom sees her, he falls in love with her. Tom is also her love interest.

PLOT

Tom Sawyer is a clever, mischievous and imaginative boy who lives with his Aunt Polly and half-brother, Sid, in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, Missouri. One day, he gets in a trouble and as punishment he is made to paint the fence on Saturday. However, he persuades his friends to pay him small treasures for the honor of doing his work.Tom falls in love with the new girl in town, Becky Thatcher, and he convinces her to get engaged to him, but their romance ends when she learns that Tom has been engaged before. Soon after, Huck, who is the son of the village drunkard, and Tom decided to go to the graveyard at night to find a cure for warts. That night in the graveyard they see how Injun Joe kills Dr. Robinson, and how he blames Muff Potter for the murder. After that, Potter is arrested. Huck and Tom feel guilty and are scared, because if they say the truth Injun Joe woul kill them. Owing to this fact, they decided not to tell anyone about that nigh.

Huck begins to follow Injun Joe every night, waiting for an opportunity to steal the gold. Meanwhile, Tom goes on a picnic to McDougal’s Cave with Becky and their classmates. That same night, Huck runs after Injun Joe and his partner, and overhears their plans to attack the Widow Douglas. But Huck runs to get help and becomes an anonymous hero.

After some time, Huck, Tom and another friend decided to run away to an island to become pirates. After three days and nights, the boys become aware that the community is sounding the river for their bodies. One night, Tom sneaks into the town, and after a brief moment of remorse at the suffering of his loved ones, he has an idea and and comes back to the island to explain his plan to his friends. The three boys go back into town and make a grand appearance during their own funerals, and they become the envy of all their friends.Muff Potter’s trial begins, and Tom testifies against Injun Joe. Potter is acquitted, but Injun Joe managed to escape. Summer arrives, and Tom and Huck decided to search for a treasure in a haunted house. While they are inside they see how Injun Joe and his companion bury their own treasure, when, by accident, they find a box full of gold. They see Tom and Huck’s tools and decided to keep the gold in another place.

Tom and Becky get lost in the cave, and their absence is not discovered until the following morning. The community begin to search for them, but there is no trace of them, so they give up. Tom and Becky have no food and start to feel sick. The situation gets worse when Tom, looking for a way out of the cave, run into Injun Joe, who is using the cave as a hideout. Finally, Tom finds a way out and while the town celebrates their return, Judge Thatcher, locks up the cave, and Injun Joe gets trapped inside and dies.A week later, Tom and Huck go back to the cave and find the box of gold. The Widow Douglas adopts Huck, however, he is not very happy with his new life and tries to escape. To prevent it, Tom threats him telling him that if he doesn’t return to Mrs Douglas, he can not join Tom’s robber band. At the end, Huck agrees.

PERSONAL OPINION

From my point of view, this is a very amusing and interesting book, as it has a large variaty of themes, such as: friendship, adventure, mistery...that will keep you reading for hours. For this reason, I highly recommend reading this book because it is perfect for all ages. I reckon my favourite characters are Tom, as I think he is very smart, and Huck, since he enjoys having a plain life without luxury.

MARK TWAIN

The begining of Twain’s literary career started with the launched of "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"(1865). However, he has a huge amount of celebrated novels, for example: “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, “The Prince and the Pauper” (1881)... Mark Twain, one of America's first and foremost realists and humanists, was born in 1835 during the appearance of Haley's Comet, and he died during the next appearance of Haley's Comet, 75 years later.

His real name was Samuel Longhorne Clemens, and was born in Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835. When Twain was about four, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri. Although his family was not wealthy, Twain apparently had a happy and secure childhood.Twain's father died when Twain was twelve years old and, for the next ten years, Twain was a printer. On a riverboat to New Orleans, he met a famous riverboat pilot who promised to teach him the trade for five hundred dollars. After his training, Twain piloted riverboats along the Mississippi for four years. During this time, he became familiar with the towns along the mighty River and met the characters who would be in his future novels, especially Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.

THE END

BY IRENE RAMÓN ARELLANO 2ºBACH