Review-Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Introduction

Title: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Author: Mark Twain

Place: United States

Publisher: Oxford Progressive English Readers

Publication Date: First published 1992-Second published 2005

Edition Second

Pages: 104

Price: 245rs

ISBN 978-0-19-597142-2

This book is about a boy who grew up in Missouri, USA, by the Mississippi river. The boy made his life full of adventures by making a lot of mischief. He is always told to stay in house and be responsible about his school work and due to his negligence he is always punished and the story begins from his punishment when a fence is given to him to paint, in result of stealing jam.   

Characters

After reading this book I think this is one of the best books among those who are based on adventures and it has the material from which it can have the concentration of the readers. I think this book can change the thinking of people and can make their lives more adventurous and can help them to be confident while facing all problems in life.  

Tom sawyer

A young and motherless boy who lives with his Aunt Polly in a small Missouri town on the Mississippi river.

Aunt Polly

Tom’s kindly aunt and guardian; sister of tom's dead mother

Sid

Tom’s young brother, who is quiet, well-behaved, and a tattletale.

Ben Rogers

He is a young friend of tom`s and tom tricks him into whitewashing a fence.

Joe Harper

He is a young friend of tom's who joins in several adventures.

Becky Thatcher

She is the pretty new girl in town and Tom's sweetheart.

Mary

She is Aunt Polly’s daughter and tom's cousin.

Huckleberry Finn

A young friend of tom's and a motherless boy who is neglected by his drunken father. He is the protagonist and narrator of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer Abroad, and Tom Sawyer, Detective. He is also Tom Sawyer's closest friend. His father is Pap Finn. He is about 12 or 13 years old at the time of the events of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and would be a year older at the time of the major events of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Amy Lawrence

Tom’s farmer girlfriend

Muff potter        

A drunken criminal who murders Dr.Robinson and steals money. He is a drunken fisherman who loves children. He often helps mend the children's kites and helps them fish. Muff Potter is accused of murdering Dr. Robinson in the beginning of the story while really; it is really Injun Joe that had killed the Doctor. Injun Joe managed to convince Muff that he committed the murder. He is a close friend of Tom's. Tom saves Muff's life, while endangering his own, by telling the truth about the Robinson murder. Muff is certainly the most pitiful character in Tom Sawyer, and his plight gives Tom and Huck the opportunity to demonstrate their kindness and compassion. They visit him in jail, bring him gifts, and, eventually save his life. All Muff can do is thank them and warn them to avoid drinking alcohol.

Dr. Robinson

who is murdered for telling on Injun Joe.

Alfred temple

Smart, well-dressed boy who makes Tom jealous.

Mr. Dobbins

School master at the village school.

Widow Douglas

Wealthy woman in town who takes in huckleberry .Finn

Judge Thatcher

Respected citizen of the town; Becky’s father

Injun Joe

a dangerous criminal who murders Dr. Robinson and steals money. He is the main antagonist of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is a half Native American, half white man. He was whipped by Mr. Douglas, a police officer. Injun Joe had probably been striking fear into the children of the village. The first that Tom Sawyer witnessed was the murder of Doctor Robinson and the framing of Muff Potter. Following this, Huck Finn overhears Injun Joe plotting the mutilation of Widow Douglas. Towards the end of the book, Tom sees Injun Joe inside the cave, but Injun Joe is not able to see Tom's face. At the end of the book, Injun Joe is found dead behind the newly sealed cave door.

About the author

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, was born in the tiny Missouri town of Florida in 1835. From his youth he was a charming, natural-born storyteller who cared little for form or rules of style. His best work drew on his boyhood experiences along the Missippi River. Hannibal, Missouri, the town where he grew up, was the setting for two of his most famous novels, the adventures of tom sawyer and his masterpiece, the adventures of huckleberry Finn. as a young man, Clemens learned the printing trade and worked as a steamboat pilot until the civil war ended riverboat traffic. He than began to travel across the country, working as a newspaper man, humorist, lecturer and writer. He received some attention with publication of his short story, ‘the celebrated jumping frog of calaveras country'. but it was his first published book, the innocents abroad, thah gave mark twain a place in American literature and enough financial security to get married.at the age of 28, Clemens took his pen name, mark twain, from silver slang for 'two fathoms deep' among his other notable works are the three novels, a connecticut yankee in king author’s court, life on the missippi, the prince and the pauper.

twain's gratest gifts were humour, the common touch, and the ability to imitate any style of speech. mark twain died in 1910. some of his last essays, however, were not found and published untill 1962.     

Summary

Ch:1

tom sawyer us introduced as an adventurous but mischievous boy being raised, along with his goody-goody younger brother sid, by his aunt polly. his exploits, such as stealing jam and playing booky, earn him the punishment of whitewashing aunt polly's fence. but tom cleverly pretends this task is great fun and thereby tricks several boys who are passing by into paying him with their 'treasures' for the privilege of doing the job for him.                   

Ch:2

after an 'important army battle' with some other boys in a muddy alley, tom sees a pretty, new girl at judge thatcher's house. he is gratified when after showing off for her, leaping about and doing handstands, she tosses him a flower. at home, sid breaks a sugar bowl and tom gets blamed for it. the next day tom trades the treasures he heas learned 2,000 bible verses. although tom has little interest in the prize, a bible of his own, he longs for the attention and glory. when he accepts his ill-gotten prize, however/ he is unable to answer a simple question about the bible, and is laughed at by all. 

  Ch:3

tom meets with huckleberry finn on the way to school, and the two boys plan a visit to the graveyard at midnight. tom is punished for being late for school by being made to sit on the girl's side of the classroom, next to the new girl, becky thatcher. he tells her he loves her and asks her to become engaged to him. but when becky discovers that tom had previosly been engaged to amy laurence, she runs away, heartbroken. tom comforts himself by planning to 'play pirates'.

Ch:4

At midnight, tom and huck visit the graveyard. by chance they see dr.robinson, injun joe , and muff potter robbing a grave. then they are even more terrified when they see injun joe kill dr.robinson with muff potter's khife. muff potter, who is drunk and has also been hit on the head by dr.robinson, is easily fooled into thinking that he commited the crime himself. tom and huck run off to an old shack make a blood oath of silence about what they have seen. both boys are affraid injn joe will kill them if they tell.

Ch:5

when becky misses school because of illness, tom is affraid she might die. after she returns, he shows off his best tricks but  she will not even look at him. along with huck and joe harper, tom 'runs away from home' to play pirates on jackson's island. the boys have a grand time until they realizes that everyone back in the village thimks they have drowned. one night tom sneaks into aunt polly's house and over hears plans for their funeral. the temtation is too much for him. he goes back to the island , eager to tell the other boys about his best idea yet.

Ch:6

tom springs his wonderful idea just when joe harper is getting homesick and huck is getting tired of playing pirates. they are thrilled with his plan. sure enough, the boys attend their own funeral, first hiding and listening to the minister's mournful words , and then marching up the aisle infront of the whole congregation. now the boys are treated like heroes. tom take advantages of the situation by trying to make up with becky, but she tries to make him jealous by sitting with another boy, alfred temple. in relation, alfred throws ink on tom's spelling book. at home, aunt polly scolds tom for making her worry and tom consoles her by whispering that he loves her.

ch:7

becky accidently tears a page in the schoolmaster's book, which she took out of his desk and was reading without permission. she bursts into tears when she realizes that tom witnessed what she has done. when mr.dobbins discovers the torn page which happens to be a picture of naked body. he angrily questions each student. touched by fear in becky's face, tom gallantly takes the blame for her misdeed and receives 'the worst whipping dobbins had ever given' but his brave deed wins back becky's heart. she asks him how he could be so noble.

Ch:8

when school lets out for the summer, becky goes on vacation with her family and tom is bored. then, as muff potter's murder trial approaches, he and huck have to face the fact that old muff might be hanged for a murder he did not commit. they visit muff potter in jail, and they reaffirm their oath of silence. on the day of trial, tom is called to the witness stand. he tells the whole story, breaking his oath to huck. as he reveals what really happened in the graveyard that night, injun joe bolts out a window of the courthouse. now tom is a hero again, but both boys are still terrified of injun joe's revenge.

Ch:9

to divert their mind from worry, tom and huck go treasure hunting in an old haunted house. that morning they have no luck, so they entertain themselves by discussing how they will spend the treasure money when they find it. but when they return later that night, they are upstairs when injun joe and a stronger come in. they see the two men dig a hole to  burry their money, and accidently find a buried box of gold coins. without discovering the boys, injun joe and his partner leave, taking all the money to "bury under the cross" in injun joe's.

Ch:10

becky invites all the children to a picnic. after eating lunch, the children explore mc dougal's cave, a vast network of underground tunnels. at the end of the day the ferryboat returns to take the children home. no one notices that tom and becky are still in the cave. they wander around, hungry, tired and frightened for a night and a day before tom finally finds a way out. before their escape, however, tom is horrified to come across injun joe walking around the cave. because becky is frightened enough already, he says nothing to her about it. upon tom and becky's return, the whole town greets them warmly. two weeks later, judge thatcher tells tom that he had an iron lock put on the door leading into the cave.

Ch: 11

Tom tells judge thatcher that injun joe is locked inside the cave. tom feels both"safe and sad" when they find it, the box is two heavy to carry, they put the gold coins in bags and pull it on a wagon. on the way home, they come upon a party at window dougla's. there the widow announces her intention of giving huck a home. tom shows everyone their treasure, and hucks makes an unhappy effort to be ' civilized' according to widow dougla's rules-but he eventually runs away. tom entices him to go back to widow dougla's by offering huck membership in the 'robber gang' he is planning.