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Name : SUBIN HOSSAIN

Class: VI
Section:
Roll number:
Session:
Subject:

A BOOK REVIEW ON MARK TWAIN’S THE ADVENTURE OF TOM

SAWYER
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CONTENT
INTRODUCTION: 5
SUMMARY: 6-7
ANALYSIS OF THE STORY: 8-10
COMPARISON AND CONTRAST: 11
CONCLUSION: 12
BIBLIOGRAPHY: 13
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: 14
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-Aims of a Literature Project

•To create an interesting reading.
•To empower the students to undertake research work, assimilate
Their thoughts and present them in an organized manner.
•To nurture their linguistic ability.
•To enable them to interpret the given text (prose/poem) and
Express individual opinion.
•To test the students’ reading, comprehending and writing skills

Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30,

1835, in the frontier village of Florida, Missouri. Clemens was eleven years old
when his lawyer father died. In order to help the family earn money, the young
Clemens began working as a store clerk and a delivery boy. He became a
steamboat river pilot until the outbreak of the Civil War (1861–65), when
Northern forces clashed with those of the South over slavery and secession (the
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South's desire to leave the Union). He settled down to newspaper work in

Virginia City. 1865, Twain began to write a short story, The Jumping Frog of
Calaveras County, which first brought him national attention. His accounts as
published in the newspaper provided the basis for his first successful lectures:
the 'Sandwich Islands' (1938) and 'Letters from Honolulu' (1939). In 1870
Twain married Olivia Langdon. Mark Twain's account of steam boating
experiences for the 'Atlantic Monthly' (1875; expanded to Life on the
Mississippi, 1883) captured the beauty, glamor, and danger of the Mississippi
River. Boyhood memories of life beside that river were written into The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1875). With more exotic and foreign settings, The
Prince and the Pauper (1882) and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
(1889) attracted readers also, but The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885),
in which Mark Twain again returned to the river scenes he knew best, was
considered unacceptable by many. His other Works are: The Man That
Corrupted Hadleyburg, Eve's Diary, written partly in memory of his wife.
With the income from the excerpts of his autobiography, he built a large house
in Redding, Connecticut, which he named Stormfield. There, after several trips
to Bermuda to
improve his declining health, he died on April 21, 1910.

Tom Sawyer is a young boy living with his Aunt Polly on the banks of the
Mississippi River. He seems to get most enjoy getting himself into trouble. After missing school
one day (and getting into a fight), Tom is punished with the task of whitewashing a fence.
However, he turns the punishment into a bit of entertainment and tricks other boys to finish the
work for him. He convinces the boys that the chore is a great honor, so he receives small,
precious objects in payment.
Around this time, Tom falls in love with a young girl, Becky Thatcher. He suffers under a
whirlwind romance and engagement to her before she shuns him after she hears of Tom's
previous engagement to Amy Lawrence. He tries to win Becky back, but it doesn't go well. She
refuses a gift he tries to give her. Humiliated, Tom runs off and dreams up a plan to run away.
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It's around this time that Tom runs into Huckleberry Finn, who would be the titular
character in Twain's next and most acclaimed novel. Huck and Tom agree to meet in the
graveyard at midnight to test a scheme to cure warts involving a dead cat.
The boys meet at the graveyard, which brings the novel to its pivotal scene when they witness a
murder. Injun Joe kills Dr. Robinson and tries to blame it on the drunken Muff Porter. Injun Joe
is unaware that the boys have seen what he's done.
Afraid of the consequences of this knowledge, he and Huck swear an oath of silence.
However, Tom becomes deeply depressed when Muff goes to jail for Robinson's murder.
After yet another rejection by Becky Thatcher, Tom and Huck run off with their friend Joe
Harper. They steal some food and head to Jackson's Island. They're not there long before they
discover a search party looking for three boys presumed drowned and realize they are the boys
in question.
They play along with the charade for a while and don't reveal themselves until their
"funerals," marching into the church to the surprise and consternation of their families.
Tom continues his flirtation with Becky with limited success over summer vacation. Eventually,
overcome with guilt, he testifies at the trial of Muff Potter, exonerating him of Robinson's murder.
Potter is released, and Injun Joe escapes through a window in the courtroom.
The court case isn't Tom's last encounter with Injun Joe, however. In the final part of the
novel, he and Becky (newly reunited) get lost in one of the caves. Here, Tom stumbles across
his archenemy. Escaping his clutches and finding his way out, Tom manages to alert the
towns people, who lock up the cave while leaving Injun Joe inside.
Our hero ends up happy, however, as he and Huck discover a box of gold (that once belonged
to Injun Joe), and the money is invested for them. Tom finds happiness and — much to his
distress — Huck finds respectability by being adopted.

Theme :The main theme of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is the joys of childhood
when the world is full of wonders and children are free of the heavy responsibilities of adulthood.
Youth is the best time of life because we are free of responsibilities and cares, and the world
seems full of wonders and possibilities.
Setting: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is set in the town of St. Petersburg, Missouri,
some time around the middle of the nineteenth century. St. Petersburg is small, but it's got
everything a boy could want: lush forests, a wide river, an island perfect for playing pirates, and
caves perfect for getting lost in. It's got your standard issue small-town stuff: a church, a
courthouse, a schoolhouse, etc., but it's got a spooky side too, complete with an eerie
graveyard, a "Temperance tavern" selling bootleg liquor, and a haunted house.
It's these darker spots that usually get overlooked when people talk about Tom Sawyer –
there's a reason why Disneyland has an attraction called "Tom Sawyer's Island" and not a bar
called "Tom Sawyer's Not So Temperate Tavern" – but all these settings are in the book for a
reason.
Characters: Tom Sawyer, Becky Thatcher, Huckleberry Finn, Joe Harper, Aunt Polly,
Sid, Mary, Injun Joe, Muff Potter, Dr. Robinson, Mr. Sprague, The Widow Douglas, Mr. Jones,
Judge Thatcher, Amy Lawrence,Jim,Ben Rogers,Alfred Temple, Mr. Dobbins, Mr. Walters .
Tom Sawyer : When the novel begins, Tom is a mischievous child who envies Huck
Finn’s lazy lifestyle and freedom. however, critical moments show Tom moving away from his
childhood concerns and making mature, responsible decisions. These moments include Tom’s
testimony at Muff Potter’s trial, his saving of Becky from punishment, and his heroic navigation
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out of the cave. The novel jumps back and forth among several narrative strands: Tom’s general
misbehavior, which climaxes in the Jackson’s Island adventure; his courtship of Becky, which
culminates in his acceptance of blame for the book that she rips; and his struggle with Injun Joe,
which ends with Tom and Huck’s discovery of the treasure. Tom is a paradoxical figure in some
respects—for example, he has no determinate age. Sometimes Tom shows the naïveté of a
smaller child, with his interest in make-believe and superstitions. On the other hand, Tom’s
romantic interest in Becky and his fascination with Huck’s smoking and drinking seem more the
concerns of an adolescent. Tom’s unflagging energy and thirst for adventure—propels the novel
from episode to episode. Disobedient though he may be, Tom ends up as St. Petersburg’s hero.
As the town gossips say, “[Tom] would be President, yet, if he escaped hanging.”

\
A third person narrator describes the experiences of the boys, interspersed
with occasional social commentary. In its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
changes to a first person narrative which takes moral conflicts more personally and thus makes
greater social criticism possible.[11] The two others subsequent books, Tom Sawyer Abroad
and Tom Sawyer, Detective, are similarly in the first person narrative from the perspective of
Huckleberry Finn.
The confrontation between Tom and Huck at the end of Huckleberry Finn highlights
the most important difference between the two books. While Tom Sawyer is a comedic
children's adventure story, Huckleberry Finn is a darker and more serious book, dealing with the
evils of slavery and Huck's loss of innocence.
The Adventure of Tom Sawyer deals with themes like, Boyhood Rebellion and Growing Up
The Hypocrisy of Adult Society
Superstition, Fantasy, and Escape
Showing Off
Sentimentality and Realism, while Huckleberry Finn, with Slavery and Racism
Society and Hypocrisy
Religion and Superstition
Growing Up
Freedom.
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Bibliography: 1. The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, ed.
David Widger
2. Wikipedia
3. The Norton Critical Edition of The Adventure of Tom Sawyer
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Conclusion: Thus, Mark Twain tells how a mischievous boy grows into a responsible boy
through this novel. I enjoyed the book very much because of the Character, Tom who is my
favourite character. I can relate many activities that I have done with him like school bunking
and others mischievous works. Through him, I have come to realize that how it is joyful for
children when the world is full of wonders and children like me, are free from all the adult
responsibilities.