The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Mark Twain, 1876
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Tom Sawyer, an orphan of twelve or thirteen, lives with Aunt Polly in the river town of St. Petersburg. He dodges school, tricks other boys into whitewashing a fence for him, and falls for the new girl Becky Thatcher. With his outcast friend Huckleberry Finn he sees a murder in the graveyard, goes pirating on an island, and attends his own funeral. He testifies against the killer, Injun Joe, and later gets lost in a cave with Becky. The boys find a hoard of gold, and Huck is adopted by the Widow Douglas.
Where it happens
- Hannibal, Missouri Twain's boyhood town on the Mississippi, the model for St. Petersburg.12
- Jackson's Island Island in the Mississippi where Tom, Joe and Huck play pirates. Position is approximate.1
- London Chatto and Windus issued an unillustrated edition here in June 1876.1
- St. Louis About 110 miles southeast of Hannibal.2
Through time
- 1835Samuel Clemens, later Mark Twain, is born.1
- 1846Hannibal is Missouri's third-largest city when its railroad is organized by Twain's father.2
- 1875In November Twain gives the manuscript to Elisha Bliss.1
- 1876The novel appears on 9 June and the American edition follows in December.1
- 1884Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published.1
- 1910Twain dies.1
Who is in it, and behind it
Tom Sawyer character
Orphan boy of twelve or thirteen who lives with Aunt Polly.1
Huckleberry Finn character
Vagrant boy admired by the others, who later is adopted by the Widow Douglas.1
Becky Thatcher character
New girl in town, daughter of Judge Thatcher, whom Tom pursues.1
Injun Joe character
Murderer of Dr. Robinson, who frames Muff Potter and dies in the cave.1
Aunt Polly character
Tom's guardian, who punishes him with the fence.1
Elisha Bliss publisher
Of the American Publishing Company, who received the manuscript in November 1875.1
True Williams illustrator
Illustrated the first American edition.1
What it is about
Work and play
The fence episode shows work as what one must do and play as what one need not do.1
Outcast freedom
Huck is hated by mothers and admired by their children for living outside the rules.1
Conscience and an oath
Tom breaks his oath to Huck and testifies to save Muff Potter.1
Social satire
The novel mixes humor with social criticism of the town.1
Criticism of Injun Joe
The portrayal of Injun Joe has been criticised as a caricature of Native Americans.1
In its own words
Tom! ” No answer. “ Tom! ” No answer. “What’s gone with that boy, I wonder? You Tom !” No answer. The old lady pulled her spectacles down and looked over them about the room; then she put them up and looked out under them.
Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. And this would help him to understand why constructing artificial flowers or performing on a treadmill is work, while rolling tenpins or climbing Mont Blanc is only amusement.
whitewash and a long-handled brush. He surveyed the fence, and all gladness left him and a deep melancholy settled down upon his spirit. Thirty yards of board fence nine feet high. Life to him seemed hollow, and existence but a burden.
Huckleberry Finn, son of the town drunkard. Huckleberry was cordially hated and dreaded by all the mothers of the town, because he was idle and lawless and vulgar and bad—and because all their children admired him so, and delighted in his forbidden society, and wished they dared to be like him.
Becky Thatcher. What’s yours? Oh, I know. It’s Thomas Sawyer.” “That’s the name they lick me by. I’m Tom when I’m good. You call me Tom, will you?” “Yes.” Now Tom began to scrawl something on the slate, hiding the words from the girl. But she was not backward this time. She begged to see. Tom said: “Oh, it ain’t anything.” “Yes it is.”
Injun Joe.” “That’s so—that murderin’ half-breed! I’d druther they was devils a dern sight. What kin they be up to?” The whisper died wholly out, now, for the three men had reached the grave and stood within a few feet of the boys’ hiding-place.
The Widow Douglas’ splendid hospitality was a tempting bait. It and Tom’s persuasions presently carried the day. So it was decided to say nothing to anybody about the night’s programme. Presently it occurred to Tom that maybe Huck might come this very night and give the signal.
The shape of the book
37 chapters, 70,134 words. Point at a bar.
How it came to be here
Mark Twain published the novel on 9 June 1876. In November 1875 he gave the manuscript to Elisha Bliss of the American Publishing Company, who sent it to True Williams for the illustrations. Chatto and Windus of London issued the text in June 1876 without pictures, and pirate editions appeared quickly in Canada and Germany. The American edition came in December 1876. St. Petersburg is based on Hannibal, Missouri, the Mississippi town where Twain spent his boyhood. The book was not a success at first, but it became his best seller in his lifetime.
Sources
Text: Standard Ebooks edition of the public-domain text. Standard Ebooks markup CC0 1.0; text public domain in the USA.