Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer develops many themes throughout, but perhaps the most developed theme is the theme of moral and social maturation. At the beginning, Tom is always creating pranks and make-believe games that many of his friends go along with. As the novel progresses, these childish activities become more dangerous for not only Tom but for Joe Harper, Huck, and Becky. While in these activities, they soon become predicaments where he must worry about the lives of his friends as well as his. Once Tom starts to worry and help the lives of his friends more, he illustrates moral integrity and competence. This can be seen through the quotation: “And as the doctor fetched the board around and Muff Potter fell, Injun Joe jumped with the

This is first evident in the graveyard scene, where Injun Joe commits murder. Originally, Tom and Huck just sneak out to the graveyard to find devils appearing from the area, but instead they see the murder take place. Throughout the novel, Tom and Huck seem to have a superstition for everything that takes place in the novel. It is almost as if it is a type of religion to the boys because they practice and think about it so much. Despite this, it can be seen through the quotation: “Yes---leave it. Injun Joe’s ghost is roundabout there, certain” (Twain 241). This quotation exemplifies the boys superstitions about ghosts, this supersition is also evident when searching for treasure outside an old house. The boys are scared that witches and now their ghosts haunt the house. So, they are scared to go in it. But, they only go in it because they are almost caught digging for treasure by Injun Joe. Tom and Huck believe that once a person dies, no matter how they die, their ghost stays where they died and haunts the place forever. Hence, why the boys were scared to go into the cave for treasure because they were scared Injun Joe’s ghost would haunt them and ruin their lives. Overall, the theme of supersitisions and the supernatural within the world is displayed throughout the novel, but mainly through the characters of Tom and Huck’s own