Tragic Hero In Mark Twain's The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer

What Makes Tom Sawyer Who He Is

Who is Tom Sawyer? Some people look up to him, most avoid him, and some even fall in love with him. In the adventure novel Adventures of Tom Sawyer, written by Mark Twain, the citizens of St.Petersburg, Missouri all have different opinions about the mischievous kid roaming around their block. Tom Sawyer is a young boy who just can’t get anywhere without having a little fun. Throughout the book, the reader joins Tom on his several adventures such as when he dares to go to a cemetery with Huckleberry Finn, roams a dark cave with his beloved Becky Thatcher, and even follows a wanted Injun Joe for treasure. These risky expeditions reveal aspects of Sawyer’s personality that can be described as childish, venturesome,

To begin with, when Tom Sawyer is bored of being himself, he creates and acts as a completely different person. “He would be a pirate! That was it! Now his future lay plain before him, and glowing with unimaginable splendor.”(pg.73) “‘It’s Tom Sawyer the Pirate! — the Black Avenger of the Spanish Main!’ Yes, it was settled; his career was determined.” (pg.74) Tom and his other companions run away to Jackson’s Island, to live a life of crime. This is a clear demonstration of the childish ideas Tom comes up with throughout the novel. Tom is also immature because of all the pranks he plays on those around him. For example, he ends up tricking the whole town into believing that he and a few of his other friends have drowned, which causes distraught in St.Petersburg. But when they return home, shock hit the town as well as surprisement that the boys had faked their death just to attend their own funeral. “almost with one impulse the congregation rose and stared while the three dead boys came marching up the aisle, Tom in the lead, Joe next, and Huck, a ruin of drooping rags, sneaking sheepishly in the rear! They had been hiding in the unused gallery listening to their own funeral sermon!” (pg.119) St.Petersburg was overwhelmed after seeing the children, who ended up alive after all. Tom not only deceives his family and friends but the whole

In the novel, Tom meets one girl, Becky Thatcher, and immediately falls in love with her. “Tom was about to take refuge in a lie, when he saw two long tails of yellow hair hanging down a back that he recognized by the electric sympathy of love; and by that form was the only vacant place on the girls’ side of the school-house. He instantly said: ‘I STOPPED TO TALK WITH HUCKLEBERRY FINN!’”(pg. 47) Tom Sawyer purposely gets himself in trouble for a girl he doesn’t even know the name of. As a punishment, he is sent to sit with the girls where he introduces himself to Becky Thatcher. Another example of Tom showing his tender side is when he tries to find a way out a cave full of complex tunnels to save him and Becky. “Tom kissed her, with a choking sensation in his throat, and made a show of being confident of finding the searchers or an escape from the cave; then he took the kite-line in his hand and went groping down one of the passages on his hands and knees, distressed with hunger and sick with bodings of coming doom.”(pg.207) Although he has lost a lot of strength, found out that a wanted murderer is exploring the cave as well, and is starving, Tom still does what he can to escape the tunnels for him and Becky. Tom really demonstrates his mature and loving side during several of these scenes in the