Truth and Tom Sawyer
The road to truth is long, and lined the whole way with annoying bastards. Alexander Jablokov
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain, has many themes; one theme is the importance of truth in society. A Society is inevitable. It will always be there as a pleasure and a burden. Society expects, or perhaps demands, certain behavior from the individual. If one wishes to enjoy the pleasures of society then one must play by societys rules.
Tom Sawyer, THE MAIN CHARACTER, is an imaginative young man who sometimes allows his imagination and high-spirit TO get in the way of telling the truth. Tom is very adventurous; he never passes up a chance to play pirates, robbers, or soldiers. We are introduced to Tom, when he is climbing in his window after a long night of cavorting with his friends. Soon after this, Tom meets Huckleberry Fin. Huck is a social outcast who likes to live by his own terms. Tom and Huck become good friends. One night the two boys go to the graveyard AND while they are there they witness the murder of the town doctor, Mr. Robinson. The boys watched as Injun Joe kills the doctor and frames a drunk by the name of Muff Potter, who happens to be IN the wrong place at the wrong time. The boys swear never to speak of THE MURDER again.
Later, Tom falls in love with his new neighbor, Becky Thatcher. Eventually the two become engaged, but the engagement falls through when Tom accidentally mentions his former love while talking with Becky. The two feud and do not speak.
Even though both women are adulators, Hester is a truthful woman who never lies. She only lies one time to her daughter when approached by the question of what the scarlet letter stands for. Hester also never lies when approached by ministers to confess whom the accomplice were. She just says, “I will not speak'; (Hawthorne 64).
In particular remaining optimistic through obstacles, isn’t always easy to do, but a self-made man and fisherman make it look easy. When Gatsby had all the money he could ever dream of, he felt that something was still missing. He wanted to be with Daisy more than anything, but she wasn’t with him because
First Tom is directly characterized as a meager man. As the passage says, “There lived near this place a meager, miserly fellow of the name Tom Walker” (Irving 229). This trait relates to Tom’s appearance, as it means that he is scrawny and thin. By providing this characterization of Tom Walker the author provides the reader with a basic description of Tom. Tom is also indirectly characterized as being outspoken. This is displayed through the quote, “Her voice was often heard in wordy warfare with her husband, and his face sometimes showed signs that their conflicts were not confined to words” (Irving 230). By the use of this quote the author indirectly states that Tom is outspoken and as he engaged in “wordy warfare” with his wife and was not afraid to express his opinion to his wife.
In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the ignorance of society becomes extremely evident at many parts of the book. Society forms ideals for all walks of life and then lets them become like stone in their minds. Thus, once a person has been put into a group they will remain there forever. The ignorance of society is clearly seen when one looks at Huck Finn, Jim the Slave, Pap, and the senseless violence of the Grangerfords and the Shepardsons.
Before the move to Coghill, Tom wanted his old life back. He sees the accident as the end of his life, though this he seems to have lost connection to his family and his sense of identity. Tom feels guilty and ashamed about the irrevocable consequences of Daniel’s irresponsibility and the impact this had on other people and their families. Retreats into a depressed state which feels empty and black. After the accident, Tom’s life was changed forever.
Daily actions of checking and critiquing can be performed in many ways. Body monitoring offers an array of resources. Constantly weighing one’s self is a way of achieving quantitative precision. Being able to pinpoint an exact gain or loss is a necessity in this cycle. To be able to have an ideal weight and to accurately compare yourself leaves no room for misinterpretation. Counting Calories helps maintain discipline to be sure not to exceed the limit. If one eats certain “restricted” food, it is seen to be sinful or as breaking the rules. This restriction of food intake is in a highly disciplined way. This is part of a larger process of dieting and exercising which is used in an obsessive manner to obtain the “perfect” body. These diet rituals can go as far as to fast for days at a time. Another “tool” of monitoring is food watching, monitoring the intake of “good” and “bad” foods. Nutritionally healthy foods are considered good. Anything else, from sweets to foods with fat, are considered bad foods.
Tom can now start to show his maturity everywhere, including at home. In the beginning, Tom is running from Aunt Polly's punishments, hurries through chores, and plays hooky from school. When he convinces kids to do his job of whitewash the fence for him, it shows immaturity. Also when he runs away from home to the island, he doesn't leave a note.
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, contains many profound characters. The townspeople intrigue the reader because they gradually evolve throughout the book, as would any solitary character. In the beginning of the novel, they are generally rigid and judgmental towards Hester, because she has committed adultery. Throughout the novel, they slowly allow Hester and her daughter into their community, but still look at them with suspicion and doubt. Finally, in the end of The Scarlet Letter, the town forgives her of her sin, and she cautiously finds her place in society. Hawthorne uses the strict Puritan townspeople as a criterion by which all societies can be measured. The townspeople, as with any individual character, possess a certain depth that develops with knowledge.
The author continuously characterizes Tom in a way that makes the readers deride him and not want to follow the example of his like. For example, after Tom's wife takes all their valuables and tries to strike a bargain with the devil as Tom won't do it himself, Tom goes looking for her. The reader sees that he doesn't really care about her as much as he cares about the valuables: "He leaped with joy; for he recognized his wife's apron, and supposed it to contain the household valuables"(263). That shows that he is really greedy and ruthless; no one wants to follow someone portrayed like that. Furthermore, Tom had evidence that his wife was fighting with the devil when she tried to strike that bargain. The passage that provides his reaction has a satirical tone: "He shrugged his shoulders, and he looked at the signs of a fierce clapper clawing."Egad," said he to himself, "Old scratch must have had a tough time if it!" Tom consoled himself for the loss of his property, with the loss of his wife"(264). Contrasting words like fierce and prowess, which are serious words, with words like clapper clawing, egad and old scratch, Irving highlights...
To first understand how Hester was separate from the society around her, one must understand the society itself. The Puritan way of life, which was supposed to be unique, was not really all that different from the societies found everywhere in Europe at that time. Probably the most distinctive thing about it was that, though elsewhere this was a big part of society, the Puritan life was based almost entirely upon religion. The Puritan life was almost entirely ruled by laws, being that one of their beliefs was that strict discipline was good for people. "He [the Puritan] thought God had left a rule in His word for discipline, and that aristocratical by elders, not monarchical by bishops, nor democratical by...
First, they escaped their houses and second they went to the graveyard to cure their warts. We discover his innocence when he talks to Huck about the saying; he says, “Why, you take your cat and go and get in the graveyard ‘long about midnight when somebody that was wicked has been buried; and when it’s midnight a devil will come, or maybe two or three, but you can’t see ‘em, you can only hear something like the wind, or maybe hear ‘em talk; and when they’re taking that feller away, you heave your cat after ‘em and say, ‘Devil follow corpse, cat follow devil, warts follow cat, I’m done with ye!’ That’ll fetch ANY wart” (70). We also see his innocence when they are witnesses to a grave digging. They become terrified because they have never experienced a crime before. After the crime was spread through the town and Muff Potter was wrongfully jailed for Injun Joe’s crime, Tom also shows giving and kindness. Tom and Huck “went to the cell grating and gave Potter some tobacco and matches” (232). Tom later shows braveness; he stands up and confesses that Injun Joe was the real
Overall, Tom is a boy at heart. Beginning to end, the story contains evidence about Tom's youthful personality. That doesn't mean he is a bad kid, it means that he does mature things at random times, and does immature things immediately after. In other words, he is a little mature from the start but he doesn't get any more mature throughout the book. It also means that in Twain's thoughts, Tom will need to make a few more mistakes to gain the wisdom and maturity of a
Huck Finn, a boy of about 12 years, was the son of the town drunk. Widow Douglas adopted him so that she could civilize him and raise him to be a gentleman. Huck did not like going to school, attending church or dressing up. Tom Sawyer, Ben Rogers, and Joe Harper were his friends at the local school. Huck and Tom found a treasure hidden by bank robbers and were allowed to keep six thousand dollars each, for themselves, as a reward.
At last, the day of Muff Potter's trial arrives. It is the sole absorbing story of the entire town. Every report about the trial makes Tom shudder, and he finds Huck Finn in order to reassure himself that Huck has told no one. Huck tells Tom that he will tell only when he decides that he wants Injun Joe to drown him, for he knows that they
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a look into the pressure society places an individual. Hester Prynne longs for independents. But the scarlet letter strips her of her freedom to be who she chooses, instead forcing her to be a victim of how society portrays her. Throughout the book she becomes more caring, humble, and strong. finally culminating in her realization that she can be independent of what people think. She realizes that the A doesn't have to define her, she can define