"Spare the rod and spile the child, as the Good Book says. I'm a-laying up sin and suffering for us both. ... But laws-a-me! he's my own dead sister's boy, poor thing, and I ain't got the heart to lash him, somehow."
Tom Sawyer is quite an eccentric young lad. He manages to trick all of the neighborhood boys into painting the fence -- doing Tom's punishment -- for him! Tom comes across a boy who "thinks he's better than him," so Tom gives him a good tussle. He walks through the neighborhoods and encounters a beautiful girl, and Tom immediately falls in love with her...
One day, Tom meets his friend Huckleberry while walking to school. Tom arrives late and gets in trouble because of it, so he must sit with the girls. He finds out the name of the girl he likes -- Becky Thatcher -- and writes "I love you" at her...
Tom meets Becky after school. They tell one another that they will get married, that they love each other! ...Until Tom mistakenly mentions that he had been engaged to another girl previously. Becky runs off, devastated, and Tom feels as though he could die...
Later that night, Tom and Huck go to the graveyard, where they stumble upon three men grave robbing. They get into a scuffle until one of the men -- Injun Joe -- stabs the second man to death! The third man, Muff Potter, having been knocked out during the crime, believes he is responsible for the damage.
Tom and Huckleberry flee the graveyard and immediately swear an oath that they will not tell a soul what they witnessed in the graveyard... For fear that Injun Joe will track them down and kill them, too!
("Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer swears they will keep mum about this and they wish they may drop down dead in their tracks if they ever tell and rot.")
News of the murder begins to break out around town after the scene had been discovered... Muff Potter is eventually arrested for the murder and thrown in jail. Tom's conscience begins to eat at him as he visits Potter every day, and starts having nightmares about his dilemma...
Tom's lost love, Becky, also troubles him once more. He becomes very lethargic over her ignoring him and decides to become a pirate. Two of his friends, Huck and Joe, join Tom as well. The three boys spend the entire day playing pirate, refusing to go back home!
The following day, the boys have become homesick, until they hear a cannon boom closer to town, an action that is only done when someone has drowned in the water. The boys deduce that the cannon is for them -- the town believes they have drowned! The boys are elated over this news!
That night, Tom leaves the boys and secretly goes to visit his family to see how they're doing. He finds them utterly distraught, believing that the boys have died! Tom means to tell his Aunt Polly that he's fine, but a thought occurs to him and he suddenly changes his mind, tracking back to Huckleberry and Joe.
Huck and Joe try to go home the following day, and it is then that Tom finally reveals his plan to them. The boys excitedly decide to stay, and they spend the rest of the day playing Indians and smoking.
The next morning is the day of the boys' funeral. The whole town assembles in the church to mourn the loss of such young lives, when the Minister abruptly freezes, stunned into silence! Into the church walk Tom, Huck, and Joe! Everyone is ecstatic that the boys are alive!
Yet despite the news of Tom's "resurrection," Tom and Becky's "rivalry" continues, for neither child knows how to make up! At school Becky accidentally tears the page of the headmaster's book. Tom nobly takes the blame (and punishment) for her, and this helps settle the grudge between the two children.
Soon it is summertime! And with it comes the trial of Muff Potter... Tom is called to the stand to testify, seemingly without warning, and he testifies that it was Injun Joe who murdered the victim. Injun Joe, having been present in the courtroom, makes a dash for it!
Both Tom and Huck spend the next few weeks in a terrified mess, anxiously awaiting the day that Injun Joe will return and kill them for snitching!
One day the boys decide to search for buried treasure. They do not know where to begin looking, so they spend the entire day digging holes. By nightfall they have hatched a plan: tomorrow they shall look for treasure in a "haunted house!" While searching the house the following day, Tom and Huck hear voices and hide. Two men enter; one of them is Injun Joe! The men plan on actually burying treasure in the house. However, when they lift up one of the wooden floor planks, they discover treasure has already been buried there, and uncover a box full of gold coins! The men take off with the box, to find a new place to hide it... Although the boys attempt to search for this new spot, they have no such luck.
One day during an outing with the other children, Tom and Becky get lost while exploring a cave. Days pass before they hear a search team looking for them, but they do not locate the children... Their candles run out... Tom then takes it upon himself to search for a way out, but he encounters Injun Joe inside the cave and takes off in the opposite direction!
Thankfully the children manage to make it out alive! Tom comes across a hole leading to the outside in one of the passages, and he and Becky make their way out to find help. Once they're home, the town Judge informs Tom that the cave has been closed off with a huge iron door. It is then that Tom tells him Injun Joe is still in the cave!
The town's men return to the cave to find Injun Joe's deceased body. From that day on, Tom and Huck are anxious no longer. Tom also takes Huck back to the cave, to search for Injun Joe's treasure once more, and this time they find it! They carry the coins out in bags -- all $12,000 of it! (Half for Tom, half for Huck).
But it isn't all sunshine and rainbows! Huckleberry's life of rags is abruptly turned into one of riches -- and he can't stand it! Suddenly he is expected to be tidy, have manners, and go to school! But Tom tells Huck that if he is able to bear his new lifestyle for awhile, they will create a gang together!
(Image created using an AI art generator on Night Cafe)
"Now, that's something like! Why, it's a million times bullier than pirating. I'll stick to the widder till I rot, Tom!"
My review... This is a wonderful novel 😊 Despite being written for a time period long since past (Tom Sawyer is meant to take place in 1840), it made me reminiscent for my own childhood. Mark Twain chose to focus on the ever-constant themes of childhood: naïvety, freedom and play, and of course the feeling of one's first love...
I loved the relationship between Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher. The childhood innocence of it all made it very relatable; from the silly chases for kisses, to the sensation of feeling like one might perish after being unrequited 😭
And who could forget? "Showing off!" 😄
"He worshipped this new angel with furtive eyes, till he saw that she had discovered him; then he pretended he did not know she was present, and began to 'show off' in all sorts of absurd boyish ways, in order to win her admiration."
The scene where Tom and Becky get "engaged" is adorable. It reminds me of my two "husbands" in kindergarten 😂
"What's married like? Why it ain't like anything. You only tell a boy you won't ever have anybody but him, ever ever ever, and then you kiss and that's all. Anybody can do it."
There is also a part where Becky and Tom try making one another jealous as opposed to reconciling their true feelings, and it made my heart ache 🥺
"With clapping of joyful hands, all the group had begged for invitations to Becky's picnic but Tom and his new love. Then Tom turned coolly away, still talking, and took her away with him. Becky's lips trembled and the tears came to her eyes."
Just wanted to share this, too! No idea when this copy of the book was published, but I found this note at the very beginning of it...
(To Douglas, Many Happy Returns! With all my love, Auntie Joannie... August 30, 1964)
Now this one's a classic