SilentMute
07-08-2013, 08:11 PM
I credit my love of reading to how my school introduced it to me when I was younger. They often would take a chapter from a book, and that is what we read. For instance, I was first introduced to Tom Sawyer by the chapter that dealt with the whitewashing fence incident. It piqued my interest in the books the stories originated from, though it may have been many years before I actually read them fully. The one chapter was about as much as my attention span could handle at that point.
When one reads The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, at first Tom seems to be the picture of "boyness." He is what we expect boys to be--and maybe some of us dreamed about being such a boy (even if we were girls). The whitewashing incident shows Tom to be a master manipulator, but that particular time it is just clever. He found a way to make a chore look like fun--and apparently was successful in convincing everyone.
As I read the book more, I became a little horrified by both Tom--who I saw more as a little sociopath--and society's attitudes of that period.
First, society's attitudes. I have to say I am very glad I didn't grow up then. Several times children go missing in this book. The townspeople search anywhere from three days to a week at most. Many people give up after three days, and after a week the attitude is, "Oh, well. They're dead. We'll have their funeral on Sunday." I realize probably there were many ways to die then. I realize people have to go back to their lives. But really! Pedophiles must have had a field day during these times! If you could remain undiscovered for a week, then you were in the clear.
Then they want to pardon Injun Joe just because he died in the cave after being locked in accidentally. This man killed at least one person, is suspected of killing four others, and he was going to maim a woman because her dead husband had once had him horsewhipped. Just because you die a terrible death doesn't wipe away your sins, so to speak.
Tom Sawyer seemed like a budding sociopath to me about the time he first disappeared. Granted, children can be thoughtless. They sometimes do things without realizing the worry they put their parents through. However, I think most kids--if they realized they were worrying their loved ones--would stop whatever it is they are doing that is causing the worry. Tom witnesses the grief of his family, he knows that he and his friends are believed drowned--and yet he waits to reveal that they are alive and well. This goes beyond regular childhood insensitivity.
I was pretty much convinced he was a little monster the second time he disappeared. I didn't think it was an accident he got lost in the cave with Becky. While Becky got weaker from lack of food, Tom didn't seem to suffer so much (which makes me think he had a hidden store of food). He just happened to have kite line with him, which comes in very useful much later. He doesn't mind going back to the cave soon after he is rescued. I think most kids, if they had spent three days lost in a cave--no food and in the dark--would probably be reluctant to go back. In fact, I think most would develop phobias that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.
But what really convinced me he did it on purpose was what he told Huck about how robbers make women they abduct fall in love with them:
Only you don't kill the women. You shut up the women, but you don't kill them. They're always beautiful and rich, and awfully scared. You take their watches and things, but you always take your hat off and talk polite. They ain't anybody as polite as robbers--you'll see that in any book. Well, the women get to loving you, and after they've been in the cave a week or two weeks they stop crying and after that you couldn't get them to leave. If you drove them out they'd turn right around and come back. It's so in all the books."
That passage really creeped me out. I wanted to scream at Judge Thatcher--who has a great opinion of Tom, "NO! Don't let him anywhere near your daughter!"
I believe Mark Twain made Tom Sawyer respectable in later books. Supposedly, Tom is a compilation of several boys Twain knew. I don't know if he actually meant to make the child a monster. I am very curious about how psychiatrists would view Tom Sawyer now. What is interesting is that the pariah child, Huck Finn, actually seems to be a decent person.
The book was well written and an interesting read, but I didn't find it charming like I was supposed to.
When one reads The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, at first Tom seems to be the picture of "boyness." He is what we expect boys to be--and maybe some of us dreamed about being such a boy (even if we were girls). The whitewashing incident shows Tom to be a master manipulator, but that particular time it is just clever. He found a way to make a chore look like fun--and apparently was successful in convincing everyone.
As I read the book more, I became a little horrified by both Tom--who I saw more as a little sociopath--and society's attitudes of that period.
First, society's attitudes. I have to say I am very glad I didn't grow up then. Several times children go missing in this book. The townspeople search anywhere from three days to a week at most. Many people give up after three days, and after a week the attitude is, "Oh, well. They're dead. We'll have their funeral on Sunday." I realize probably there were many ways to die then. I realize people have to go back to their lives. But really! Pedophiles must have had a field day during these times! If you could remain undiscovered for a week, then you were in the clear.
Then they want to pardon Injun Joe just because he died in the cave after being locked in accidentally. This man killed at least one person, is suspected of killing four others, and he was going to maim a woman because her dead husband had once had him horsewhipped. Just because you die a terrible death doesn't wipe away your sins, so to speak.
Tom Sawyer seemed like a budding sociopath to me about the time he first disappeared. Granted, children can be thoughtless. They sometimes do things without realizing the worry they put their parents through. However, I think most kids--if they realized they were worrying their loved ones--would stop whatever it is they are doing that is causing the worry. Tom witnesses the grief of his family, he knows that he and his friends are believed drowned--and yet he waits to reveal that they are alive and well. This goes beyond regular childhood insensitivity.
I was pretty much convinced he was a little monster the second time he disappeared. I didn't think it was an accident he got lost in the cave with Becky. While Becky got weaker from lack of food, Tom didn't seem to suffer so much (which makes me think he had a hidden store of food). He just happened to have kite line with him, which comes in very useful much later. He doesn't mind going back to the cave soon after he is rescued. I think most kids, if they had spent three days lost in a cave--no food and in the dark--would probably be reluctant to go back. In fact, I think most would develop phobias that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.
But what really convinced me he did it on purpose was what he told Huck about how robbers make women they abduct fall in love with them:
Only you don't kill the women. You shut up the women, but you don't kill them. They're always beautiful and rich, and awfully scared. You take their watches and things, but you always take your hat off and talk polite. They ain't anybody as polite as robbers--you'll see that in any book. Well, the women get to loving you, and after they've been in the cave a week or two weeks they stop crying and after that you couldn't get them to leave. If you drove them out they'd turn right around and come back. It's so in all the books."
That passage really creeped me out. I wanted to scream at Judge Thatcher--who has a great opinion of Tom, "NO! Don't let him anywhere near your daughter!"
I believe Mark Twain made Tom Sawyer respectable in later books. Supposedly, Tom is a compilation of several boys Twain knew. I don't know if he actually meant to make the child a monster. I am very curious about how psychiatrists would view Tom Sawyer now. What is interesting is that the pariah child, Huck Finn, actually seems to be a decent person.
The book was well written and an interesting read, but I didn't find it charming like I was supposed to.