Sophia Sechler

Ms. Gibson

English 8

November 8, 2020

How does Tom mature throughout the book?

Throughout the book of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain, Tom matures in different ways but acts immature too. He tends to cause mischief, but to him, that is being courageous. “Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all.” He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it — namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain” (Twain 16). Throughout his relationships with friends, family, and even girlfriends, he seems to act differently. When he is around his Aunt Polly and Mary, Tom acts mature but also immature. He will lie to get himself out of trouble, try to play when he is supposed to work, and even feed his cat medicine. When Tom is around Sid, he will act mature so Sid will not catch him in the act. Tom acts mature around Becky and Amy because he is trying to impress them.  Tom can seem immature but can also act mature as well.

Tom, Huck, and Joe all decided to go on a float trip to escape their families and have an adventure. Tom wanted to escape his family because Aunt Polly was blaming him for things. He did not do so. He felt like they did not appreciate him, and Becky rejected him. Joe Harper went because he was also punished for something he did not do, and he wanted to escape civilization. Huck has no one to care for him, so he has no responsibilities because of this, he can go and do whatever he wants. Tom is immature about this trip because he does not come back until his funeral. He’s pretending he’s a pirate, and they stole food. In a way, Tom, Joe, and Huck dealt with this in a mature manner. They brought their own food, fishing poles, bait, a skillet, boiled ham, trifles bacon, tobacco, and corn cobs. “They began to feel a vague fear that they had been doing wrong to run away; and next they thought of the stolen meat, and then the real torture came” (Twain 94). Tom and Joe show that they are immature when they feel guilty for coming, stealing food, and leaving their families.

When Tom and Huck go to the cemetery because they are trying to break a curse with a dead cat, they encounter a murderer. Injun Joe, Muff Potter, and Dr. Robinson are at the cemetery because they seem to be digging up a grave, but when Robinson does not give Injun Joe any money, Joe stabs him. Huck and tom watch this happen but run away. “He picked up a clean pine shingle that lay in the moonlight, took a little fragment of “red keel” out of his pocket, got the moon on his work, and painfully scrawled these lines, emphasizing each slow down-stroke by clamping his tongue between his teeth, and letting up the pressure on the up-strokes” (Twain 72). They go into a shed and make a blood oath; they will not tell anyone about the incident.

Becky held a picnic for their friends. Tom and Becky went to the cave-like all the other couples to get some alone time. Knowing Tom is courageous; he wanted to adventure with Becky. They kept going lower and lower into the cave and got lost. Tom acted mature during this scene of the book because he used a kite string to lead help find and lead Becky out of the cave, he tried to use his sense of direction, and he split the wedding cake into pieces. “She sank to the ground and burst into such a frenzy of crying that Tom was appalled with the idea that she might die, or lose her reason. He sat down by her and put his arms around her; she buried her face in his bosom, she clung to him, she poured out her terrors, her unavailing regrets, and the far echoes turned them all to jeering laughter. Tom begged her to pluck up hope again, and she said she could not. He fell to blaming and abusing himself for getting her into this miserable situation” (Twain 224). Tom stayed calm and did not seem to panic like Becky. He also calmed her down after she kept getting upset.

Throughout the book, Tom matured into a young man. He did do childish acts and made mischievous choices but was very sleek and smart about his actions. Tom had good influences and bad but always seemed to bring out the good in people. He lied and tricked Aunt Polly but always had respect for her.

Works Cited:

• Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Barnes and Noble Classics. New York: 2003.