The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a wonderful book, magical, mysterious. She is beautiful above all with her depth. Each person at any age can find something different in her: a child - a fascinating story, an adult - Mark Twain's sparkling humor and childhood memories. The protagonist of the novel during each reading of the work appears in a new light, i.e. Tom Sawyer's characterization is always different, always fresh.
Tom Sawyer is an ordinary child
It is unlikely that Thomas Sawyer can be called a bully, rather he is a naughty man. And, more importantly, he has the time and opportunity to deal with all these leprosy. He lives with an aunt who, although she tries to keep him strict, but she doesn’t do it well. Yes, Tom is being punished, but despite this, he lives quite well.
He is quick-witted, resourceful, like almost every child of his age (about 11-12 years old), you only need to remember the story of the fence, when Tom convinced all the children in the district that labor is a sacred right and privilege, and not a heavy burden.
This characteristic of Tom Sawyer gives him a person who is not very bad. Further, the personality of the most famous inventor and mischievous person will be revealed with new and new faces.
Friendship, love and nobility are not alien to Tom Sawyer
Another virtue of Sawyer - the ability to love and sacrifice - appears before the reader in all its glory when the boy discovers that he loves Becky Thatcher. For her sake, he even makes a sacrifice: exposes his body under the blows of teacher’s rods for her misconduct. This is a wonderful characteristic of Tom Sawyer, which highlights the sublime attitude to the lady of the heart.
Tom Sawyer has a conscience. He and Hack witnessed the murder, and even despite the completely illusory danger to their lives, the boys decided to help the police and rescue poor fellow Meff Potter from prison. The act on their part is not only noble, but also courageous.
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn as a confrontation between the world of childhood and the world of adulthood
Why is Tom so? Because he is relatively well. Tom is a difficult but beloved child, and he knows that. Therefore, almost all the time he lives in the world of childhood, in the world of dreams and fantasies, only occasionally looking out into reality. The characterization of Tom Sawyer in this sense is no different from that of any other prosperous teenager. Such a conclusion can be made only if we correlate two images - Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. For Sawyer, fantasy is like the air he breathes. Tom is full of hope. There are almost no disappointments in him, so he believes in invented worlds and in invented people.
Huck is completely different. He has a lot of problems, no parents. Rather, there is an alcoholic father, but it would be better if he weren’t. Father for Huck is a source of constant concern. His parent, of course, disappeared a few years ago, but it is known for certain that he did not die, which means that he can appear in the city at any time and begin to pester his miserable son again.
For Huck, fantasy is opium, thanks to which life can at least somehow be endured, but an adult cannot live in a world of illusions all the time (and Finn is just that).
Sawyer is even a little sorry, because he does not know how things really are. His world is without tragedy, while the existence of Huck is a constant struggle. Just like an ordinary adult: he leaves the world of childhood and realizes that he was deceived. Thus, another characteristic of Tom Sawyer is ready.
How would Tom be an adult?
A tempting question for all those who read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. But, it seems, not without reason that the story of the boys does not say anything about their adult lives. There can be at least two reasons: either there will be nothing remarkable in these lives, or for someone life will not bring pleasant surprises further. And all this can be.
What will Tom Sawyer become? The characteristic may be this: in the future he is an ordinary, ordinary person without special life accomplishments. His childhood is full of various adventures, but by and large they always happened in a certain comfort zone, and this allowed Tom to constantly fabricate fantasies.
Huck is another story. At the end of his adventures, Finn leaves the bourgeois world, where satiety and morality reign, into the world of streets where freedom reigns, in his opinion. The tramp boy does not tolerate the framework. But it is impossible to live forever outside the framework and breathe only the air of freedom, for any life needs one form or another. If the flow of life in a single vessel (person) is not limited, then it will break out, destroying the vessel itself. Simply put, if Huck does not choose a certain system of values for himself, he can completely sleep and die under the fence, like his dad, or perish in a drunken brawl. Adulthood is not as bright as the life of a child, but a pity.
On this not-too-happy note, Tom Sawyer tells us “goodbye”. The characterization of the hero ends here.