EN 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: List Of Tom Sawyer Characters, Half-Breed
Document Summary
When the novel opens, tom is engaged in and often the organizer of childhood pranks and make-believe games. As the novel progresses, these initially consequence-free childish games take on more and more gravity. Tom leads himself, joe harper, huck, and, in the cave, becky thatcher into increasingly dangerous situations. He also finds himself in predicaments in which he must put his concern for others above his concern for himself, such as when he takes becky"s punishment and when he testifies at injun joe"s trial. As tom begins to take initiative to help others instead of himself, he shows his increasing maturity, competence, and moral integrity. Tom"s adventures to jackson"s island and mcdougal"s cave take him away from society. These symbolic removals help to prepare him to return to the village with a new, more adult outlook on his relationship to the community.
