Tom Sawyer is a boy who is full of adventures. In his world there is an adventure around
every corner. Some of his adventures have lead him into some bad situations but with his
good heart and bright mind he has gotten out of them. Tom lives with his aunt Polly, his
cousin Mary and his bother Sid.
One of the first things to happen in the book is a memorable one, the painting of
the fence. Tom's aunt Polly made Tom paint her fence on a Saturday as a punishment. Tom
just hated the idea of having to work on a Saturday while all of the neighborhood could
make fun of and harass him. After Tom tried to trade some of his possessions for a few
hours of freedom he had a stroke of genius, instead of him paying people to work for him,
he made people pay him to paint. Tom managed this by telling people that it isn't every
day that you get a chance to paint a fence and he thought it was fun. He had people
begging him to paint by the time that he was finished his story. He would have taken
every boy in the town's wealth if he had not run out of paint.
On June 17th about the hour of midnight, Tom and his best friend Huck were out in
the grave yard trying to get rid of warts, when they witnessed a murder by Injun Joe. At
the time Muff Potter was drunk and asleep so Injun Joe blamed the murder him (Muff
Potter). They knew if crazy Injun Joe found out they knew, he would for sure kill them.
Tom wrote on a wooden board "Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer swear to keep mum about this and
they wish they may drop down dead in their tracks if they ever tell and rot", then in
their own blood they signed their initials TS and HF.
A few days after that incident Tom, Huck and Joe decided to go and become pirates
because no one cared for their company anymore. They stole some food and supplies and
then they stole a raft and paddled to an island in the middle of the Mississippi River.
They stayed and pirated for several days, then they all became so home sick that they
could not bear it anymore. The next day Tom, Huck, and Joe showed up for their own
funerals and there was much thanks and praise.
The next big event in the town was the trial of Muff Potter for the murder in the
graveyard. The whole town believed Injun Joe, and poor Muff was sent to a temporary jail
cell for a week. At the end of the week he was to be hung unless some one in court had
proved him innocent. While Muff was in jail temporarily he was not alone. Every day Tom
and Huck would go and talk to him through the jail cell bars and on occasion bring him
food. On the last day of court, to everyone's surprise they called Tom Sawyer to the
stand. Then the man asked him where he was on the 17th of June he said "In the
graveyard". Then when he asked who he saw do it he said with all his courage he said
"Muff didn't do it. It was Injun Joe!" and with that Injun Joe jumped out the window and
ran away.
Tom and Huck decided that they wanted to become rich so they went to go and find
buried treasure. Tom and Huck dug under trees all day and night but found nothing, then
Tom said that they should go and dig for treasure in a haunted house. They went back two
days later and went to a haunted house. Both the boys were scared but they both went
inside anyway. The boys dared each other to go upstairs, so of course they went up and
looked in closets for treasure but found nothing. Suddenly the boys heard two men
talking and then come inside. Both of the boys got down on the floor and then they
heard the voice again, it was Injun Joe. Injun Joe and the other man had a bag of money
and decided to bury it there. Tom and Huck could hardly contain themselves because they
would steal it as soon as Injun Joe left. Injun Joe was digging a hole with his knife
when he hit something, it was a box of money. Injun Joe decided to take all of the
treasure and hide it in number two under the cross. When Injun Joe and the other man
left Tom and Huck were furious because they thought that all of the treasure was
rightfully their's.
A few days later Becky had her long awaited picnic, and they all went to
McDougals cave. Tom showed Becky around and while they were exploring they got lost, with
only a small slice of cake to eat that Tom had shoved in his pocket the day before along
with several candles. When the town saw they were not in church the next morning they
realized that they must have forgotten them. Tom and Becky were too far down for the
search party to find with no food left and no candles. Tom and Becky sat by a small
stream because they were tired from exploring and had no light. By that time Becky had
became ill and it was up to Tom to find the way out. While Tom was looking for a way out
he ran into Injun Joe who ran off when he herd Tom yell for help. Tom ran away also
because he feared Injun Joe would kill him. Tom did find a way out through a small
opening that lead out to the Mississippi River. Tom went back and got Becky and he lead
her out of the cave and eventually got her home safely.
At the same time that Tom was in the cave with Becky, Huck was watching a tavern
where Injun Joe was watching to see if he would lead him to the treasure. When Huck has
just about given up, Injun Joe and another man left the tavern with so bags. Huck
followed them to Widow Douglas' house and listened in on their plan. Injun Joe was going
to hurt Widow Douglas because of what her deceased husband did to him. Once Huck had
heard the plan he ran to the Welshman's house and he told the story to him. Old Welshman
and his sons went to Widow Douglas's house with their guns and had a shootout with Injun
Joe and his partner. In the end no one was hurt and Injun Joe and his partner escaped.
A few days later Tom was at Becky's house where everyone was celebrating the
return of him and Becky. Becky's father was talking with Tom when he mentioned that he
had the entrance on the cave closed off so that no one would ever get lost in it again.
Tom's face went totally white. Becky's father asked him what was wrong he said that
Injun Joe was still in the cave. Not long after all of the men went to the cave to
investigate. They made the gruesome discovery of Injun Joe's body. He had made his way
to the gate but he could not get it unlocked, he had starved to death. Tom was finally
at ease, and now he was ready to go treasure hunting again.
A few days later Tom was allowed to see Huck once again and he brought him up to
date on his adventures. Tom told Huck that he knew where the treasure was an now all
they had to do was go and get it. Huck agreed to the plan and the both of the gathered
the supplies that they needed and then stole a raft. Tom took Huck down the river to the
same place where he had gotten out of the cave before and they both went inside. Tom
took Huck to the place where he ran into Injun Joe and the started looking for "number
two". Not after long Tom and Huck found a roman numeral two written in smoke on the cave
wall. Under the number two there was a cross. Tom and Huck were ecstatic, they started
to dig and Tom hit some boards. Tom took the boards out, and then a ditch was revealed.
Tom and Huck crawled into the ditch and followed it as it turned into a tunnel. At the
end of the tunnel there was a cave. In the cave was the money, some food, guns, and some
blankets and other clothing. Tom and Huck filled the bags that they had brought with
them with the money and got out of the cave. Tom and Huck paddled their raft back home
and put their money in a wagon.
Tom and Huck then pulled the wagon to Mrs Widow Douglas's house. There they were
ushered inside by the old Welshman, and were told to go upstairs and change there cloths.
They did so, and when they came down stairs they were informed that the party was for
Huck to thank him for saving Widow Douglas' life. During the party Widow Douglas said
that Huck was going to live with her and he was going to grow up the way that he should.
Then Tom exploded and said that Huck did not need Widow Douglas, because he was rich. At
this comment the room burst into laughter. Tom said that he and Huck would prove it and
went outside. When Tom and Huck returned they were carrying two large bags. Tom and
Huck walked to the table and dumped the bags, they were full of money. Everyone was
shocked, Tom and Huck explained their latest adventure and then the money was divided
evenly. Both of the boy's money was deposited in a bank, and rationed out to them a
dollar and a quarter per week. This is basically how the story ends.
Likes:
I liked the way that the author seems to stay in the story the entire way and is
adding things as you go along.
I liked the way that the author uses his own memories and uses actual places and
events to make his book seem more realistic.
Dislikes:
I had no dislikes about this book I think that it is a very good story and is
written very well.
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