The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Nightmare Vision of American Boyhood

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Nightmare Vision of American BoyhoodNameCourse NumberFebruary 9, 2018Institution AffiliationThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Nightmare Vision of American BoyhoodReflection
Tom Sawyer is a young explorative, free-spirited and adventurous young boy. He loves finding out things even at the expense of his studies; he skips school countless times in search of adventure even after previous punishments. Tom is also skilled at convincing people to do precisely what he wants them to. He cleverly managed to persuade his friend to trade small privileges and in return help him whitewash the fence, punishment that was bestowed on him after skipping school. He also convinces Becky to be engaged to him even though he was affianced to another girl (Wolff, 1980). Even as a young boy, Tom gets himself missed up in very complicated situations which undoubtedly boys his age had no idea they were happening or in existence. He witnessed a murder in a graveyard, and he was made a witness, and this puts his life in danger, and he is forced to go into hiding for some time.
While boys his mates were chasing girls, drinking buzz and probably getting into trouble by the local authorities, Tom and his friend Joe were busy searching for treasures and plotting how to steal those treasures from where Injun Joe hid them. These two boys are not just bored with school, but to them, it is an impediment to their happiness, it is like a cage keeping them from doing what they want. Up to their necks with school, they find a way out and escape to Jackson’s Island in the Mississippi (Wolff, 1980).

The adventurous nature of Tom cannot be quenched, and he continues to seek more with Becky during a picnic to McDougal’s Cave, and they end up getting lost for days, but eventually, they find their way back.
It is ironical how a small-town boy gets himself in big trouble with his friend Joe. They are, however, good people in search of better lives for themselves not wanting to be limited or incapacitate by their origin. They prevented the robbery attack on the wealthy widow Douglas, and in the process, Huck becomes an anonymous hero.
Reaction
The book depicts not just the adventures of two boys but the struggles they go through in the society. No one is paying attention to their challenges and helping them to overcome. Such behavior reflects what happens in the current society. Most people tend to careless about other people who they are not closely related to or have nothing to benefit from. When Tom missed school, he was just handed a punishment, but no one cared enough to ask why he missed class or what he did while he was away. Tom even faked his death, and great grief and sorrow befell his aunt that he was living with. I feel like the society ought to pay more attention to him and try to find out exactly what was going on with the two boys to the extreme extent of faking their deaths. Are they seeking attention or is it a ploy to save their lives from their nemesis? They ought to have asked themselves such questions.
Mark Twain in this book shows elements of humor through the adventures of Tom and his friend Joe. The crazy thoughts and wishes of the boys bring humor to a reader trying to picture them all excited about how their futures will be bright when they finally get them their hands on some hidden treasures. Twain shows how the two boys will one day look back at their old age and just laugh at their escapades and small adventures. How they run off to an island or getting involved in a murder case that happened at night in a graveyard. They would probably laugh at the good old days when their only worry was how to steal hidden treasures.
ReferenceWolff, C. (1980). The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Nightmare Vision of American Boyhood. The Massachusetts Review, 21(4), 164-179.