The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain - Research Paper Example

“Tom Sawyer” by “Mark Twain”: Introduction: The fundamental point Mark Twain has tried to make in his novel “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” is that success has no single formula to be achieved. The way Mark Twain has portrayed Tom Sawyer in the novel has a strong relation with the events and experiences of Twain’s own life. Therefore, the experiences Mark Twain had in his life that led him to writing this novel are worth discussing here. Mark Twain had left school when he was 11 years of age and spent about 20 years in works of different natures that included but were not limited to typesetting, riverboat piloting, soldiering, gold and silver mining, newspaper reporting and such other works (coolatta.org). After practicing many trades, he ultimately discovered that he was a very good writer. The profession of writing gave Twain an opportunity to earn a lot of money and fame. Two books by “Mark Twain” that gained maximum popularity in America were “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. We can see part of Mark Twain in Tom Sawyer in that both try almost every thing to seek happiness and social contentment. Tom Sawyer was portrayed as a character who violated all rules, kept a longing for an unusually romantic death, and ultimately succeeded in earning the richness and reverence of his society like Mark Twain. Mark Twain has pointed out many factors of huge literary significance in his novel. First, the society has been shown as equipped with well recognized ethical standards, norms, values, customs, trends and traditions. Any deviation from the conventional social practices is easily noticed by members of the society and they tend to take a stand against such actions and activities. Thus, violators of social norms are pushed into social exclusion. They are not allowed to socialize with other members of the society who practice and follow the recognized norms and respect the values. On the other hand, despite all differences and conflicts, the society still has some place for violators. This is indeed, the requirement of humanity. It is the humanity that causes individuals to display some level of decency, patience and leniency in all matters towards all individuals irrespective of their activities, interests and orientation. This is evident from the fact that although Tom and Huck were both visualized as culprits, and spoilt boys, everybody was happy on their sudden return after their funeral. More over, every member of the community of St. Petersburg was very mournful at the death of Injun Joe although he was never looked at with an eye of respect in his whole life time. They hated alive Injun Joe, but they loved dead Injun Joe, not because they were relieved of a potential source of harm, but because they actually missed Injun Joe and wanted him back with them. This leads the reader to the conclusion that although the society maintains several standards in terms of ethics and morality, yet people who are the most compliant with such standards are often very inconsistent in their response towards social upsets. Inconsistencies in social attitudes encourage the socially excluded individuals to utilize their freedom to do all they want and still remain connected with the society. Freedom resulting from social exclusion: Social exclusion has for long, remained a matter of big concern. In the novel “Tom Sawyer” by “Mark Twain”, the author narrates the freedom that social exclusion endows an individual with. The town St. Petersburg presented in the novel accommodates a social community whose members are strongly related to one another. The town has little to no room for outsiders. People are largely xenophobic. In such communities, outsiders conventionally face a lot of difficulty in gaining the same status, social recognition and acceptance as that enjoyed by the indigenous people. It takes foreigners years and sometimes, a whole lifetime to psychologically convince the local people to accept their entrance in the town. There may be many reasons for that. The indigenous people have developed certain norms, values, social customs and beliefs over the course of time that the outsiders are usually unfamiliar with. “Social norms are social standards of behavior: they describe what is expected in given situations and prescribe what one ought to do” (Battaglia 395). Such social beliefs and trends may either be led by the religions, or the intrinsic traits of the location a community resides in. Foreigners are suppressed in such societies not because they come to the land with negative intentions or they have attitude and behavioral traits inconsistent with those of the indigenous people. Instead, indigenous people tend to repel external forces and members because of their own insecurities. The most acknowledged of all the outsiders in the town is Huck Finn, who was repelled by the society to the extent that he was left to live on the town’s outskirts. Owing to the strong social exclusion that he was offered by the people of St. Petersburg, poor Huck had no option but to arrange his food himself. Huck was also denied any place to live. He could not live with his father either as his father was always occupied with drunkenness and could not provide his son with any comforts of life. A careful analysis of the story reveals that a vast majority of the individuals that were banished by the local community of St. Petersburg were addicted to drinking. For example, Muff Potter like Huck’s father, was a habitual drinker and considerably excluded from the social circle, though there were others who were not drinkers and were yet banished by the whole community. For example, Injun Joe was also socially excluded because of his indulgence in and association with criminality. These and many other evidences can be put forward to explain that the community of St. Petersburg was very reserved, conservative and possessive about social norms and ethical standards. Social attitudes have not changed much since the time this novel was written, though many agencies have come into play to cater for the needs of socially excluded people and make them a regular member of the society by eliminating their differences with the society in general. “In recent years concern with a global ethics has come to occupy an important place on our philosophical and political agenda” (Eade and O’Byrne 15). Schools in the modern age have special teaching strategies that are particularly meant for such spoilt and socially excluded children like Huck. The indigenous people of St. Petersburg had maintained certain ethical standards and would not allow any one who appeared non-compliant to them. The people discouraged drinking alcohol, robbery, theft and all other traits and forms of crime. Therefore, those who indulged in such activities had no place in the town. Paradoxically, Twain has maintained a parallel theme that compliments such attitude of the inhabitants of St. Petersburg. There is a large body of evidence to show the community’s repulsion to violators of their social norms, values and ethical standards, yet the story shows certain ways in which they actually display their impulse towards inclusiveness. The community of St. Petersburg maintained a clear distinction between the local inhabitants and foreigners, all of them mutually tolerated Muff Potter’s habit of drinking. Despite the fact that Muff Potter was a drinker, the local people let him survive there, probably because he seemed harmless or never indulged in any action that would endanger the peace of the town. On the other hand, Huck was also in a way, protected by the local people nevertheless he was allowed to survive on the society’s fringes. Likewise, Tom was actually an orphan and was grown up by his Aunt Polly since she loved him. Only one person was completely denied acceptance by the society throughout the play until it ends. That person was Injun Joe. Not a single person loved or show any consideration or reverence towards Injun Joe until he died near the end of the play. As he died, every body embraced him and offered his dead body respect like as if he had been a fundamental part of the society when he was alive. No body felt like rejecting his dead body or think evil of him. This means that although people tend to dislike individuals for their unethical acts, and tend to keep at a distance from them, their ultimate hatred follows those who appear as a potential threat to the fundamental survival of the society as a whole till the time the threat remains. Tom and Huck used their social exclusion to break free of social boundaries. They were largely recognized as wicked boys. People did not want to see their children play with such boys. Other children were both discouraged from peeping between the matters of Tom and Huck by the community of St. Petersburg in general and by their parents in particular. No body played with Tom and Huck. They were drawn into socials exclusion by the society, though they were never alone. Every time they were banished by the community of St. Petersburg, they had plans ready to go and explore the world. Tom and Huck were both curious to explore the world through their mischief. Much of their inclination towards mischief can be attributed to the fact that they were not sure and yet wanted to know the extent to which their actions would be absorbed or accepted by the society. On the other hand, their indulgence in mischief was also because of the fact that they wanted to find a way out of the daily tensions associated with their way of living. This was particularly true for Huck, who was not contented with the social fringes he was left to live in. The boys took their social exclusion as a means to celebrate and materialize their wildest fantasies. People forbade their children to socialize with these little rascals. Huck and Tom would indulge in fights with someone who tried to sort out what were they after at a particular point in time. This provided Huck and Tom with complete freedom and they were always ready to act upon their newest plans. “When conventional methods of obtaining and working for increased social status, higher income, and wider influence are limited, as they often are in marginalized areas, some feel compelled to resort to violent acts” (Berkman). One such way in which they acted contrary to the social roles expected by boys of their age was when they left the town and left the impression on the relatives that they were dead. They came back but did not reveal that they were alive until all arrangements of their funeral were made. Normally, children involved in such activities and displaying such behavior becomes susceptible to scolding. Whereas, in the case of Tom and Huck, people instead just thanked God that they were alive and were very happy at their reunion. Society often behaves contrary to what is expected from it. There are inconsistencies. Such inconsistent attitudes lead to the display of more complex behaviors and attitudes particularly by those who aim at exploring the social response towards their behaviors. Specially, the socially excluded children tend to use their freedom to judge social responses. People who are already subjected to diseases, poverty and conflict become even more aggressive and reactionary when put into social exclusion and discrimination (IFRC). Likewise, the same freedom can be used to all what an individual can to achieve his/her objectives. Mark Twain has rightly pointed out that inconsistencies in social attitudes and response towards various matters of everyday life somehow encourage the socially excluded individuals to realize their wildest fantasies. Injun Joe was missed after his death despite the fact that he was looked at as a criminal. Although forgiveness is an intrinsic trait and requirement of humanity, yet it tends to generate both positive and negative symbols for those who indulge in violent acts. Overall, the novel is a beautiful piece of literature that throws light on various realities of life. Works cited: Battaglia, Walter L. Ethics as Social Conscience. USA: California Expert Software. 2007. Berkman, Heather. “Social Exclusion and Violence in Latin America and the Caribbean.” 16 Dec. 2010. Web. 2 Jan. 2011. . coolatta.org. “Tom Sawyer.” n.d. Web. 2 Jan. 2011. . “Discrimination, gender and violence.” International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. 31 Aug. 2009. Web. 2 Jan. 2011. . Eade, John and O’Byrne, Darren J. Global ethics and civil society. UK: Ashgate Publishing Limited. 2005. Read More