The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Group

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wwjhwildcat
wwjhwildcat
Student
High School - 9th Grade

For what does Tom have a raging desire, and which boys does he seek for companionship?

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Posted by wwjhwildcat on Wednesday November 5, 2008 at 4:29 PM and tagged with companionship, desire, the adventures of tom sawyer, tom sawyer.

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  1. engtchr5 Teacher
    High School - 10th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    Tom's greatest desire is freedom: liberty from rules, boundaries, restrictions, or formalities. In this vein, Tom befriends boys like Huckleberry Finn, whose home and personal life are comprised of doing as he wishes, when he wishes. After all, Huck's "Pap" was a lousy drunk, and frequently abused Huck physically, which is why the boy spent so much time on his own personal adventures.

    We also see Tom's resistance to rules and structure through his respectful-but-hesitant approach to women like Aunt Polly. Her societal rules and polite manners rub Tom the wrong way, and as a result, he spends a great deal of time trying to get around them.

    Tom also temporarily befriends other boys of the town, if only to manipulate them into performing his wishes (think here of the fence-whitewashing scene). Tom is a world-class scam artist, and convinces the other boys to pay him for doing his work. In essence, Tom's every move is based upon his longing for personal freedom.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/tom-sawyer/

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    Posted by engtchr5 on Thursday November 6, 2008 at 12:25 PM