behalf, Tom Sawyer is clearly clever and very creative. Due to some of his other traits, however, this is not put to good use.

Tom Sawyer is also very adventurous. He is a child who wishes to explore and discover things, as many children do. He is frequently shown leaving his responsibilities to go run around on adventures and is frequently bored by tedious events.

Finally, Tom is caring. In spite of his recklessness and carelessness at times, Tom cares about the people around him. He is shown to be a very archetypal adolescent boy, who is kind but also rambunctious.

Characterization is the art of bringing characters on the page to life of which Mark Twain is truly a master.  Characters can be flat, or one-dimensional, round in which the reader knows what truly makes the character tick. Characters can be static, meaning they don't change from the beginning to the end, or dynamic, meaning they transform by the end of the sotry. A character is created through actions, through dialogue, through conflict, and reactions to situations.

Tom Sawyer is a mischevious but loving boy, and one who is fascinated by adventure.  When he manipulates a situation, as in the fence painting scene, for his own personal gain, we chastise his actions but secretly root for his success.  When he is tormented by his love for Becky wearing his emotions on his sleeve, we root for him even more.  When he struggles between right and wrong, we cheer him in the right direction.  Tom Sawyer is a round and dynamic character, one with whom the audience can love and despise all at the same time which is truly the magic Twain brings to the reader. 

In Chapter II of Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer we find our main character, Tom Sawyer, having to work on a beautiful day.  It's summertime in Cardiff Hill, a Saturday morning, and while the other kids go to the swimming hole, Tom is stuck painting a fence that's 9 feet high and 30 feet long.  

Along comes Jim, and Tom tries to get Jim to paint the fence.  Tom even tempts him with a marble and a look at his sore toe, but Aunt Polly comes along, spanks Jim with her shoe, and Jim runs off.  

As Tom is painting the fence, along comes Ben Rogers.  Tom has an idea.  He pretends to be so enthralled with painting the fence, he hardly notices Ben.  This gets Ben's attention.  Tom tricks Ben into painting the fence for a while, and Ben gives Tom an apple.

Next comes Billy Fisher.  Tom tricks Billy into giving him a kite in exchange for the joy of fence painting.  Next up is Johnny Miller.  Tom is able to get a dead rat, with a string, in exchange for painting the fence.  

This continues until the middle of the afternoon, when Tom finally runs out of whitewash.  The fence has three coats of paint, and he's successfully traded almost all the boys in town out of their "wealth."  

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Jim is a young boy who is enslaved to Tom's aunt Polly. He appears only briefly in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In the first chapter, Tom tries to trick Jim into whitewashing the fence. Jim insists that he is under strict orders to get to work, but Tom nearly convinces him. In the end, Jim ends up getting chased away by Aunt Polly. He does not take part in any other of Tom's adventures in this book. He does, however, play a central role in its sequel.

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim, now older, is a runaway who was enslaved to Miss Watson. Jim runs away after overhearing that he is about to be sold to a trader in New Orleans. He takes refuge on Jackson's Island, where he encounters Huck. Together, the two then make their way down the Mississippi River on a simple raft.

Over the course of their adventure together, Jim and Huck become unlikely friends. Jim considered Huck to be the only "white genlman dat ever kep' his promise to ole Jim." The two go to great lengths to protect each other as they journey downriver.

Mark Twain's characterization of Jim is an intentional departure from most other contemporary depictions of enslaved people, which tended to present them as one-sided. Jim is a complex person. He is both rational and superstitious. He is intelligent and an expert problem solver. He cares deeply for his family and is willing to risk anything for them. Jim is also deeply loyal to the people who treat him with dignity. He risks his own chance at freedom in order to help save Tom Sawyer's life. At the same time, Jim knows that he owes nothing to those who see him as less than human.

Tom Sawyer is the protagonist of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. On the surface, Tom Sawyer is a mischievous and naughty child. He is always jumping fences or figuring out ways to get out of work (like painting fences). He also doesn't have any problems with going through with a plan that convinces his entire family and town that he is dead. Tom is also quite capable of turning on the charm to get out of big trouble as well. There are instances when readers are tempted to think and believe that Tom just might display acts of altruistic heroism; however, Tom always has a way of making the reader question that opinion. For example, Tom willingly takes the blame and the punishment for the rip that Becky put in the teacher's textbook; however, we can't help but shake the feeling that Tom did it for the attention and self-glory. He is doing it to "get the girl."

Tom stood a moment, to gather his dismembered faculties; and when he stepped forward to go to his punishment the surprise, the gratitude, the adoration that shone upon him out of poor Becky’s eyes seemed pay enough for a hundred floggings. Inspired by the splendor of his own act, he took without an outcry the most merciless flaying that even Mr. Dobbins had ever administered; and also received with indifference the added cruelty of a command to remain two hours after school should be dismissed — for he knew who would wait for him outside till his captivity was done, and not count the tedious time as loss, either.

Tom Sawyer's best friend is Huckleberry Finn, a preteen social outcast who lives free of civilized constraints and rules. Most of the children envy Huck's liberty, even thought it comes with a price: Huck's father is the local alcoholic and so he has no parent to look after or discipline him.

The two friends are both orphans and share a love of mischief, but otherwise, they are polar opposites. Tom has a stable home life with someone to care for him, while Huck must fend for himself, often sleeping in barns or scavenging for his next meal. Tom has been educated, while Huck is not educated at all. Tom has been conditioned by his upbringing and all the moral baggage that implies, while Huck is often unbothered by his conscience or what society deems to be proper behavior.

Despite this big disparity in lifestyles, the two boys mutually admire one another: Tom wishes he could live free as Huck does, and Huck admires Tom's knowledge and imagination. Even though the adults in town disapprove of Tom's association with Huck (his teacher whips him as punishment for even talking with Huck), Tom continues to spend time with him and the two remain good friends.