It's amazing how in the mind of writer Mark Twain, two
boys in the same geographical area lived completely different childhoods
and so even though they came together and became friends, their
personalities have very different aspects that set them apart. Tom Sawyer
lived in a household with siblings and his Aunt Polly to love and care for him. He was given the regular responsibilities that a child with a regular childhood deserves.
Huck had to take care of himself and live an almost no nonsense life because his dad
left him for unknown reasons.
Since Tom lived a more carefree and sheltered childhood he
is able to be creative and imaginative. Huck learned to be more practical
though because he didn't really have time to fool around when he had to
provide for himself. The kid basically had the natural joys and freedoms of
childhood taken away from him when he had to live without or even with his own
father. This difference between Tom and Huck might be a glimpse into Mark's subconscious and it wanting a normal
or at least happy father since his own father was a non-smiling, stern man. The difference could actually symbolize the trials less fortunate kids face comparing to the lives of kids with happier households.
I like the way you talk about their differences, but I really like how you make it very clear that their childhoods were very different from each other.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting comparison. Tom and Huck become good friends, yet Huck is so wild and not so "sivilized" and Tom is a young boy who, like you mentioned, is taken care of by Aunt Polly and he has a few siblings. He reads and gets all the joys out of life that a young boy in this point in time should have. Tom is being educated while Huck has never been to school (not until he started living with the Widow Douglas that is). I think that Mark Twain did a great job of developing these characters and how they play a huge part in each others journey throughout the book.
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