Tom Sawyer

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Thomas Sawyer
Frontispiece of the Adventures of Tom Sawyer
First appearance	The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Last appearance	Tom Sawyer, Detective
Created by	Mark Twain
Episode count	900
Information
Nickname(s)	Tom
Aliases	Tom Sawyer
Gender	Male
Age	12
Family	Aunt Polly (aunt), Mary (cousin). Sid (half-brother)
Address	The Antebellum South on the Mississippi River in St. Petersburg, Missouri

Tom Sawyer (fictional character 'born' circa 1833) is the protagonist and title character of the Mark Twain novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). He appears in three other novels by Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), Tom Sawyer Abroad (1894), and Tom Sawyer, Detective (1896).

Sawyer also appears in at least three unfinished Twain works, Huck and Tom Among the Indians, Schoolhouse Hill, and Tom Sawyer's Conspiracy. While all three uncompleted works were posthumously published, only Tom Sawyer's Conspiracy boasts a complete plot, as Twain abandoned the other two works after only finishing a few chapters.

The fictional character's name may have derived from a real life Tom Sawyer with whom Twain was acquainted in San Francisco, California while Twain was employed as a reporter at the San Francisco Call. [1] The character himself is an amalgam of three boys Twain knew while growing up^[1].

The name Sawyer is derived from the Mississippi river pilot's term for a "tree in the bed of the river with its branches reaching the surface and moving up and down with the current". Mark Twain was a river pilot and much of the adventures of his character, Tom Sawyer, derive from this experience. Most adventures in the book really occurred, with one or two Twain's own. The rest were experiences of boys who were schoolmates of Twain.

[edit] Synopsis

Tom Sawyer is a cunning, playful boy. He seems to be a showoff and likes to show his authority over other boys. He is around twelve years old as gathered from hints in Twain's works. Tom is supposed to represent the carefree and wonderful world of boyhood in the early-mid 1800s. His best friends include Joe Harper and Huckleberry Finn. In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom's infatuation with Rebecca (alias Becky) Thatcher is apparent. He has a half-brother, Sid, a cousin, Mary, and his aunt is known as Aunt Polly, all with whom he lives. Tom is Aunt Polly's dead sister's son. It is unknown how Tom's mother died.

Among the adventures Tom gets himself into are going pirating with Huck Finn And Joe Harper. He also stumbles upon Injun Joe's crime in which Widow Douglass is almost killed, and where thousands of gold rounds were involved. He also gets trapped with Becky Thacher, his "fiancée," in a cave. After which, Injun Joe dies, and Huck gets adopted by the widow.

[edit] Appearances in works by other creators

In 1968/1969 there appeared a half cartoon/half live action series The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with Tom Sawyer; Becky Thatcher, and Huckleberry Finn chased by Injun Joe (the psycho).

Tom Sawyer appears as an adult in the film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, where his characterization is based loosely on his appearance in Tom Sawyer, Detective. He is portrayed by Shane West.

"The adventures of Commy Cinya and Minion Sawyer" A book where the arch villain, Cinya, conquers closeby lands through use of her evil communist powers is also loosely tied in with the character.

He appears in an episode of Fairly Odd Parents, "Shelf Life," as a bad boy from Missouri.

He appears in the Futurama episode The Day the Earth Stood Stupid. In the episode Fry goes through multiple famous stories to stop the Big Brain. He tricks the Big Brain into whitewashing his fence for him, as famously portrayed in the book.. Tom Sawyer

In the episode Simpsons Tall Tales Bart Simpson and Nelson play the role of Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn in the third segment of the episode. Huckleberry Finn is also referenced in the episode The Boy Who Knew Too Much, with a plot similar to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

The band Rush performs a song titled Tom Sawyer, which has also been covered by New York rock band Mindless Self Indulgence.

In the ABC series Lost, the character James Ford adopted the nickname 'Sawyer' after a confidence man (aliased as Tom Sawyer) made his dad kill himself and his mother. He sought to seek revenge and became a confidence man himself. Also, like Tom Sawyer, he is from the southern United States.

Disney released a movie in 1995 titled Tom and Huck, starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Brad Renfro as the title characters respectively.

Puerto Rican Reggaeton duo, Calle 13 mention Tom Sawyer on their hit, 'Atrevete' (Dare). One line says, "El gori' que ha brinca'o mas charcos que Tom Sawyer", meaning "The gorilla that has jumped more puddles than Tom Sawyer".

In Binbou danshi (Bonbi men) Japanese drama, the 6th episode talks about how the story applies to life

Tom's relationship with Becky Thatcher is debunked in the novel "Becky: The Life and Loves of Becky Thatcher" by Lenore Hart.

[edit] References

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