The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
| The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | |
|---|---|
 Frontispiece of 1st edition |
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| Author | Mark Twain aka Samuel Clemens |
| Cover artist | created by Mark Twain |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Bildungsroman, Picaresque, Satire, Folk, Children's Novel |
| Publisher | American Publishing Company |
| Publication date | 1876 [1] |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 275pp |
| ISBN | NA |
| OCLC Number | 47052486 |
| Dewey Decimal | [Fic] 22 |
| LC Classification | PZ7.T88 Ad 2001 |
| Preceded by | The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today |
| Followed by | A Tramp Abroad |
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain is a popular 1876 novel about a young boy growing up in a small town along the Mississippi River. The story is set in the town of "St Petersburg", inspired by Hannibal, Missouri, where Mark Twain grew up. In the story's introduction, Twain notes:
Most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred; one or two were experiences of my own, the rest those of boys who were schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from life; Tom Sawyer also, but not from an individual—he is a combination of the characteristics of three boys whom I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order of architecture.[2]
Contents |
Plot summary
The imaginative and mischievous twelve-year-old boy named Thomas Sawyer lives with his Aunt Polly, his half-brother, Sid, also known as Sidney, and cousin Mary, in the Mississippi River town of St Petersburg, Missouri. After playing hooky from school on Friday and dirtying his clothes in a fight, Tom is made to whitewash the fence as punishment on Saturday. At first, Tom is disappointed by having to forfeit his day off. However, he soon cleverly persuades other children in the neighborhood to do the job for him. Later he barters some of his treasures for tickets given out in Sunday school for memorizing Bible verses, and uses the tickets to claim a Bible as a prize. He loses much of his glory, however, when, in response to a question to show off his knowledge, he incorrectly answers that the first two Disciples were David and Goliath.
Tom falls in love with Rebecca "Becky" Thatcher, a new girl in town, and persuades her to get “engaged” to him. Their love is ruined when she learns that Tom has been engaged to another girl before: Amy Lawrence. Shortly after Becky shuns him, Tom accompanies Huckleberry Finn, the son of the town drunk, to the graveyard at night to try out a “cure” for warts. At the graveyard, they witness the murder of young Dr. Robinson by a part-Native American “half-breed”, Injun Joe. Scared, Tom and Huck run away and swear a blood oath not to tell anyone what they have seen. Injun Joe blames his companion, Muff Potter, a hapless drunk, for the crime. Potter is wrongfully arrested, and Tom's anxiety and guilt begin to grow.
Tom, Huck and their friend Joe Harper run away to an island on the Mississippi, in order to "become pirates". While frolicking around and enjoying their new-found freedom, the boys become aware that the community is sounding the river for their bodies. Tom sneaks back home one night to observe the commotion. After a brief moment of remorse at the suffering of his loved ones, Tom is struck by the idea of appearing at his funeral and surprising everyone. He persuades Joe and Huck to do the same. Their return is met with great rejoicing, and they become the envy and admiration of all their friends.
Back in school, Tom gets himself back in Becky's favour after he nobly accepts the blame for a book that she has torn. Soon Muff Potter's trial begins, and Tom, overcome by guilt, testifies against Injun Joe. Potter is acquitted, but Injun Joe flees the courtroom through a window. Tom and Huck witness him, disguised as a deaf and dumb Spaniard, finding a box of gold with his partner. Huck begins to shadow Injun Joe every night, watching for an opportunity to nab the gold. Meanwhile, Tom goes on a picnic to McDougal's Cave with Becky and their classmates; the two get separated from the others and soon become lost in the cave, but eventually find a way out. That same night, Huck sees Injun Joe and his partner making off with a box. He follows and overhears their plans to attack the Widow Douglas, a kind resident of St. Petersburg. By running to fetch help, Huck forestalls the violence and becomes an anonymous hero.
A week later, Tom takes Huck to the cave via the new entrance Tom has found and they unearth the box of gold, the proceeds of which are invested for them. Injun Joe is found just inside the main entrance, having died of starvation while trying to break through its door. The Widow Douglas adopts Huck, and, when Huck attempts to escape civilized life, Tom promises him that if he returns to the widow, he can join Tom's robber band. Reluctantly, Huck agrees.
Publication history
The first publication of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was by Chatto and Windus, in England in June 1876 (it was listed as "ready" on June 10 and was reviewed on June 24 in the literary publication The Atheneum), and in the U.S. by subscription only in December 1876. Twain and other U.S. authors used initial publication in England fairly often, since otherwise it was impossible to obtain a copyright in the British Commonwealth. In the case of Tom Sawyer, the delay between the London and U.S. editions extended much beyond what Twain envisioned, or desired. This led to widespread piracy of the work - notably a July 1876 pirated edition in Canada obtained by many American readers - and, Twain believed, to a significant loss of his royalties.
When the work did appear in the U.S., it was sold by subscription only. In this distribution method, book agents across the country took orders for the book prior to publication and then delivered the book when available. It was only with subsequent editions that the book became available in retail shops.
In dictations for his autobiography, Twain claimed Tom Sawyer "must have been" the first book whose manuscript was typed on a typewriter. However, typewriter historian Darryl Rehr has concluded that Twain's first typed manuscript was Life on the Mississippi.[3][4]
Adaptations
The story of Tom Sawyer has been filmed or animated multiple times since its initial publication. Some of the film adaptations of Twain's novel include:
- A 1907 silent version released by the Paramount studio
- A 1917 silent version directed by William Desmond Taylor, starring Jack Pickford as Tom
- A 1930 version directed by John Cromwell, starring Jackie Coogan as Tom
- In 1938 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was filmed in Technicolor by the Selznick Studio. It starred Tommy Kelly as Tom and was directed by Norman Taurog. Most notable was the cave sequence designed by William Cameron Menzies.
- A 1947 Soviet Union version, directed by Lazar Frenkel and Gleb Zatvornitsky
- A 1960 US television serial, also shown on British television
- A 1968 French/German made-for-television miniseries, directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner, starring Roland Demongeot as Tom and Marc Di Napoli as Huck
- The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1968) was a half-hour live-action/animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions
- A 1973 musical version with songs by Richard and Robert Sherman, starring Johnny Whitaker as Tom and a young Jodie Foster as Becky Thatcher. A TV movie version sponsored by Dr Pepper was released that same year. It starred Buddy Ebsen as Muff Potter and was filmed in Upper Canada Village.
- Huckleberry Finn and His Friends (1979 TV series)
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (anime) (1980), a Japanese anime TV series by Nippon Animation, part of the World Masterpiece Theater; aired in the United States on HBO
- [[Приключения Тома Сойера и Гекльберри Финна (фильм)The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn (1981), another Soviet Union version directed by Stanislav Govorukhin.
- A 1984 Canadian claymation version produced by Hal Roach studios
- Tom and Huck (1995), starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas as Tom and Brad Renfro as Huck Finn
- A 1995 episode for the PBS Wishbone TV series "A Tail in Twain".
- The Modern Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- A 2000 animated adaptation, featuring the characters as anthropomorphic animals with an all-star voice cast, including country singers Rhett Akins (as Tom), Mark Wills (as Huck Finn), Lee Ann Womack, Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams Jr. as well as Betty White as Aunt Polly
- Tom Sawyer appears as a United States Secret Service agent in the 2003 movie based on comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
- This book was featured in an episode of The Fairly Odd Parents
Stage musicals: In 1956 'We're From Missouri', a musical adaptation of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, with book, music and lyrics by Tom Boyd, was presented by the students at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 1960, Boyd's musical version (re-titled Tom Sawyer) was presented professionally at Theatre Royal Stratford East in London, England, and in 1961 toured provincial theatres in England.Tom Boyd's musical of TOM SAWYER was produced again in April and June 2010 in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England. Another musical adaptation is Mississippi Melody, a musical by Jack Hylton.
Theatrical Adaptation: In April 2010, The Hartford Stage presented a theatrical adaptation entitled Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as part of a centennial observation of Mark Twain's passing.
See also
Juan Tamad-the Filipino counterpart of Tom Sawyer
References
- ↑ Facsimile of the original 1st edition.
- ↑ Mark Twain's introduction to "Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
- ↑ Mark Twain and the Typewriter
- ↑ "The First Typewriter". Rehr, Darryl. http://home.earthlink.net/~dcrehr/firsttw.html. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
External links
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, 135th Anniversary Edition, University of California Press, 2010.
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer with embedded audio (PDF available)
- Free audio book at LibriVox
- Both Chinese and English - Free eBook in HTML format.
- Project Gutenberg ebook in various formats
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer guide for students and teachers
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