Tow Sawyer Essay, Research Paper

Tom Sawyer

Tom Sawyer is a boy who is full of adventures. In his world there is an adventure

around every corner. Some of his adventures have lead him into some bad situations

but with his good heart and bright mind he has gotten out of them. Tom lives with his

aunt Polly, his cousin Mary and his bother Sid.

One of the first things to happen in the book is a memorable one, the painting of the

fence. Tom’s aunt Polly made Tom paint her fence on a Saturday as a punishment. Tom

just hated the idea of having to work on a Saturday while all of the neighborhood could

make fun of and harass him. After Tom tried to trade some of his possessions for a few

hours of freedom he had a stroke of genius, instead of him paying people to work for

him, he made people pay him to paint. Tom managed this by telling people that it isn’t

every day that you get a chance to paint a fence and he thought it was fun. He had

people begging him to paint by the time that he was finished his story. He would have

taken every boy in the town’s wealth if he had not run out of paint.

On June 17th about the hour of midnight, Tom and his best friend Huck were out in the

grave yard trying to get rid of warts, when they witnessed a murder by Injun Joe. At

the time Muff Potter was drunk and asleep so Injun Joe blamed the murder him (Muff

Potter). They knew if crazy Injun Joe found out they knew, he would for sure kill them.

Tom wrote on a wooden board “Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer swear to keep mum about

this and they wish they may drop down dead in their tracks if they ever tell and rot”,

then in their own blood they signed their initials TS and HF.

A few days after that incident Tom, Huck and Joe decided to go and become pirates

because no one cared for their company anymore. They stole some food and supplies

and then they stole a raft and paddled to an island in the middle of the Mississippi

River. They stayed and pirated for several days, then they all became so home sick

that they could not bear it anymore. The next day Tom, Huck, and Joe showed up for

their own funerals and there was much thanks and praise.

The next big event in the town was the trial of Muff Potter for the murder in the

graveyard. The whole town believed Injun Joe, and poor Muff was sent to a temporary

jail cell for a week. At the end of the week he was to be hung unless some one in court

had proved him innocent. While Muff was in jail temporarily he was not alone. Every day

Tom and Huck would go and talk to him through the jail cell bars and on occasion bring

him food. On the last day of court, to everyone’s surprise they called Tom Sawyer to

the stand. Then the man asked him where he was on the 17th of June he said “In the

graveyard”. Then when he asked who he saw do it he said with all his courage he said

“Muff didn’t do it. It was Injun Joe!” and with that Injun Joe jumped out the window and

ran away.

Tom and Huck decided that they wanted to become rich so they went to go and find

buried treasure. Tom and Huck dug under trees all day and night but found nothing,

then Tom said that they should go and dig for treasure in a haunted house. They went

back two days later and went to a haunted house. Both the boys were scared but they

both went inside anyway. The boys dared each other to go upstairs, so of course they

went up and looked in closets for treasure but found nothing. Suddenly the boys heard

two men talking and then come inside. Both of the boys got down on the floor and then

they heard the voice again, it was Injun Joe. Injun Joe and the other man had a bag of

money and decided to bury it there. Tom and Huck could hardly contain themselves

because they would steal it as soon as Injun Joe left. Injun Joe was digging a hole with

his knife when he hit something, it was a box of money. Injun Joe decided to take all of

the treasure and hide it in number two under the cross. When Injun Joe and the other

man left Tom and Huck were furious because they thought that all of the treasure was

rightfully their’s.

A few days later Becky had her long awaited picnic, and they all went to McDougals

cave. Tom showed Becky around and while they were exploring they got lost, with only

a small slice of cake to eat that Tom had shoved in his pocket the day before along

with several candles. When the town saw they were not in church the next morning

they realized that they must have forgotten them. Tom and Becky were too far down

for the search party to find with no food left and no candles. Tom and Becky sat by a

small stream because they were tired from exploring and had no light. By that time

Becky had became ill and it was up to Tom to find the way out. While Tom was looking

for a way out he ran into Injun Joe who ran off when he herd Tom yell for help. Tom

ran away also because he feared Injun Joe would kill him. Tom did find a way out

through a small opening that lead out to the Mississippi River. Tom went back and got

Becky and he lead her out of the cave and eventually got her home safely.

At the same time that Tom was in the cave with Becky, Huck was watching a tavern

where Injun Joe was watching to see if he would lead him to the treasure. When Huck

has just about given up, Injun Joe and another man left the tavern with so bags. Huck

followed them to Widow Douglas’ house and listened in on their plan. Injun Joe was

going to hurt Widow Douglas because of what her deceased husband did to him. Once

Huck had heard the plan he ran to the Welshman’s house and he told the story to him.

Old Welshman and his sons went to Widow Douglas’s house with their guns and had a

shootout with Injun Joe and his partner. In the end no one was hurt and Injun Joe and

his partner escaped.

A few days later Tom was at Becky’s house where everyone was celebrating the return

of him and Becky. Becky’s father was talking with Tom when he mentioned that he had

the entrance on the cave closed off so that no one would ever get lost in it again.

Tom’s face went totally white. Becky’s father asked him what was wrong he said that

Injun Joe was still in the cave. Not long after all of the men went to the cave to

investigate. They made the gruesome discovery of Injun Joe’s body. He had made his

way to the gate but he could not get it unlocked, he had starved to death. Tom was

finally at ease, and now he was ready to go treasure hunting again.

A few days later Tom was allowed to see Huck once again and he brought him up to

date on his adventures. Tom told Huck that he knew where the treasure was an now all

they had to do was go and get it. Huck agreed to the plan and the both of the

gathered the supplies that they needed and then stole a raft. Tom took Huck down the

river to the same place where he had gotten out of the cave before and they both

went inside. Tom took Huck to the place where he ran into Injun Joe and the started

looking for “number two”. Not after long Tom and Huck found a roman numeral two

written in smoke on the cave wall. Under the number two there was a cross. Tom and

Huck were ecstatic, they started to dig and Tom hit some boards. Tom took the boards

out, and then a ditch was revealed. Tom and Huck crawled into the ditch and followed

it as it turned into a tunnel. At the end of the tunnel there was a cave. In the cave

was the money, some food, guns, and some blankets and other clothing. Tom and Huck

filled the bags that they had brought with them with the money and got out of the

cave. Tom and Huck paddled their raft back home and put their money in a wagon.

Tom and Huck then pulled the wagon to Mrs Widow Douglas’s house. There they were

ushered inside by the old Welshman, and were told to go upstairs and change there

cloths. They did so, and when they came down stairs they were informed that the

party was for Huck to thank him for saving Widow Douglas’ life. During the party Widow

Douglas said that Huck was going to live with her and he was going to grow up the way

that he should. Then Tom exploded and said that Huck did not need Widow Douglas,

because he was rich. At this comment the room burst into laughter. Tom said that he

and Huck would prove it and went outside. When Tom and Huck returned they were

carrying two large bags. Tom and Huck walked to the table and dumped the bags, they

were full of money. Everyone was shocked, Tom and Huck explained their latest

adventure and then the money was divided evenly. Both of the boy’s money was

deposited in a bank, and rationed out to them a dollar and a quarter per week. This is

basically how the story ends.