"What do you think of Tom Sawyer?" asked a reporter from a St. Louis newspaper.
"He's a rascal," said the older woman sharply.
"Finding that gold was just . . . was just so unfortunate."
"Ma'am, don't you mean 'fortunate?'" asked the reporter confused.
"No, I mean unfortunate," said the woman.
"It's unfortunate that such a mischievous boy found the gold."
The reporter had interviewed ten different people about Tom Sawyer, and she had gotten ten different descriptions of the same boy.
She truly did not understand what was going on.
What the reporter didn't know was that Tom Sawyer was not a single boy at all.
His character was based on a collection of boys—boys who Samuel Clemens had known when he was growing up in Hannibal, Missouri.
Samuel Clemens is best known as Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Adventures of Tom SawyerThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
If the reporter had asked Mark Twain about Tom Sawyer, she would have learned that Tom is a smart boy, but not "book smart."
She would have learned that Tom is a good boy, but not "church good."
In other words Tom is a completely ordinary child, except for his adventures.
Tom's parents are dead, and Tom is an orphan.
His mother's sister, Polly, has taken him into her house.
Tom's world is the fictional town called Petersburg, Missouri.
Most of Tom's friends lead fairly normal lives, with the exception, of course, of Huckleberry Finn.
Huck, as he is called, is the son of a drunk.
Tom, however, sees Huck as a friend who has all the luck—a boy who doesn't have to go to either school or church!
Tom meets a new girl in town named Becky and wins her affection.
She wins Tom's heart too, and some of his adventures happen because of her.
She brings out a sensitive side of mischievous Tom.
Mark Twain's novel is a classic story about a boy.
Tom's youth, independence, and bright curiosity still charm many readers today.
