One of the passages that really caught my eye in Tom Sawyer was the part where Tom is being praised for learning the two thousand verses and Judge Thatcher says,"That's it! That's a good boy. Fine boy. Fine, manly little fellow." (436). I feel learning verses from a Bible should not define if a boy is good, fine or manly. Yet this passage shows that being a good person whether male or female has to do a lot with religion around this time frame but the truth is that Tom didn't really memorize the Bible verses, so what really makes him a "good boy"?
Tom may not be a hardworker and he may not do his best to memorize Bible verses, but for some reason he is always being rewarded for the things he does do, and he is also able to charm people and get through to them. There is the instance when Tom is trying to memorize one Bible verse, and Mary encourages him by saying," Don't be discouraged. Tom, you,ll manage it-and if you do, I'll give you something ever so nice. There now, that's a good boy." (426). I found it funny that Mary is encouraging Tom and calling him a "good boy" when he is barely even trying compared to Sid who is noted to have "learned his lesson days before," (425). Sid isn't really rewarded, but when Tom does something comparable to what Sid did then he is rewarded even if it is of lesser quality.
The possible reasons that Tom might be seen as a good boy sometimes are for one that he is ambitious as shown when Tom was trying to win the Bible not because he wanted it, but because "his entire being had for many a day longed for the glory and the eclat that came with it." (430-431). As noted before, Tom is also very charming with people and he is able to read them and manipulate their emotions just as he does with Aunt Polly, Mary, and even at one point his Sunday-school teacher Mr. Walters and this is another reason that I believe Tom is mistaken to be a good boy sometimes because people are blinded by what his real intentions are. There is a lot of emphasis on good girls and good boys based on religious activities, but Tom is called a good boy by Mary and Judge Thatcher even though is not really a good boy. Perhaps Mark Twain uses this to show us that appraisal from people does not only come from "knowledge" (437) as Judge Thatcher says but maybe from being able to manipulate people and being charming to the point of blinding people from who person is and how a person really feels.
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I find it funny that Tom is praised for every little effort he puts into anything. I think it's because everyone knows Tom and no one expects him to put forth any effort. The readers clearly like Tom and so do most of the characters in the novel (at least deep down they do) and so I think it's easy for us to disregard his flaws and look for an opportunity to see him as a good boy because that's what we want to see him as. Most of the time when Tom is "good" its a trick, but we like him anyway.
ReplyDeleteI think it's good that you touched on the point of Tom always being rewarded for not really doing anything or be sneaky. When he is struggling for something and Mary encourages him, I think it is to show readers that even if a boy is not good, telling him that he is a good boy will let him be confident and try. I think Sid doesn't get as much praise because he just does it and doesn't really need the attention.
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