The work of the famous American publicist and writer Mark Twain about the adventures of two boys is still the most loved and read all over the world. And not only a favorite work for boys, but also for adults who remember their mischievous childhood. This is the story of young America, the romanticism of which touches the boys of the whole world to this day.

History of writing "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"

The first work in the series of adventures of American boys was published in 1876, the author at that time was just over 30 years old. Obviously, this played a role in the brightness of the images of the book. America at the end of the 19th century had not yet got rid of slavery, half of the continent was "Indian territory", and the boys remained boys. According to many testimonies, Mark Twain described himself in the volume, not only his real self, but also all his dreams of adventure. Feelings and emotions are described real, which worried the boy of that time, and which continue to excite the boys today.

The main characters are two friends, Tom, who is brought up by his own lonely aunt, and Huck, a city homeless child. Inseparable in their fantasies and adventures, both boys are typical images, but Tom Sawyer remains the main character. He has a younger brother, more rational and obedient, has school friends, boyish love - Becky. And like any boy, the main events in life are associated with a thirst for adventure and first love. An ineradicable thirst constantly involves Tom and Huck in dangerous adventures, some of which, of course, are invented by the author, some are real events. In such as running away from home or going to the cemetery at night, it is easy to believe. And these adventures, interspersed with descriptions of ordinary boyish everyday life, ordinary pranks, joys and annoyances, become reality thanks to the genius of the author. The description of the life of Americans at that time is impressive. What is lost in the modern world is democracy and the spirit of freedom.

Chronicle of Young America (plot and main idea)

A town on the banks of the Mississippi, in which the inhabitants mixed into a single society, regardless of property, racial and even age differences. Negro Jim, enslaved by Aunt Polly, half-breed Injun Joe, Judge Thatcher and his daughter Becky, homeless child Huck and mischievous Tom, Dr. Robenson and undertaker Potter. Tom's life is described with such humor and with such naturalness that the reader forgets in which country it takes place, as if he remembers what happened to himself.

The boy Tom Sawyer, along with his younger brother, who is clearly more positive than him, is brought up by an old aunt after the death of his mother. He goes to school, plays in the street, fights, makes friends and falls in love with a beautiful peer, Becky. One day, they met their old friend Huckleberry Fin on the streets, with whom they had a deep debate about ways to reduce warts. Huck told a fresh method of mixing with a dead cat, but it is necessary to visit the cemetery at night. From this began all the significant adventures of these two tomboys. Previous conflicts with my aunt, entrepreneurial ideas about getting a bonus Bible in Sunday school, whitewashing the fence as a punishment for disobedience, which Tom successfully transformed into personal success, fade into the background. Everything but the love for Becky.

Having witnessed a fight and a murder, the two boys have long doubted the need to bring everything they saw to the judgment of adults. Only sincere pity for the old drunkard Potter and a sense of universal justice make Tom speak at the trial. Thus, he saved the life of the accused and put his own life in mortal danger. Revenge of Injun Joe is a very real threat to the boy, even under the protection of the law. Meanwhile, Tom and Becky's romance has taken a turn for the worse, and this has taken him away from everything else for a long time. He suffered. It was finally decided to run away from home from unhappy love and become a pirate. It is good that there is such a friend as Huck, who agrees to support any adventure. They were joined by a school friend - Joe.

The adventure ended as it should have. Tom's heart and Huck's rationality forced them to return to the town from the island on the river, after they realized that the whole city was looking for them. The boys returned just in time for their own funeral. The joy of the adults was so great that the boys were not even given a beating. Several days of adventure brightened the life of the boys with the memories of the author himself. After that, Tom was sick, and Becky left for a long time and far away.

Before the start of the school year, Judge Thatcher hosted a lavish party for the kids to celebrate the birthday of her returning daughter. A boat trip on the river, a picnic and a visit to the caves, even modern children could dream of. This is where Tom's new adventure begins. After reconciling with Becky, the two of them run away from the company during a picnic and hide in a cave. They got lost in the passages and grottoes, the torch that illuminated their path burned out, and there were no provisions with them. Tom behaved courageously, this showed all his enterprise and responsibility of a growing man. Quite by chance, they stumbled upon Injun Joe, hiding the stolen money. After wandering around the cave, Tom finds a way out. The children returned home to the joy of their parents.

The secret seen in the cave does not give rest, Tom tells Huck everything, and they decide to check the treasure of the Indian. The boys go to the cave. After Tom and Becky got out of the maze safely, the city council decided to close the entrance to the cave. This became fatal for the mestizo, he died in a cave from hunger and thirst. Tom and Huck endured a fortune. Since the treasure did not belong to anyone in particular, two boys became its owners. Huck received the patronage of the widow Douglas, falling under her care. Tom is also rich now. But Huck could endure the “social” life for no more than three weeks, and Tom, who met him on the shore at the barrel hut, frankly declared that no wealth could keep him from the career of a “noble robber”. The romanticism of the two friends was not yet crushed by the "golden calf" and the conventions of society.

Main characters and their characters

All the main characters of the story are the thoughts and feelings of the author, his memories of childhood, his sense of that very American dream and universal values. When Huck complained that he could not live in idleness, Tom answered him uncertainly: “But everyone lives like that, Huck.” In these boys, Mark Twain writes out his attitude to human values, to the value of freedom and understanding between people. Huck, who has seen more bad things, shares with Tom: “It just makes you feel ashamed of all people,” when he talks about the insincerity of relations in high society. Against the romantic background of the story about childhood, written with good humor, the writer clearly outlines all the best qualities of a little man, and the hope that these qualities will be preserved for life.

A boy who is brought up without a mother and father. What happened to his parents, the author does not reveal. According to the story, it seems that Tom received all his best qualities on the street and at school. Attempts by Aunt Poly to instill in him elementary stereotypes of behavior cannot be crowned with success. Tom is the perfect boy and a tomboy in the eyes of boys all over the world. On the one hand, this is hyperbole, but on the other hand, having real prototypes, Tom really carries all the best that a growing man can carry in himself. He is bold, with a heightened sense of justice. In many episodes, it is these qualities that he shows in difficult life situations. Another feature that cannot affect the feelings of an American. It's resourcefulness and enterprise. It remains only to remember the story of whitewashing the fence, which is also a far-reaching project. Burdened with various boyish prejudices, Tom looks like a completely ordinary boy, which captivates the reader. Everyone sees in him a small reflection of himself.

A homeless child with a living father. The drunkard appears in the story only in conversations, but this already somehow characterizes the living conditions of this little boy. Tom's constant friend and faithful companion in all adventures. And if Tom is a romantic and a leader in this company, then Huck is a sober mind and life experience, which is also necessary in this tandem. An attentive reader has the opinion that Huck is registered by the author as the other side of the medal of a growing person, a citizen of America. The personality is divided into two types - Tom and Huck, which are inseparable. In subsequent stories, the character of Huck will be revealed more fully, and often, in the soul of the reader, these two images are mixed and always receive sympathy.

Becky, Aunt Polly, Negro Jim and half-breed Injun Joe

These are all people, in communication with which all the best in the character of the protagonist is manifested. Tender love in a girl of the same age and real care for her in moments of danger. A respectful, if sometimes ironic, attitude towards an aunt who spends all her strength to raise Tom as a real respectable citizen. The Negro slave, which is an indicator of the then America and the attitude towards slavery of the entire progressive public, because Tom is friends with him, justifiably considering him equal. The author's attitude to Injun Joe, and hence Tom, is far from unambiguous. The romance of the Indian world at that time was not yet so idealized. But the inner pity for the half-breed who died of starvation in the cave characterizes not only the boy. The realities of the Wild West are seen in this image, a cunning and cruel half-breed takes revenge on all whites with his life. He is trying to survive in this world, and society allows him to do so. We do not see that deep condemnation, which it would seem should have been for a thief and a murderer.

Continuation of the epic adventure

In the future, Mark Twain wrote several more stories about Tom and his friend Huck. The author grew up along with his characters, and America changed. And already in subsequent stories there was no that romantic recklessness, but more and more bitter truth of life appeared. But even in these realities, both Tom, and Huck, and Becky retained their best qualities, received by them in childhood on the banks of the Mississippi in a small town with a distant name of the Russian capital - St. Petersburg. You don’t want to part with these heroes, and they remain ideals in the hearts of the boys of that era.

The image of the protagonist in the novel by M. Twain. Perhaps there is no more or less literate person in the world who would not read the novel of the famous American prose writer M. Twain. He created many wonderful works, such as The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper, Joan of Arc and others.

But it is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer that is best known and loved by adults and young readers around the world. What is the secret of such great and long-term popularity? It seems to me that it lies in the great charm with which the author's talented pen endowed the image of this restless, restless boy.

In world literature, there are a great many images of boys - adventurers, but Twain's hero is unique and original. At first glance, this is a completely ordinary boy from a small provincial American town. Like thousands and millions of his neighbors, Tom does not like to do household chores, hates going to school, prefers shabby clothes to a smart suit, and as for shoes, he tries to do without them at all. But attending church, and especially Sunday school, is a real torture for him. Tom has a lot of friends - the same fools as he is. His intelligent head is constantly crammed with all sorts of fantasies and inventions. Most likely, if the boy's parents were alive, he would grow up more obedient and less wayward. The old maid - Aunt Polly - with all her efforts could not manage to cope with the restless nephew entrusted to her care. But it was precisely this freedom that allowed Tom to remain a sincere, spontaneous, organic being. Of course, cunning is inherent in him, he can lie without any remorse, “pull off” a delicacy without permission, but with all this, it is almost impossible to get angry with him.

At first glance, Tom Sawyer is the same ordinary boy as most of his peers. And yet - a special hero, because Twain endowed him with all the most wonderful qualities that can only be inherent in a teenager.

Tom dearly loves Aunt Polly. Not knowing how to pacify his inclinations, the boy nevertheless worries if he sees that he is causing anxiety and grief to his aunt. It has a sense of justice. From does not tolerate pretense, hypocrisy, insincerity. That is why the obedient brother Sid often becomes the object of Tom's dislike. Sometimes the boy finds a desire to become a good, “correct” child, it is not his fault that he most often fails to curb his irrepressible temper. With all the boys in the world, Tom Sawyer has in common that he does not tolerate boredom, routine, monotony. He will always prefer spanking or other physical punishment to cramming, dull being in church service. This is a lively, impressionable nature with a rich imagination. Not every adult is able to admit that he was wrong, but this is also possible for him. Remorseful for his escape from home, the boy convinces his friends to return to the city.

Tom Sawyer has many outstanding character traits. One of them is his entrepreneurial spirit. It was not for nothing that the episode with the fence became a textbook. Here the boy shows remarkable abilities of a psychologist and an organizer. Leadership qualities are generally inherent in Tom. He easily manages to inspire his less inventive and brave friends to take risks.

Tom is able from the bottom of his heart to sympathize with those who undeservedly suffer resentment, injustice. Despite his fear of Injun Joe, Tom, along with his bosom friend Huckleberry Finn, risking their lives to help out the hapless Muff Potter by testifying in court. Not every adult is capable of such a bold act, committed by a sympathetic boy. This, in my opinion, is real heroism.

Another episode that shows us Tom from the best side - pages about how he got lost in a cave with Becky Thatcher. The boy managed to keep his cool, find a way out, while still constantly supporting, comforting and encouraging the girl. In the finale, Tom helps to neutralize a gang of bandits, save the life of a respectable townswoman.

The author rewards his hero - Tom becomes a rich man, a heroic personality, deserves the respect of the most prominent citizens. However, even this, the last test, the boy passes with brilliance. He does not become arrogant, does not boast of his heroism and wealth. This is still a direct, full of charm teenager.

Saying goodbye to him, the reader is convinced that Tom Sawyer will retain all his best qualities, become a wonderful person and, turning into an adult man, will do many more wonderful things.

Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn

TOM SAWYER AND Hucklberry Finn (Eng. Tom Sawyer, Hucklberry Finn) - the characters of Mark Twain's novels "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876) and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1884). Twelve-year-old boys, residents of a small provincial American town of St. Petersburg, comrades in games and fun, which every now and then gives birth to their irrepressible imagination. T.S. - an orphan. He is raised by his late mother's sister, the pious Aunt Polly. The boy is completely uninterested in the life that flows around, but he is forced to follow the generally accepted rules: go to school, attend church services on Sundays, dress neatly, behave well at the table, go to bed early - although he breaks them every now and then, causing the indignation of his aunt . Enterprise and resourcefulness Tom does not hold. Well, who else, having received the task of whitewashing a long fence as a punishment, could turn things around so that other boys would paint the fence, and besides, paying for the right to take part in such an exciting event with “treasures”: some with a dead rat, and some with a fragment of a tooth buzzer. Yes, and not everyone will be able to receive the Bible as a reward for the excellent title of its content, in fact, without knowing a single line. But Tom did! Playing a prank, fooling someone, coming up with something unusual is Tom's element. Reading a lot, he strives to make his own life as bright as the one in which the heroes of the novels act. He embarks on "love adventures", arranges games of Indians, pirates, robbers. In whatever situations Tom gets into thanks to his bubbling energy: either at night in the cemetery he becomes a witness to a murder, or he is present at his own funeral. Sometimes Tom is capable of almost heroic deeds in life. For example, when he takes the blame for Becky Thatcher - the girl he awkwardly tries to court - and endures the teacher's spanking. He's a charming guy, that Tom Sawyer, but he's a child of his time, of his city, accustomed to leading a double life. When necessary, he is quite capable of taking on the image of a boy from a decent family, realizing that everyone does this. The situation is quite different with Tom's closest friend, Huck Finn. He is the son of a local drunk who does not care about the child. No one forces Huck to go to school. He is completely on his own. The boy is alien to pretense, and all the conventions of civilized life are simply unbearable. For Huck, the main thing is to be free, always and in everything. “He didn’t have to wash or put on a clean dress, and he knew how to swear amazingly. In a word, he had everything that makes life beautiful, ”the writer concludes. Huck is undoubtedly attracted by the entertaining games invented by Tom, but personal freedom and independence are most precious to Huck. Having lost them, he feels out of place, and precisely in order to regain them, Huck in the second novel is already undertaking a dangerous journey alone, leaving his hometown forever. In gratitude for saving Injun Joe from revenge, the widow Douglas took Huck to be raised. The widow's servants washed him, combed his hair with a comb and brush, laid him down every night on disgustingly clean sheets. He had to eat with a knife and fork and go to church. The unfortunate Huck survived only three weeks and disappeared. They were looking for him, but without Tom's help they would hardly have been able to find him. Tom manages to outwit the ingenuous Huck and return him to the widow for a while. Then Huck mystifies his own death. He himself sits in a shuttle and goes with the flow. During the trip, Huck also experiences many adventures, shows resourcefulness and ingenuity, but not out of boredom and a desire to have fun, as before, but out of vital necessity, primarily for the sake of saving the runaway Negro Jim. It is the ability of Huck to think about others that makes him especially attractive. Perhaps that is why Mark Twain himself saw him as a hero of the 20th century, when, from the point of view of the writer, there would no longer be racial prejudice, poverty and injustice.

Lit.: Mendelssohn M. Mark Twain. M., 1958; Romm A. Mark Twain and his books about children. L., 1958; Foner F. Mark Twain is a social critic. M., 1961.

All characteristics in alphabetical order:

Tom Sawyer is a twelve year old cheerful boy. He is very resourceful, cunning, sometimes playful. Everyone around suffers from his leprosy. Skipping classes, swimming without his aunt's permission, constant fights with boys, emptying jars of jam - these are just a small part of what he does almost daily. Poor Aunt Polly, with whom Tom lives, cannot re-educate him. All her attempts to punish the boy for pranks end up with him distracting her and running away.

Tom's rich imagination and the energy that bubbles out of him do not allow him to live in peace, not for himself, not for those around him. He is constantly looking for adventure. He doesn't like boring classes at school, so he has to invent new ways to have fun.

No one can compare with him in cunning! When Aunt Polly made him paint the fence, he pretended to like this job very much and said that almost no one but him could cope with this business. After that, everyone who was next to him not only painted the fence instead of the cunning one, but also paid him for it with what was with him.

Tom does not like sneaks and his peers, who were dressed as "dandies". Seeing such a boy one day, he did not hesitate to rush to fight with him and, of course, won. Do not take his courage. He proved this many times. For example, when he and a friend went to the cemetery at night, where they became accidental witnesses of the illegal splitting of the grave and the murder of a person. He confirmed his fortitude when he and his classmate got lost in a cave, where they stayed for several days. After they ran out of water, food and the last candle burned out, the boy himself went to look for a way out of the cave and found it.

Despite all the antics of Tom, he cannot be called soulless. He is hurt by Aunt Polly's tears, he does not want her to suffer. But still, like many boys, he does not take his aunt's lectures and reproaches seriously, sometimes he deceives her, but his tricks never harm her.

Tom Sawyer has a very rich imagination, a huge amount of energy, an insatiable thirst for adventure, a cunning that can only be envied. These qualities help him succeed or avoid punishment. In the future, they can help him achieve more serious goals.

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1. Mark Twain as the creator of a unique image.
2. Advantages and disadvantages of the hero.
3. Tom Sawyer is one of the most beloved characters in world literature.

Perhaps there is no more or less literate person in the world who would not read the novel of the famous American prose writer M. Twain. He created many wonderful works, such as The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper, Joan of Arc and others. But it is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer that is best known and loved by adults and young readers around the world. What is the secret of such great and long-term popularity? It seems to me that it lies in the great charm with which the author's talented pen endowed the image of this restless, restless boy.

In world literature, there are a great many images of boys - adventurers, but Twain's hero is unique and original. At first glance, this is a completely ordinary boy from a small provincial American town. Like thousands and millions of his neighbors, Tom does not like to do household chores, hates going to school, prefers shabby clothes to a smart suit, and as for shoes, he tries to do without them at all. But attending church, and especially Sunday school, is a real torture for him. Tom has a lot of friends - the same fools as he is. His intelligent head is constantly crammed with all sorts of fantasies and inventions. Most likely, if the boy's parents were alive, he would grow up more obedient and less wayward. The old maid - Aunt Polly - with all her efforts could not manage to cope with the restless nephew entrusted to her care. But it was precisely this freedom that allowed Tom to remain a sincere, spontaneous, organic being. Of course, cunning is inherent in him, he can lie without any remorse, “pull off” a delicacy without permission, but with all this, it is almost impossible to get angry with him.

At first glance, Tom Sawyer is the same ordinary boy as most of his peers. And yet - a special hero, because Twain endowed him with all the most wonderful qualities that can only be inherent in a teenager.

Tom dearly loves Aunt Polly. Not knowing how to pacify his inclinations, the boy nevertheless worries if he sees that he is causing anxiety and grief to his aunt. It has a sense of justice. From does not tolerate pretense, hypocrisy, insincerity. That is why the obedient brother Sid often becomes the object of Tom's dislike. Sometimes the boy finds a desire to become a good, “correct” child, not his fault that he most often fails to curb his irrepressible temper. With all the boys in the world, Tom Sawyer has in common that he does not tolerate boredom, routine, monotony. He will always prefer spanking or other physical punishment to cramming, dull being in church service. This is a lively, impressionable nature with a rich imagination.

Not every adult is able to admit that he was wrong, but this is also possible for him. Remorseful for his escape from home, the boy convinces his friends to return to the city.

Tom Sawyer has many outstanding character traits. One of them is his entrepreneurial spirit. It was not for nothing that the episode with the fence became a textbook. Here the boy shows remarkable abilities of a psychologist and an organizer. Leadership qualities are generally inherent in Tom. He easily manages to inspire his less inventive and brave friends to take risks. Tom is able from the bottom of his heart to sympathize with those who undeservedly suffer resentment, injustice. Despite his fear of Injun Joe, Tom, along with his bosom friend Huckleberry Finn, risking their lives to help out the hapless Muff Potter by testifying in court. Not every adult is capable of such a bold act, committed by a sympathetic boy. This, in my opinion, is real heroism.

Another episode that shows us Tom from the best side - pages about how he got lost in a cave with Becky Thatcher. The boy managed to keep his cool, find a way out, while still constantly supporting, comforting and encouraging the girl. In the finale, Tom helps to neutralize a gang of bandits, save the life of a respectable townswoman.

The author rewards his hero - Tom becomes a rich man, a heroic personality, deserves the respect of the most prominent citizens. However, even this, the last test, the boy passes with brilliance. He does not become arrogant, does not boast of his heroism and wealth. This is still a direct, full of charm teenager.

Saying goodbye to him, the reader is convinced that Tom Sawyer will retain all his best qualities, become a wonderful person and, turning into an adult man, will do many more wonderful things.