Discussion Report, Group __________________ Reporter:__________________________

Others participating:
 
 
 

(Circle the number(s) of the question(s) your group chose)

1. In what ways is Tom Sawyer a "typical" child, or at least a typical boy? (Hint: what traits does he share with other boys in the book?) Is he unusual in any way? Twain says that Huck is a portrait of an individual, and Tom is a composite of several real boys. Can the reader tell the difference?
 

2. Among the important institutions of any society are family, education, religion, economic structure, law and justice, transportation, arts (including literature), government, and prestige standards (what individuals or groups are admired more and less, and why). (A) In "St. Petersburg." where Tom Sawyer lives, what social institutions does Twain satirize? How do you know? (B)Note particularly that slavery is part of the economic system (though the word is not used in this book). Instead, Twain, who had become an abolitionist, subtly shows the injustice of the way that the white people treat and regard the black people, even apart from the evil of slavery-that is, he reveals evils of racism that continued even after slavery was abolished. How?
 

3. The narrator in Tom Sawyer is a witty adult, looking back at boyhood. Even though the material is drawn from his own life, his own comments and reactions are very different from Tom's. Also, different people in the novel "speak" differently-they don't just have different things to say, but they use different vocabularies, different grammar, different ways of expressing emotion. Find an example of "Twain's" own voice, an example of Tom's thoughts in Tom's language, and three different ways of speaking in the book.
 

4. There are two major sources of comedy in the book, "tall tales" (like the description of the dog playing with the beetle in church) and satiric exaggeration (like the description of everyone "showing off" at Sunday school for the visitors). Find as many examples as you can of each. Can you find funny passages that don't seem to be either?
 

5. Although they are skillfully woven together, there are two different plot lines in the book, the one centered on Tom's ordinary life, with its fun and its troubles (including his puppy love for Becky Thatcher), and the one featuring Injun Joe. Figure out the major stages in each of these plots and how they fit together. Which plot is the kind featured in books Tom likes to read? Does Twain portray girls, women, and/or Indians as stereotypes? (Hint: what is the difference between portraying someone as typical (see question 1) and stereotyping someone?)

6. In portraying the child's conception of the adult world, which of the novels we have read so far is Tom Sawyer most like?  Why?  (Hint: consider how adults act in all the novels; what is like or different from their behavior in this one?)