The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain, is a popular 1876
novel about a young boy growing up in the antebellum South on the
Mississippi River in the fictional town of St. Petersburg,
Missouri.
An imaginative and mischievous boy named Tom Sawyer lives with
his Aunt Polly and his half-brother, Sid, in the Mississippi River
town of St. Petersburg, Missouri. After playing hooky from school
on Friday and dirtying his clothes in a fight, Tom is made to
whitewash the fence as punishment on Saturday. At first, Tom is
disappointed by having to forfeit his day off. However, he soon
cleverly persuades his friends to trade him small treasures for the
privilege of doing his work. He trades these treasures for tickets
given out in Sunday school for memorizing Bible verses and uses the
tickets to claim a Bible as a prize. He loses much of his glory,
however, when, in response to a question to show off his knowledge,
he incorrectly answers that the first two disciples were David and
Goliath.
Tom falls in love with Becky Thatcher, a new girl in town, and
persuades her to get “engaged” to him. Their romance collapses when
she learns that Tom has been engaged before—to a girl named Amy
Lawrence. Shortly after being shunned by Becky, Tom accompanies
Huckleberry Finn, the son of the town drunk, to the graveyard at
night to try out a “cure” for warts. At the graveyard, they witness
the murder of young Dr. Robinson by the Native American
“half-breed” Injun Joe. Scared, Tom and Huck run away and swear a
blood oath not to tell anyone what they have seen. Injun Joe blames
his companion, Muff Potter, a hapless drunk, for the crime. Potter
is wrongfully arrested, and Tom's anxiety and guilt begin to
grow.
Tom, Huck, and Tom's friend Joe Harper run away to an island to
become pirates. While frolicking around and enjoying their newfound
freedom, the boys become aware that the community is sounding the
river for their bodies. Tom sneaks back home one night to observe
the commotion. After a brief moment of remorse at the suffering of
his loved ones, Tom is struck by the idea of appearing at his
funeral and surprising everyone. He persuades Joe and Huck to do
the same. Their return is met with great rejoicing, and they become
the envy and admiration of all their friends.
Back in school, Tom gets himself back in Becky's favor after he
nobly accepts the blame for a book that she has ripped. Soon Muff
Potter's trial begins, and Tom, overcome by guilt, testifies
against Injun Joe. Potter is acquitted, but Injun Joe flees the
courtroom through a window.
Summer arrives, and Tom and Huck go hunting for buried treasure
in a haunted house. After venturing upstairs they hear a noise
below. Peering through holes in the floor, they see Injun Joe enter
the house disguised as a deaf and mute Spaniard. He and his
companion, an unkempt man, plan to bury some stolen treasure of
their own. From their hiding spot, Tom and Huck wriggle with
delight at the prospect of digging it up. By an amazing
coincidence, Injun Joe and his partner find a buried box of gold
themselves. When they see Tom and Huck's tools, they become
suspicious that someone is sharing their hiding place and carry the
gold off instead of reburying it.
Huck begins to shadow Injun Joe every night, watching for an
opportunity to nab the gold. Meanwhile, Tom goes on a picnic to
McDougal's Cave with Becky and their classmates. That same night,
Huck sees Injun Joe and his partner making off with a box. He
follows and overhears their plans to attack the Widow Douglas, a
kind resident of St. Petersburg. By running to fetch help, Huck
forestalls the violence and becomes an anonymous hero.
Tom and Becky get lost in the cave, and their absence is not
discovered until the following morning. The men of the town begin
to search for them, but to no avail. Tom and Becky run out of food
and candles and begin to weaken. The horror of the situation
increases when Tom, looking for a way out of the cave, happens upon
Injun Joe, who is using the cave as a hideout. Eventually, just as
the searchers are giving up, Tom finds a way out. The town
celebrates, and Becky's father, Judge Thatcher, locks up the cave.
Injun Joe, trapped inside, starves to death.
A week later, Tom takes Huck to the cave and they find the box
of gold, the proceeds of which are invested for them. The Widow
Douglas adopts Huck, and, when Huck attempts to escape civilized
life, Tom promises him that if he returns to the widow, he can join
Tom's robber band. Reluctantly, Huck agrees.