The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

The boys hunt for turtle eggs before swimming. Then they draw a circle in the sand and pretend to be clowns at a circus. Tom writes Becky’s name in the sand with his toe. Tom tries to get them to explore the island again, but they’re unenthusiastic. Joe finally admits he wants to go home. He says he wants to see his mother, and so would Tom, if he had one. Huck wants to leave as well.

Tom stops them by telling them a secret, although the reader doesn’t learn what it is yet. That night Huck teaches them to smoke. They pretend to enjoy it, but it makes them sick. Tom pretends to have lost his knife so he can go into the woods and vomit.

At midnight, a massive thunderstorm begins. Their shelter blows away and the hours until dawn are miserable. In the morning, they pretend that they are warriors instead of pirates. They divide into three tribes and pass the day. In the evening, they smoke again, and it’s easier this time.

The village is quiet on the day of the funeral. Becky wishes she had the andiron knob. Other children remember the last time they saw the boys, then argue about who saw them last. In front of the full church, the minister celebrates the boys and downplays their misdeeds. Everyone begins crying. Just then, Tom, Huck, and Joe open the doors and walk up the aisle. As the congregation sings a hymn of gratitude, it is the proudest moment of Tom’s life.

Tom’s secret had been the idea to attend their own funeral. Tom tells Aunt Polly that he dreamed about her and describes the night that he sneaked over on the skiff. He describes everything in such accurate detail that Aunt Polly thinks he is prophesying. Once they’re outside, Sid voices his suspicion that it wasn’t a dream.

The others treat Tom differently at school, but then he and Joe grow arrogant. Tom decides that, in light of this new attention, he doesn’t need Becky. She arrives, senses his indifference, and shows off near him. When she sees him talking to Amy Lawrence, Becky loudly scolds Mary Austin, who is near Tom. Tom ignores her. Becky talks loudly about an upcoming picnic that anyone can come to who wants to be her friend.

Tom keeps telling Amy about the storm and then walks away with her. Becky cries, then steels herself for retaliation. At recess, Tom sees her with Alfred Temple, looking at a book together. He instantly regrets not taking Becky back. Becky is happy about his obvious suffering, and Tom suddenly finds Amy intolerable. Becky feels the same about Alfred and says she hates him. Alfred understands what’s happening and wants to get Tom in trouble. He pours ink on Tom’s spelling book. Becky sees it and decides to let Tom take his punishment.

Aunt Polly is furious. Joe Harper told his mother that Tom sneaked away and heard everything he had claimed was a dream. Tom wishes he had been more thoughtful. He says he hadn’t meant to be mean, and that he kissed her because he loved her. Aunt Polly asks for another kiss. She looks through his pirate’s jacket and finds the bark shingle that he claims he used to write a message to her, before deciding against it. The message tells her not to worry.

Mr. Dobbins, the schoolmaster, wants to be a doctor. He’s always looking at an anatomy book on breaks. Everyone has a different idea about what the book is and what is inside of it. When she is alone, Becky opens the lock with a key and opens the book to a page with a naked figure. When Tom enters, it startles her, and she accidentally tears a page.

She cries and says he’s hateful. Tom finds that he can’t get excited about her imminent punishment. Then he gets whipped when Dobbins sees the spilled ink in his spelling book. When Dobbins notices the torn page in the anatomy book, he asks each student if they are responsible. When he gets to Becky, Tom says he did it. He takes a whipping and stays for two hours after school. As he goes to bed, he plans to get revenge on Alfred. Before he sleeps, he remembers the last thing Becky said: “Tom, how could you be so noble!” (164).

As vacation approaches, Dobbs prepares them for examination day. He punishes everyone for the smallest provocation, and the students plan revenge. At eight o’clock that evening, people gather for the intellectual demonstrations. The students recite speeches, poems, and excerpts from essays. Tom gets stage fright before he can deliver the soaring “give me liberty or give me death” (167) speech. Twain provides excerpts from several of the recitations that he considers particularly awful.

While a girl reads a poetic ode to Alabama, Dobbins draws a map. A student lowers a cat on a string. The cat grabs Dobbins’s wig, then gets pulled back up, leaving him bald before the crowd.

Tom joins the Cadets of Temperance because he likes the fancy uniform, but he instantly regrets his decision. It forbids him from smoking, chewing tobacco, or using profanity. Judge Frazier is ill, and Tom resolves to remain with the Cadets until Frazer dies, so he has an excuse to wear his uniform to the funeral. When Frazer recovers, Tom resigns from the Cadets. Frazer then takes a turn and dies that night.

The summer is lackluster for Tom. Becky is in Constantinople. Tom gets measles and is housebound for two weeks. When he revives, he finds that a religious revival has taken hold of the town. Even Huck quotes scripture at him, which he finds depressing. There is a storm that night, and Tom believes it is punishment for his sins. He is grateful when the storm ends but decides not to reform quite yet. His measles return the next day. Three weeks later, Tom leaves his house to find that Huck and Joe Harper have just stolen a melon. Happily, they are returning to their mischievous ways.

The murder trial arrives. Tom is constantly uncomfortable and worries that Huck might talk. They swear themselves to silence again. They agree that Potter doesn’t have a chance, but he doesn’t deserve to be condemned for murder.

They give Potter tobacco and matches. He says they’re his only friends and that he deserves his sentence, and he begs them never to get drunk. Tom has nightmares and can’t stay away from the courtroom. On the third day, a witness claims to have seen Potter washing up in a brook the morning after the murder.

Other witnesses claim to have seen Potter with the knife that killed Robinson. Potter’s defender never questions the witnesses. After the prosecution rests, Potter’s counsel calls Tom to the stand. Tom says he was in the graveyard that night with a dead cat. He watches Injun Joe glare at him. Nevertheless, Tom names him as the attacker, and Injun Joe jumps through the window and escapes.

Tom is a hero and receives an article in the paper. He is terrified every night, however, and so is Huck. Tom told the lawyer everything the night before closing arguments. A detective is hired to hunt for Injun Joe but is unsuccessful.

Tom wants to hunt for treasure. He explains to Huck that robbers always bury treasure and leave it. After some debate, they dig under a dead tree near a place they call “Still-House.” Huck says he’s going to spend his treasure, because if he tries to save anything, Pap will take it. Tom wants to get married with his share. After finding nothing, they choose a new spot, also with unsatisfying results. When they try a third spot without luck, Tom blames witches for interfering. He says they’ll have better luck at night.

They return at midnight. They’re both frightened because Tom says there is usually a body buried near treasure. They decide to try hunting for treasure in a haunted house where people report blue flickering lights. They walk to the house and look at it from a distance, then decide to go home instead.

They return to the dead tree the next day to collect their tools. They realize they were digging on a Friday, which is bad luck. They would never find treasure on a Friday. Tom tells Huck the story of Robin Hood, and they spend the afternoon pretending to be outlaws.

On Saturday, they return to the dead tree. They dig a little more, then visit the haunted house. Inside, they hear two men enter. They look through the floorboards and see two men. One is Injun Joe, in disguise. He says he’s going to have one more look around town before they do a “dangerous job” (201). After they sleep, they talk about burying money that they have in a bag. They watch Injun Joe bury $600 in the corner after digging a hole with his knife. While digging, he hits a box filled with thousands of dollars in gold coins.

Injun Joe says they still have to do the other job because it’s revenge. They see the boys’ tools and wonder if anyone is there. Injun Joe asks if they could be upstairs. The rotting stairway collapses as he walks up. The men leave with the box after Injun Joe says they’re going to hide the treasure at “Number Two—under the cross” (206). Tom thinks that Injun Joe might refer to him as the object of his revenge. He still doesn’t know about Huck’s involvement.

Tom has uneasy dreams about the treasure. He tries to convince himself that everything so far is a dream and that he’s in no danger. He is especially suspicious of all the money, which seems too good to be true in the real world. Tom also wants to track Injun Joe to spot Number Two, whatever that means. He and Huck wonder if it’s a room number in one of the town’s pair of taverns. At the first tavern, a lawyer is in room number two. However, when Tom talks to the tavern keeper at the second tavern, he says that room number two is occupied by a mystery inhabitant who always keeps the room locked.

Tom and Huck agree to find keys to try to open the door, to find a way in and to follow Injun Joe if they get a chance, and to stay strong together.

They wait outside the tavern that night. They don’t see anyone use the door, so they go home. The next night is the same. Two nights later, Tom appears and tells Huck to run. He says that when he went to the mysterious room, the door was already unlocked. Injun Joe was asleep on the floor when Tom entered. Tom didn’t have time to look for the box, but he noticed that the room was filled with empty whisky bottles. This is unusual since the tavern is a “Temperance Tavern,” meaning it serves no alcohol—except in the locked room.

Huck thinks of how sluggish Pap gets after drinking and says this is a perfect time to try for the box. They agree to wait. It’s too dangerous.