An Analysis on the Character of Tom Sawyer汤姆索亚的人物性格分析
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An Analysis on the Character of Tom Sawyer
汤姆索亚的人物性格分析
Abstract
As one of Mark Twain‘s representative works
, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
is
an
1876 novel about
a
young
boy,
Tom
Sawyer
,
growing
up
along
the Mississippi
River. Since the book was published, it is greatly reviewed by thousands of Americans,
both children and grown-ups, as this novel is not solely a description of children, but
also
a
symbol
of
the
author‘s
ironic
attitude
to
the
hypocritical
of
the
adult
tedly, Tom is a clever, playful, and adventurous child.
He dares to fight
with
the
social
rules,
the
adult‘s
authorityand
hypocrisy.
He
never
stops
making
efforts
to
get
free
and
live
in
his
own
way.
The
reason
why
people
worship
Tom
Sawyer
from
generation
to
generation
i
s
that
people‘s
dream
for
freedom
and
goodness
never
die
easily.
His
character
has
a
unique
charm.
But
based
on
precious
research
,
t
his
paper
probes
into
the
analysis
of
Tom
Sawyer‘s
character
in
three
aspects, namely, innocence and romance, wit and leadership, rebellion and heroism,
all of which shapes Tom Sawyer‘s unique charm.
Key words: child; character; analysis; charm
iii
摘要
作为马克吐温的代表作品之一,
汤姆索亚历险记是一部关于 一个生长在密西
西比河畔的小男孩,
汤姆索亚的小说。
这部作品一问世,
就受 到成千上万美国读
者的关注,不光孩子们喜欢,成年人也不例外。因为这不仅仅是一部儿童读本,
更是作者从一个孩子的角度,
对虚伪的大人世界的讽刺。
无疑,
汤姆是一个聪明淘气敢于冒险的孩子。
他敢于和现有的社会规则,
大人世界的权威和伪善作斗争。
他从来没有停止过对自由的追求的努力。
之所以汤姆索亚受到许多人的佩服在于
人们对于自由和 善良的渴望没有消失。
他的性格有着独特的魅力。
基于之前学者
的研究,本文从性格方 面着手,分三个章节来分析出汤姆·索亚的性格,分别是
天真浪漫、聪明机智、叛逆勇敢,这三方面的性 格特点使得汤姆·索亚极具个人
魅力。
关键词
:
儿童
性格
分析
魅力
iv
Table of Contents
Introduction
......................... .................................................. ................................1
Chapter1Tom Sawyer
’
s Innocence and Romance
........ .....................................5
A. Tom Sawyer
‘
s Innocence........................ .................................................. ..5
B.
Tom Sawyer
‘
s Romance... .................................................. .......................8
Chapter 2 Tom Sawyer
’
s Wit and Leadership
........... ........................................10
A. Tom Sawyer
‘
s Wit.......................... .................................................. ..........10
B.
Tom Sawyer
‘
s L eadership......................................... ................................12
Chapter 3 Tom Sawyer
’
s Rebellion and Heroism
.... ........................................ 14
A. Tom Sawyer
‘
s Rebellion.................... .................................................. ......14
B.
Tom Sawyer
‘
s Heroi sm................................................ .............................17
Conclusion
.................................................. .................................................. .........19
Notes
......................... .................................................. ...........................................21
Bibliography
............................. .................................................. .........................22
v
Introduction
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835
–
April 21, 1910), well known
by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author, humoristand outstanding
representative of realism.
The
Adventures
of
Tom
Sawyer
was
finished
in
1876
when
the
United
States
ended the Civil War. The nation had thousands of things to do to rebuild their country;
people
were
inspired
to
try
their
best
to
create
a
new
the
same
time,
President
Lincoln
issued
Emancipation
Proclamation
in
1863.
Emancipation
Proclamation
made
the
Negro
slaves
free
from
the
oppression
of
Capitalists.
The
traditional ec
onomic model was corrupting, and doomed to be replaced by Capitalism
coming from the North. People in this country all lived with new hopes.
Tom
Sawyer,
a
naughty
and
brave
boy,
soon
become
one
of
the
well-known
characters through American literary history. In writing about childhood experiences,
Mark Twain shows the
trustworthiness of the heart as seen in children, the pleasure of
rural
American
as
seen
through
children‘s
eyes,
the
moral
de
cline
that
could
accompany growing up and the sense of loss when childhood is gone. If Mark Twain
does
not
criticize
the
social
directly
as
a
theorist,
the
fact
more
effective
in
that
he
shows
a
genuine
hatred
for
social
maturation,
society‘s
hypocrisy,
au
thority,
and
illiberality
in
the
big
society
background
through
his
skilled
use
of
humor.
He
is
relentless with his humor in exposing the importance of religious teaching in the face
of
temptation
and
the
iniquity
of
slavery.
In
sum,
Mark
Twain‘s
assault
o
f
the
hypocrisy
in
the
adult
world
shows
that
he
always
keepschildren‘s
Innocence
and
goodnessin his heart.
However, Mark Twain is not a good romanticist because he knows that child-like
innocence and goodness is not existsin the realworld. The innocent character built by
Mark Twain always aims to
irony the hypocrisy in the adult world. As an ironist, Mark
Twain
allows
us
to
see
the
adult
through
the
eyes
of
a
child,
and
to
see
the
child
through
the
adult‘s
perspective.
His
greatest
gift
is
therefore
his
mul
tidimensional
1
understandingof innocence. This understanding of innocence in Mark Twain has been
deeply extended to Americans encountering Europe. In much encounters, the irony of
―innocence‖
mocks
both
the
American
naivety
and
the
European
pretentiousness.
America and
Europe take on the same ironic dynamisms that involve a child and an
adult.
So
far,
there
have
been
many
writers
or
literary
lovers
studiedMark
Twain's
The
adventures of Tom Sawyer
. Either writers, literary enthusiasts, or the ordinary readers,
are impressed by Tom. On Tom's personality everyone has different interpretation and
analysis.
No matter what
kind
of interpretation
and analysis, undoubtedly, Tom
is a
clever,
playful,
adventurous
child.
The
adventures
of
Tom
Sawyer
is
so
welcome,
because
Tom's
character
has
a
unique
charm.
Liu
Xiaodan
said
that
Tom
is
full
of
fantasy and adventure, not willing to endure the individuality, boring life,hope to do a
heroic career, give readers a deep impression. He overcomes fear to save the innocent
people.
Therefore,
he
became
a
little
hero
in
people‘
heart.
Tom
is
a
collection
of
multiple roles. He epitomized the wisdom,
strategy, justice, courage and leadership.
The
story
of
Tom,
foldAuthor
Mark
Twin
from
childhood
personality
--
rebellious,
lively, active, machineSpirit. This is not just a description of a child, the child can see
the
agencyWill
defects
--
backward
in
education
system,
education
method
to
the
extreme
and
pedantic,
onthe
children
caused
harm
to
the
soul.
But
Tom's
move,
it
reflects the social Background, with a new generation of or the man with a new idea
to
the social
system challengesthe positive significance, it makes the society
full
of
hope. Wang Disheng said that He is not a good child in adults' heart. He knows what
the real good children like, and hatethe real good children. In the novel, he made a lot
of
mistakes
those
good
children
are
notwilling
to
make.
He
stole,
lie,
truancy
and
even fight. All behavior shows that he is a bad boy in
adults‘ heart
. But readers like
him very much. Tom played a bad boy, but he is not really a bad boy. After he went
missing, his
aunt who isusuallyvery strict with him saidhe is not
really bad, he
just
was too is only a child, he was not to blame. Indeed, he did not do real
bad things, his behavior was completely normal .He also did some good, and became
a hero in
people‘ heart
. Wu Juan said that under the pen of Mark Twin,Tom Soya is so
2
lively and lovely. He is notonly in the minds of the people of the United States, and
across
the
border,
across
the
ocean,
as
the
world‘schildren's
partner,
the
world's
people
‘
s love son. Almost everyone canfind the same with your dream picture
from
Tom's story. Tom Soya is not only a multifaceted character, but also a fairy in
people‘
s
dream of childhood. Tom is one of American literature history the most mischievous
child image. He is innocent and lively, clever and sensible, mischievous, and full of
fantasy.
He
stole,
lie,
truancy
and
even
fight.
Aunt
Polly
said
I
have
never
seen
morenaughty children than him. After
The adventures of Tom Sawyer
published,Tom
wasknown
as
one
of
the
most
famous
urchin
image
in
the
literaturehistory.
Lu
Huiping said that Tom Soya is a very attractive young boy, not simply as a good boy
or a bad boy. He was
into normal adults‘ heart
. Not everyone will like Tom so naughty, but read the book,
everyone
hopes
that
he
is
Tom
sawyer.
This
is
the
nature
of
human
beings:
desire
romance, adventure and freedom life. For practical reasons, people hide their nature.
When reading the novel, human nature is recovered. So, Tom has caught the world's
longed
for freedom, his desire
for hoping
to
climb
the fence is
very
lovely,
in
fact,
the
fence
itself
represents
the
shackles,
the
fetters
of
his
spiritual
shackles. Even if Tom did not want to go out, but when he saw the fence, he had the
idea to over it. Everyone longs for freedom,Tom's desire for liberty reflects the human
instinct .Shi Lanhua said that He is an ordinary boy,have a unique personality. Tom's
first experience is to fight with his aunt battle of wits, he always made mistakes to let
aunt
poly
angry.
Even
though
he
always
makes
troubles,fortunately,
he
always
can
escape punishment. This behavior also shows his mature. Tom is a romantic person,at
the same time is also a thoughtful young man. In order not to let the girl be punished,
He is willing to replace her. His care ofBeckyalso proved this point. In general, Tom
is
not
a
bad
child,instead,
he
became
a
hero
in
the
hearts
of
the
people.
Hissmart,
honestpassionate
and
have
some
superstitious
all
represent
the
typical
American
children‘Personality characteristics
. His
rebellion
is
the inevitable result
of the civil
war .His rebellion is the general children dare not do. So his image has eternal charm
in the history of American Literature.
3
Based
on
the
above
research
scholars,we
found
that
Tom
has
a
multiple
personality.
However,
previous
studies
was
not
very
good
for
the
Tom‗s
character
classification.
His
character
has
many
characteristics,
such
as
innocent ,romance,clever rebellion and so on. Therefore, if we want to know the deep
meaning of Tom's character, we still need more effort.
This paper dedicates to analyze Tom
Sawyer‘s character in three aspects, namely,
innocence and romance, wit and leadership, and
rebellion and heroism. Among those
characters,
no
matt
er
innocence
or
rebellion,
Mark
Twain
aims
at
nothing
but
describing Tom‘s
eagerness
for freedom.
To Mar
k Twain, rebellion
is
not to
blame,
becaus
e everyone has a re
bellious side, especially adolescent children. The hypocrisy
and dark of adult world, forced children became more rebellious Tom is a fighter, and
his enemy is the complicated adult world. Tom is restrained by the social rules; he is
tired and even feels hard to breathe. He performs impolitely in the Sunday school, he
dislikes
the
teacher,
and
never
has
been
able
to
recite
a
few
lines
of
The
Bible,
he
seldom listen to what Aunt Polly asks him to do, and always walks on the road with
his feet naked. Inadults‘ eyes, he
is not a good boy.
Tom Sawyer‘s individuality is interesting. He wants to do everything in his own
way, which is quite different from what is supposed to be, but somewhat similar to the
knight novel. He admires pirate very much. This is understandable if we pay attention
to the difference between the life of a pirate and a child, especially when the child has
little freedom in choosing his lifestyle.
Anyhow,
Tom
Sawyer is
a toughand persistent
boy. He dares to
fight
with
the
social rules, the adult‘s authorityand hypocrisy.
He never stops making efforts to get
free
and
live
in
his
own
reason
why
people
worship
Tom
Sawyer
from
generation to generation is that people‘s dream for freedom
and goodness never die
easily.
4
Chapter 1 Tom Sawyer
’
s Innocence and Romance
Like every child, Tom Sawyer is innocent and carefree. Also like every child, He
has
a
good,
pure,
andclean
world
in
his
heart.
Mark
Twain
puts
emphasize
on
describing his innocence and romance. He did is innocence, even he can do nothing
but to play in ad
ults‘ eyes
. However, his innocence is full of romance.
A.
Tom Sawyer
‘
s Innocence
The world in children‘s eyes is pure and simple. They always explain the things
happened
around
them
with
their
innocent
mind,
and
they
think
with
their
unique
simplicity. In this novel, Mark Twain has skillfully shaped Tom Sawyer as a standard
bad boy, one who owns the traits that can be seen in the other average kids. Whatever
situation Tom meets, he can successfully solve them by his own means.
Generally, children indulge themselves in playing games, which is true for both
boys and girls. In their opinion, there is nothing in the world that is more attractive
and
exciting
than
being
allowed
to
play
as
long
as
they
possibly
can.
Tom
Sawyer
owns various kinds of toys, and he takes much pride in showing his wealth in front of
his pals. He prepares for exchange whenever he finds there is something better than
he
has
on
hand.
One
Saturday
morning
,
Aunt
Polly
orders
Tom
to
whitewash
the
board
fence
which
stretches
for
almost
thirty
yards.
This
is
a
hard
punishment
for
Tom‘s
naughty
behavior
happened
the
day
before.
He
thought
the
task
almost
impossible for him. Moreover, his friends would be crazy to make fun of him, and this
thought of it burnt him like fire.
“
He got out his worldly wealth and examined it
—
bits
of toys,marbles,and trash; enough to buy an exchange of work, maybe ,but not half
enough to buy so much as half an hour of pure freedom.
”
[1]
He signs to Jim, a little
slave, with a tin pail. Jim knows that
Tom‘
s most hateful work i
s to bring water from
the town pump before. However, at this time, he would like to try to make a deal with
him. He says that he will fetch the water ifJim will whitewash some. However, Jim
refuses Tom‘s proposal,
becauseAunt Poly has already told him
that he must do his
job by his own and leave Tom away. Tom fails in this exchange, after he wants totry
to persuade Jim again .Then he begins to tempt Jim with his toy, which would be a big
5
lure
to
Jim.
He
tells
Jim
his
bargaining
chip
is
a
white
alley,
what
‘
s
more,
he
will
show Jim his sore toe, which is truly a powerful attraction for Jim. The deal is done,
only if Aunt Polly does not notic
e. ―In another moment he was flying down the street
with his pail and a tingling rear, Tom was whitewashing with vigor, and Aunt Polly
was retiring from the field with a slipper in her hand and triumph in her eye.‖
(
P308
)
To//8
m‘s
reaction
against
Aunt
Polly‘s
punishment
perfectly
shows
hi
s
innocence,
eagerness for freedom, and loveliness. Mark Twain describes the children
‘s innocent
and pure inner world from the adult‘s viewpoint, and makes us recall our childhood
where no hypocrite exists.
In
this
novel,
Tom
Sawyer‘s
ability
of
making
himself
happy
is
impressive.
Anything can become his toys, such as stone, tooth, frog, and even a tick. In a sleepy
noon, the air is dead, and no wind outside. Tom feels deserted, then his hands search
for a box in his pocket, he opens the box, there is a tick inside. Tom sets the tick free,
and the tick begins to move around the desk. Tom‘s
bosom friend, Joe Harper, feels
like
just
as
the
same.
He
is
desperately
eager
to
join
Tom‘s
entertainment.
Tom
allowsJoe to join in theentertainment, and he then draws a
line in the middle of the
desk, which means they will play it in sequence. Tom says:
―as long as he is on your
side you can stir him up and I‘ll let him alone; but if you let him get away and get on
my
side,
you‘re
too
alone
as
long
as
I
can
keep
him
from
crossing
over.‖
(P362)
Tom
makes
this
rule
to
guide
their
entertainment.
However,
the
game
goes
out
of
their
pr
ediction, because the tick does not run cross the line to Tom‘s side. By and by, Tom
sits there angrily, as the tick remains at Joe Harbor‘s desk. He glowers at Joe having a
lot of fun and he could do nothing but watching what is happening. In the end, Tom
breaks
the
rule
and
fight
against
Jo
e.
―A
tremendous
whack
came
down
on
Tom‘s
shoulders
and
its
duplicate
on
Joe‘s;
and
for
the
space
of
two
minutes
the
dust
continued to fly from the two jackets and the whole school to enjoy it.‖
(P363)
It
is
very
difficult
to
describe
children‘sbehavior
so
vividly
from
the
adult
perspective,
but
Mark
Twain
has
done
it
well.
In
thestor
y
Tom
fights
against
his
bosom friend, we can realize that the friendship is quite different for children when
comp
aring
with
the
adult
friendship.
What
makes
the
children‘s
friendship
tight
is
6
they
can
share
the
happiness.
When
it
is
impossible
for
them
to
share
fun,
the
friendship will break up. In this regard, Mark Twain expresses his desire for true, pure
friendship.
But
this
relationship
may
not
exist
in
the
adult
world,
as
adults
are
hypocritical
and
snobbish,
even
some
of
them
are
trained
to
be,
and
the
rests
are
forced to be.
7
B.
Tom Sawyer
‘
s Romance
Every adult has his own memory of childhood. And every adult has his own way
of as, the first time to see a girl ,the first time to talk with the girl he
liked,
even
the
first
time
to
kiss
.
All
of
this
is
unforgettable
and
romance.
The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
, Mark Twain managers his delicate pen well to delineate
Tom‘s romance with Becky Thatcher, a beautiful girl who attracts Tom at their first
encounter. Tom immediately falls in love with her and he forgets Amy Lawrence, with
whom
Tom
makes
engagement
before.
After
Tom
finishes
his
whitewashing,
Aunt
Polly allows him to go out to play. That is really a good day, because he meets a girl
like
an
angle
he
thinks
when
he
is
passingby
where
Jeff
Thatcher
live
d.
―A
lovely
little
blue-eyed
creature
with
yellow
hair
plaited
into
two
long
tails,
white
summer
frock, and embroidered pantalets.‖
(P316)
That beautiful girl ruins Tom‘s
heart, he
thinks
himself
has
fell
in
love
with
the
girl,
and
he
regrets
his
engagement
with
Amy
Lawrence .Then Tom tries to do
everything to show off to draw Becky‘s attention. For
some
reason,
Becky
seems
a
little
hard- hearted;
she
does
not
show
any
interests
in
Tom‘s performance. Tom keeps his showing off
with all his efforts until night. Finally
he is failed andgoes back home with a lot of disappointment. That night, Tomcannot
sleep well, because Becky always wandering in his mind.
From
that
day
on,
Tom
Sawyer
becomes
more
and
more
sensitive .He
cannot
stop thinking about Becky, he cares everything he acts in front of her. He thinks that
maybe this is love, and hopes Becky will love him in return, thus they can make an
engagement. In order to get closer to Becky, he deliberately sat on her right in class,
teach her how todraw apicture, and even take the punishment for her. Tom has done
all for her
intentionally. By and by, he wins Becky‘s
heart. Their engagement seems to
be possible. When school breaks up at noon, Tom has figured out a plan. He whispers
in
Becky‘s
ear
to
ask
her
pretending
to
go
home,
therefore
they
could
be
together
without others‘ attention. The children sit in the classroom alone, quietly they has a
good
time.
Tom
tells
Becky
he
wants
to
engage
himself
to
her.
Tom
seems
like
knowing everything about love, which is hard for us to believe. He knows a boy and a
girl have to kiss if they have engaged. From this point, we can find that Tom is not
8
merely a carefree boy, but also a romantic man. He proposes to his beloved girl, and
kisses her in her face. Tom‘s way of loving Becky
is similar to the way adults do. He
acts as a grow-up in front of Becky; he feels happy when Beck does, and he becomes
depressed when Becky is facing difficulty. They will be jealous when either of them is
playing
with
others
of
opposite
sex,
which
is
an
interesting
but
an
essential
part
of
love.
All
people
fell
in
love
are
romantic,
even
a
boy.
The
first
time
Tom
sits
with
Becky
is
interesting.
Tom
is
late
for
class,
and because
of
this,
he
gets
punishment
from the teacher, but that could not be a punishmentto Tom, because he is used to it.
Not long after that, the teacher requires Tom to sit with girls, which is exactly what he
wants, as he notices Becky is sitting alone there. He inches towards her and sit down.
He
glances at
the
girl
and she makes
a mouth as
reply.
In a minute, he
takes
out
a
peach and lays it on Becky‘s desk when she cautiously faces around. In this plot, we
can see Tom is considerate and good at pleasing girls.
Love is a very important part in
one‘s life. It helps to build one‘s value
of life,
and
makes
one
mature
and
charm.
True
love
is
beautiful.
Poets
never
feel
tired
to
express their praise and longing for true love. Man always falls in love with a woman
unconsciously,
and
it
may
take
his
whole
lifetime
to
forget.
Love
is
pure,
and
it
is
weak
too.
Actually,
love
is
always
twisted
by
the
outside
world,
such
as,
family
restrains,
class status,
power, racial discriminations, and etcetera.
In this regard, the
relationship between Tom and Becky is far from love. It is a kind of special friendship,
since they are too young to know the true meaning of love--responsibility.
Tom
is
romantic,
and
his
understanding
of
romance
is
originated
from
the
medieval romance he read. He imitates the books, for example, the way of he make
engagement with
Becky. Tom
does not
know what
a kiss truly mean, but
he kisses
Becky.
Thus,
the
romance
between
Tom
and
Becky
is
substantially
different
from
adults. For the children, love is pure and is not related to sex or money. In this novel,
Mark
Twain
portrays
Tom
Sawyer‘s
innocence
and
romantic
gift,
which
deeply
impressed the readers.
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