Adventures of Tom Sawyer

I think boyhood/manhood is an interesting issue in Adventures of Tom Sawyer because tom is the quintessential boy in literature. Tom went to Sunday school, " a place that Tom hated with his whole heart" (344). Boys in literature, so far, have not been very interested in religion. I think boys in literature generally are good businessmen. Tom realizes that to be greatly honored by his peers and favorite girls, he must be good at reciting Bible verses and win a Bible for it. In the passage, Tom asks, "Say Billy, got a yaller ticket?" Billy answers "Yes". "What'll you take for her?" asks Tom, and Billy answers, "What'll you give?" Tom says, "Piece of lickrish and a fish-hook." Billy concludes "Less see 'em" (345). This is a sales exchange between Tom and Billy. Another reason I think Tom would be a good salesman is that he convinces all his friends to do his job for him: white washing the fence. He sold this job to his friends, convincing them that it was "difficult to attain" (331) and was therefore play and not work.

According to the Judge, Tom fails at being a good man. He says, "Knowledge is worth more than anything there is in the world; it's what makes great men and good men; You'll be a great man and a good man yourself, someday, Thomas" (353). He says these things under the false assumption that Tom has actually done work, memorizing over a thousand scriptures. This leads me to the question of whether Tom will be a man if he continues to act the way he does now when he gets older. Naturally, growing up means letting go of the things that make one a child. I just wonder if Tom will be able to "grow up" ever since he is so strongly a boy now. And even further I wonder if Tom is actually further developed than the rest of his friends and is actually more of a man than I think he is??