What Is The Moral Lesson In The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain was published in 1876, and was considered an adventure story. When most people think of Tom Sawyer, they remember that he had to paint the fence as punishment, and the camaraderie between Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Readers tend to forget that in order to make his friends paint the fence for him, Tom Sawyer promises to give tickets to them that are handed out at Bible school, so his friends could win the prize. The book also follows the story of Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher, the girl that Tom is trying to persuade into an “engagement.” The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a book that includes multiple different storylines that a reader has to follow. Those stories include: the murder of Dr. Potter that …show more content…
If a story is didactic that means that the story teaches a moral lesson, and for this particular book, the lessons are directed to the appropriate age group. This story has didactic qualities in the lessons the main characters learn themselves. For instance, while Huck is following Injun Joe to steal treasure he turns away from the mission to help a town resident that is in danger of being hurt. As well as the lessons learned from the beginning. Tom Sawyer is originally punished with painting the fence, because he skipped school. He then asks his friends to paint the fence for a reward that he cannot provide. If Tom would have just listened and painted the fence, he would have been saved from having to deal with the consequences later. The moral lessons learned in this book are a guideline to children to listen to your elders, follow the rules, and also gives the life lesson of being a loyal friend. At the end of the book Huckleberry Finn was adopted, when he tried to run away Tom went to him and said that Huck could join his rubber band if he returned to his new home. This led to Huck returning to the widow, and finally having a sense of normalcy in his life. The book teaches us not to judge others from the way they grew up, Huck grew up as the town drunk’s son, but he had a lot of heart and compassion that people did not pay attention to. …show more content…
Teachers try to bring books that are adventurous and fun, to grasp the attention of students that may not like to read. When I read this book in school, I thought I would hate it, because it was old and considered a classic. At the time, I was only reading books that had a fantasy theme, and this book was nowhere near that genre. It was not until my teacher required it to be read in class did I begin to understand why the book was so popular. This book can stand the test of time, because it is a story of adventure and children are looking for adventure in their life. It is book that is appropriate to be read at a young age or an old age. This book does not suggest differences in the way children and children’s literature were perceived in the 18th and 19th century. This book is considered how quality, and was brought during the time of change in the late 19th century. According to the textbook, “…the development of technology, children’s literature began to flourish in the later nineteenth century” (p.10). This book is not something that was drastically different, and was not a book that posed new modern ideas. Those types of books suggested a difference in how a book was perceived. Considering this book came after Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the adventures depicted in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer are very demure