The Adventure

sof

Tom Sawyer

by

Mark Twain

Luke SuttonLIS 719

Spring 2013

Born Samuel L. Clemens in Florida, Missouri

- 11~30~1835

Age 4 - moved to Hannibal, Missouri on Mississippi River

Age 11 – begins working as printer’s apprentice after his father’s death

Age 18 – Moves east and writes travel articles for newspapers

A Midwest childhood

After some success in newspaper writing, moves

back to Missouri and tries luck as riverboat captain

1861 – Civil War erupts and after 2 weeks in the Confederate Army Twain heads west in search of riches

Continues writing successfully for newspapers and uses the pseudonym Mark Twain for first time in 1863

Travels to Europe and Middle East upon early successes and finds further success as lecturer

A young adventurer

In 1868, Twain meets Olivia Langdon whom he marries

two years later. They move to Hartford, CN 1870 - Only son Langdon is born and dies before 2

years of age 1872 – Daughter Olivia Susan is born 1874 – Daughter Clara Langdon is born 1880 – Daughter Jane Lampton is born whom Twain

calls “…fat as a watermelon and just as sweet.” Tragically, Twain would live to see three of his four

children pass. Only Clara lived into old age and would write a biography of her father called My Father: Mark Twain. Wife Olivia died in 1904.

Family life

Great success with writing during life with wife and children

in Connecticut Much of childhood and early life can be found in writing

(especially Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn); life on the Mississippi River, travel and adventure, slavery, etc.)

Though successful, bad investment decisions cause financial hardships

Many later works offer political commentary on society including powerful prose against greed, racism, and Imperialism

Moves to Europe in 1891 to save money Much of later income comes from traveling the world and

lecturing

Success and Failure

1867 - The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras

Countyand Other Sketches (first major publication)

1869 – Innocents Abroad(on travels to Europe and the Middle East.

Sometimes referred to as The New Pilgrim’s Progress)

1872 – Roughing It (pondering Nevada travelsto seek riches in gold and silver)

1876 – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Significant Works

1881 – The Prince and the Pauper 1884 – Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

(often considered ‘the great American novel’) 1889 – A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s

Court 1896 – Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc

(Twain considered this his best work)

MORE Works

Significant contribution to American and World Literature Tom Sawyer was seen as a refreshing new take on

children’s literature. A book about children for children. It is almost the antithesis of morality and religious works

of previous century, though Twain draws inspiration from them (ex. According to Harad, Pilgrim’s Progress is referenced in chapter two…’Delectable Land’ comes from Bunyan’s Delectable Mountains)

From a review in London (1876) of Tom Sawyer: “The book will no doubt be a favourite with boys…but next to boys we should say that it might be most prized by philosophers and poets.”

Twain’s Influence

Huckleberry Finn is considered one of the true

great American novels and along with Tom Sawyer is still used in the classroom today to discuss U. S. History, social commentary on issues from racism and slavery to youth and responsibility

His work is a great source of nostalgia for many, in his author’s note for Tom he mentions “…part of my plan has been to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and of how they felt and thought and talked, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in.”

Influence continued

Numerous film adaptations beginning in 1930

including cartoons and movies A Broadway musical Video game A parody on perhaps the greatest television

show of all time, The Simpsons

Some examples…

How old was Tom? How old might he be in today’s society? Can

children in the Midwest today relate to the Tom of early 19th Century America?

How does the mood of the story line in Tom Sawyer differ from the stories of Pilgrim’s Progress? North Wind? Alice in Wonderland? Other stories we have read this term?

Tom Sawyer is a very complex novel in subject matter and terminology. Does this book work well outside of an academic setting today? What age group might you recommend this book to? Would it fare well as leisurely reading for a child today?

The children in this book are often in very real, extremely dangerous situations, often without an adult present. How does Tom’s apparent freedom compare with children today? Where do adults come in to play?

How well does Twain capture the spirit of childhood?

Questions

Bailey, Eric. Examiner.com. Clarity Digital Group LLC.

2006. Web. February 21, 2013 Children’s Literature: An Illustrated History. Ed. By Peter

Hunt. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Print. IMDB. Amazon.com. 1990. Web. February 21, 2013. Playbill Vault. Beta. Playbill, Inc. Web. February 21, 2013. The Mark Twain House & Museum. Web. February 21,

2013. Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. New York:

Pocket Books, 2005. Print. Wikisimpsons. Web. February 21, 2013. YouTube, LLC. February, 2005. Web. February 21, 2013.

Works Cited