Rascal Tom Sawyer is Full of Controversy

"A modern day warrior... Ooooops! I thought this was the section for the song "Tom Sawyer" by RUSH. Hehe, sorry about that. I see now that it is for that Mark Twain classic "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". You all should know this story by now. It's the one with the boy tricking the other kids into painting the fence for him. There has only been a few dozen movies and shows based on it. What's that you say? You have never read this before? Shame on you! "Tom Sawyer is an American classic that serves as an intro to the Masterpiece "Huck Finn. Let me inform you of what this book has to offer, and why you probably never have read it if you are a young person.

The first thing you should know is "Tom Sawyer" was written in the 19th century. Many concepts and ideas we detest now were widely accepted then. This has led to Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn being banished from the school libraries. This is probably a good idea for the young kids, but older kids should be given the opportunity to read it if they "desire to do so". Before discussing all the controversy Mr. Tom Sawyer and Mr. Huck Finn have stirred up, let's take a look at what the story of Tom Sawyer is all about.

"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" takes place in 1800's Missouri. Tom is a young boy living with his Aunt Polly. Where are his parents? We don't know. His younger brother Sid also resides with them. From the get go we see that our young hero has a mean side to him as he "licks" the new kid in town thats dressed all fancy (a city kid). We also find out Tom does all he can to avoid school. He would much rather be out fishing or swimming. Tom is a con-artist tricking others into doing his every whim. The main thing we learn about Tom however, is that he has a very healthy imagination.

Tom has two very good friends in Joe Harper and Huck Finn. Joe comes from a healthy family, while poor old Huck has a dead mother, and a drunken father who left him at a very young age. Huck sleeps in a "hogshead". One of Tom's adventures involves all three boys pretending to be pirates, and running away from home. They go to live on an Island and Huck teaches the other two to smoke. I'll let you read and see how this adventure goes.

Tom also has a girlfriend named Becky Thatcher. He bullies the other kids to impress her. Becky happens to come from a high society type family and isn't impressed. So what does Tom do to impress Becky? He takes her into a cave and they get lost. Read and see what happens.

Tom also has a major dilemma on his hands. Tom and Huck happened to be playing in the grave yard one night and witness a murder. "Injun Joe has murdered a young doctor and shifts the blame on the town drunk. Tom and Huck know the truth of the matter, but are to scared to tell anyone. Will they do the right thing and testify at the trial? Read and see!

Tom also does something every child has ever done. Come on...confess now! You know at some point in your childhood you looked for buried treasure!! Some adults never outgrow this and buy metal detectors and hang around parks and beaches. Tom and Huck go on thier treasure hunt, and Lo and Behold!! They find treasure,hooray!! Unfortunately, Injun Joe and his scary friend come along and find it also. Can Tom and Huck get thier treasure back? Again, I'll let you read and see.

Doesn't this book sound do fun? It is!! "So what's the controversy?" This book is full of racial stereotypes and uses the "N" word often, though not nearly so much as the book Huck Finn does. Another case in point is when the narrator (this book is told in third person) describes Injun Joe he remarks that Joe is a half breed, and they are worse than full blooded indians. Why? They have the savageness of thier indian blood, and the intelligence of whites, so they are extremely dangerous. So what's my view on this matter? Let's see.

I am part Native American, and the narrators comments should offend me, but they don't. I should be appaled at so much use of the "N" word, but I'm not. Why? You have to take the story in the context of the time it was written, and takes place. The awful truth is whites did not call thier slaves African-Americans. They used that ugly word instead. To sugar coat the language of the times would truly make the story seem unreal. The way I see it, you can face reality for what it was, or simply ignore it. Either choice is fine. What is not okay is trying to make the past look like something it wasn't. So I am not offended.

This book was written for children, but I highly recommend it for mature minded people only. Young minds should not be introduced to these outdated concepts as part of entertainment, which Tom Sawyer is. If you can handle it, I highly recommend Tom sawyer to be added to your reading list. You will want to follow this up with mark Twains masterpiece "Huck Finn". Childhood memories will be brought back, and you'll be yearning to go on a treasure hunt soon!