We have all broken rules before, in interesting ways and in plain ways. Tom Sawyer is a character in the same titled book by Samuel Clemens, pen-named Mark Twain, who has everyone’s mischievousness. He was in the perfect time and place for it, too.
How was he right where he needed to be? First of all, this is before the Civil War – after the war, life would not be as jovial and carefree. Secondly, there was not as much technology, and thus, he could do more things that you would not do with technology. For example, would you take a raft or small boat and be pretend pirates on a small island offshore? On average, people nowadays have their face glued to an electronic screen often, not having time for nature like Tom Sawyer. Why was this where Tom needed to be? Look at the preface to the book: “Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has been to try pleasantly to remind adults of what they once were themselves,… and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in.” Look at that. He wrote this preface in 1876, and due to such, would pick things that happened in times that were a little past to his. This is from when he was younger, as you will find when you read more from the preface, “Huck Finn is drawn from life; Tom Sawyer also,… he is a combination of the characteristics of three boys whom I knew.” So, he knew the setting – it was where Tom had lived, and so needed to live in our imagination as well. You may ask why it would be different now. It would be different because for one, we are more populous, so it is harder to run away and live alone. If you do so, then you will not be hidden for as long, because there are less places to hide. Ships would also call in stuff like a boy swimming in a river, at least just to check that nothing was wrong. So, it would not be as fun or funny a story if it was in the now. It also would not show us what our parents and grandparents grew up in, and how they may have possibly acted. Overall, Tom Sawyer’s setting is wholesome, everything set in place for his success and our enjoyment. When reading, you really are amazed at what the people before went through, and because of such, the setting is also a great mind-opener.
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