The Friendship of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn Thesis: Through escapades, the South, characters, and two novels, Mark Twain Develops the famous friendship of Tom Sawyer and HuckleberryFinn.
The Friendship of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
Born in 1834 as Samuel Langhorne Clemens, Mark Twain set out on his own when he was eighteen years old. He traveled America, working as a riverboat captain, gold rush explorer, and finally as a writer. As a newspaper reporter in Nevada he wrote articles poking fun at politicians. To keep his identity secret he signed his articles "Mark Twain." The name is a term he learned as a steamboat captain. The term means that the water is deep enough for a steamboat to sail safely (Rinaldo 7).
June 6, 1876, Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was published in England. It would not appear in America for another six months (American Heritage 96). Mark Twain once said of Tom Sawyer, that it was not a boys' book at all, but would be read only by adults. He had given the book his full powers of serious communication and did not want it to be thought of as a mere children's book. Ever since its publication in 1876 until quite recently, the readers have mainly been children. He wrote the novel while he and his family were living in Hartford, Connecticut, and while Twain was enjoying the fame he had achieved (Trilling 17 � 29). Mark Twain gives us a clear-eyed look at childhood in the 1800'S through the eyes of two very different American boys. Their differences reflect very different views of society during that era. Tom represents the innocent and playful side of life and Huck represents a darker and more serious side of life due to his social background. The way Mark Twain presents and develops these characters and their views of the world helps shape the meaning of the novel (LeMaster 110 � 129).
The friendship of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn is one of the most