The Charms of the Adventures of Tom Sawyer.doc

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1、The Charms of the Adventures of Tom SawyerAbstract: Tom Sawyer, a story of a boys adventures filled with curiosity and imagination created by Mark Twain, has attracted young readers and captured their general feeling one generation after another. Based on psychology, this paper tries to explore in w

2、hat way Tom Sawyer goes along with the childrens psychology and wins the admiration of young readers. The charm is demonstrated by a profound understanding of Tom Sawyers idealism, his naivete and innocence, his curiosity, fantasy and heroism, and through Mark Twains careful observation, his unconve

3、ntional writing and his unique device in style.Key words: Tom Sawyer, charm, psychological factor, style Introduction Sparkling with mischief, jumping with youthful adventure, Mark Twains Tom Sawyer is one of the most splendid recreations of childhood in all of literature. Tom Sawyer is the first of

4、 a long line of adolescent heroes in American fiction. It is a book that is more than a boys book. Like Gullivers Travels, Alice in Wonderland and Huckleberry Finn, it owes its greatness to the fact that it can be read and admired on all age levels. I have been interested in psychology for quite som

5、e time. Since Tom Sawyer is regarded as a masterpiece in the childrens literature, the real key to its success must be sought in its popularity among young readers. On the basis of psychology, this thesis intends to explore in what way Tom Sawyer goes along with the childrens psychology and therefor

6、e wins the admiration of young readers.1. Childrens Naivete and Innocence1. 1 Brief Analysis Naivete and innocence are two of the common characteristics of children. Children always comprehend the world around them with their simple heart and ponder over a problem with their childish ignorance. In t

7、his story, Mark Twain makes Tom Sawyer a professional boy, incessantly a boy, nothing but a boy, who has the characteristics of children in general. Confronted with any kind of circumstances, Tom responds by making a game of it, by relying on his reading, by posing or acting out a part. 1.2 Toms Boy

8、ish Fashion of Doing Things 1.2. 1 Playing Truant Monday morning finds Tom Sawyer in low spirits because another weeks suffering in school comes. Tom tries to detect some symptoms in his system so that he can stay home from school. He discovers that one of his upper front teeth is loose. He is about

9、 to groan, but thinking of the terrible result of having the tooth pulled out, he gives up. He finally chooses his sore toe as an excuse and falls to groaning with considerable spirit. Tom expects Sid, his younger brother, who sleeps beside him, to wake up and run to tell Aunt Polly about his sympto

10、ms. But no matter how Tom groans, no result comes from Sid. Tom was aggravated. He said, Sid! Sid! and shook him. But when Sid wakes up and stares at him, Tom pretends to let Sid leave him alone. He acts as if he is dying and says, I forgive everybody, Sid. (Groan.) Tellem so, Sid. And Sid, you give

11、 my window sash and my cat with one eye to that new girl thats come to town, and tell her. Sid becomes so frightened that he flies downstairs to tell Aunt Polly that Tom is dying. This is Toms painstakingly plotting fraud which makes Sid believe him but cannot deceive Aunt Polly. It is too simple, a

12、 cheap trick by children. It ends with Toms loose tooth pulled out and he still has to go to school. From the above episode we find that Tom is an alert and resourceful child without losing his naivete and innocence in childhood. After all, children are still incomplete beings. Under any circumstanc

13、es, children respond in an innocent and simple fashion, and tend to treat the problems they encounter in their unique childish way. The above episode is a wonderful example of the boy mind, which inhabits a world quite distinct from that in which he is bodily present with his elders.1.2. 2 Love-affa

14、ir Mark Twain also writes about what children feel about those of the opposite sex during the childrens psychological development. And he reflects it through the hero, Tom Sawyer. There is a vivid description about Toms love complication for Becky. Once Tom sees a new girl with furtive eye in Jeff T

15、hatchers garden. Immediately he fell in love with her. He began to show off in all sorts of absurd boyish ways in order to win her admiration. When he sees the girl wending her way toward the house, Tom came up to the fence and leaned on it, grieving, and hoping she would tarry yet a while longer. H

16、is face lit up, right away, for she tossed a pansy over the fence a moment before she disappeared. Before Tom worshiped this new angel with furtive eye, he had been the happiest and the proudest boy in the world only seven short days, and here in one instant of time she had gone out of his heart lik

17、e a casual stranger whose visit is done. This is the beginning of Toms love story with his childishly fickle desertion of his fiance, Amy Lawrence. Many children have the inclination to show off before those of the opposite sex so as to catch their attention. But the so-called love cannot go beyond

18、the limit of immaturity of Toms age. For them, the love is only some trick or game. Mark Twain grasps the childrens psychology and writes about Toms love-affair that is only boys love-affair, but is never treated otherwise than as a boys love-affair. It is removed from the looming sexuality of child

19、hood and adolescence. It reminds many young readers of their own love-affair, simple and childish. 1.2.3 Childish Imitation“Children often obtain scanty knowledge from adults and books about concept, custom and conduct, and according to their understanding and imagination, try to imitate.”“Imitation

20、 is commonly accepted as an innate tendency to mimic or copy others.” For children,“Imitation is supposed to play a role in learning.”Finding himself in a not yet familiar world, children need aid from what they read and see to learn things and testify them through their childish imitation, though n

21、o thorough understanding is involved. The same is true when Tom asks Becky for a kiss only because that is ritual he has read about in books when people get engaged. Toms childish imitation according to his reading may seem absurd to adults, but not to young readers. Not having much social experienc

22、e, they look upon books and adults as authorities which help them portray all aspects of life. After Huck hears from an adult that his warts can be cured with dead cats, Huck and Tom carry a dead cat. and visit the cemetery at night. Being boys, they think they can control the occult forces of darkn

23、ess, dread and violence by laying spells on such things.They are superstitious about many things in a way that shows their dread of the unknown powers behind nature as well as their childish ignorance. 1.3 Summary Actually, naivete and innocence are so typical characteristics of children that many e

24、vents of the story give expression to them. If we consider the whole story comprises four lines of action-the story of Tom and Becky, the story of Tom and Muff Potter, the Jacksons Island episode and the series of happenings (which might be called the Injun Joe story) leading to the discovery of the

25、 treasure, each one of these is initiated by a characteristic and typically boyish action. The love story begins with Toms childishly fickle desertion of Amy, the Potter narrative with the superstitious trip to the graveyard, Jacksons island episode with the adolescent revolt of the boy against Aunt

26、 Polly, and Injun Joe story with the juvenile search for buried treasure. During his reading, a young reader shares the experience of Tom Sawyer. He is pleasantly reminded of what he is himself, how he feels and thinks, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engage in, all of which cannot go beyo

27、nd the limit of childish ignorance.2. Childrens Curiosity Behavior2. 1 Brief Analysis Curiosity is another element in the childrens psychology. A child with curiosity often has wide interests in all kinds of things around him and likes asking various questions. He seems to have a feeling of being ea

28、ger to have a try. But the above-mentioned all kinds of things must be novel things. Here we have an example: Connie, age four, is given a choice of playing with different toys. Toy A is familiar, a toy she has played with several times. Toy B is unfamiliar and is thus perceived by Connie as a novel

29、 stimulus, if she selects toy B over toy A, we are likely to explain the choice by saying she is curious about toy B. Therefore curiosity behavior should be defined as behavior characterized by explanatory or stimulus-seeking responses to either novel or complex stimuli Novelty is identified in the

30、definition. A stimulus is novel if it is new or different, such as toy B for Connie, which qualifies as novel stimulus. So common is curiosity behavior that there is a general hypothesis in psychology that such behavior has an in-born basis. Curiosity is classified as one of the general drives. ” As

31、 one of the general drives, curiosity plays a very important role in childrens life. For children, the world is a mysterious, fascinating, rich and colorful world. They usually spare no efforts to try to understand everything or experience everything that they become interested in.” When Mark Twain

32、creates Tom Sawyer and other characters in the story, he gives prominence to childrens curiosity, attempting to capture the general feeling of young readers. 2.2 Curiosity Behavior in the Story2.2. 1 Toms Episode of Whitewashing the Fence In this story, one of the typical examples of childrens curio

33、sity can be found in the most famous episode in Tom Sawyer-Toms deceiving his friends into enjoying the privilege of whitewashing Aunt Pollys fence. Tom is punished to whitewash Aunt Pollys fence on Saturday morning when every child can go out and play. Tom attempts to persuade Jim, a colored boy, t

34、o whitewash some instead of doing it himself. He promises to show Jim his sore toe. Jim was only human-this attraction was too much for him. Driven by curiosity, he put down his pail, took the white alley, and bent over the toe with absorbing interest while the bandage was being unwounded. ”Jim is s

35、ure to whitewash the fence if Aunt Polly does not return home from the field. Tom fails. Yet at this moment, a great, magnificent inspiration bursts upon him. He manages to make his hard work very novel that may arouse the curiosity of the children who pass by the fence. He even exclaims: Like it? W

36、ell, I dont see why I oughtnt to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day? Besides, he pretends to refuse one of his friends request of having a try. Thus the hard work appears so fascinating that it lures all the children in the village. All of them try to be the first to enj

37、oy the privilege of whitewashing.2.2.2 Curiosity as the Vital Motivation of Action From the beginning to the end of the story, Tom can talk other children into doing anything because no one really shares the experience he has read about in books. He manages to persuade Huck and Joe to take adventure

38、 on Jacksons Island with him because it appears so novel that they cannot resist having a try. In fact, curiosity plays such a great role in childrens psychology that if not compelled by curiosity, the important part of motivation, Tom Sawyer and other characters in the story would not have episodes

39、 of the childish imitation, the superstitious trip to the grave yard, the adventures on the isolated island and in the cave or the discovery of the hidden gold which comprise most part of the story to young readers delight. 3. Childrens Fantasy World and Heroism3. 1 Fantasy World3. 1. I Brief Analys

40、isFor Tom, being keen on heroic conduct and thrilling adventures, and being fond of thrillers are the characteristics of children during this period. Here, Toms uniqueworld is impossibly romantic an even visionary. He reads stories of pirates, Robin Hood and medieval knights and ladies. He is keen o

41、n having life live up to his favorite stories. But for his fantasy world, his heroic conduct may not take its concrete form. Fantasy is a mental process consisting of images produced by the imagination in contrast to images produced by the senses. This process can be said to apply both daydreams and

42、 night dreams. Although the output of the fantasies can be elicited and their direction and content influenced by conscious intentions, usually fantasies emerge unconsciously, determined by memories, by past and primarily current emotional states, and by hopes, expectations for the future. As identi

43、fied in the above quotation, conscious intentions, hopes and expectations help to bring about Toms fantasies because he has the intention of being a great hero. 3. 1.2 Toms Fantasy World In Toms fantasy world, the small village of St. Petersburg is an ideal place where he can take thrilling adventur

44、es. Cardiff Hill is the Sherwood Forest in Robin Hood. Jacksons Island is the nest of pirates. He decides to be a pirate who sears the eyeballs of all his companions with unappeasable envy. Fantasy plays a considerable part in a childs life, especially as an important element in play. It is in Tom S

45、awyer that young readers find their own similar fantasy world in which all of the imaginary sequences star themselves as heroic figures. Tom is tired of the spiritless life in the village, and he finds refuge in his fantasy world. Fantasy is understood to be unreal and non-reality offers humans a re

46、fuge from reality. What makes Tom delightful to young readers is that on the imaginative side he is very much more, and though every boy has wild and fantastic dreams, this boy cannot rest till he has somehow realized them. Yet one thing we should keep in mind is that Tom is a very lucky boy, and th

47、at he does manage to have life live up to his favorite stories, making the village of St. Petersburg a place where there exist pirates, glory and hidden treasure.3.2 The Tendency to Heroism3. 2. 1 Brief Analysis As said before, children are keen on heroic conduct and thrilling adventures. The tenden

48、cy to heroism, being fond of showing off his bravery are the characteristics in the period of a childs life. Like most children, Tom is eager to cause a stir in the community. He wishes to travel around the world, to be a soldier, a plainman, a pirate so as to stroll into the St. Petersburg church some Sunday morning and bask in the respect of the village. Tom does grow into a hero at the end of the story, disguised as a mischievous and disobedient boy. Tom can achieve that because whatever he has read of that world beyond the villag