8. Ch 1 of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885)

Summary: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ended when Tom and Huck came across $6000 in gold, which the town judge put into a trust that gains a dollar of interest per day. Huck is adopted by the Widow Douglas, who attempts to educate him, which Huck cannot stand so he runs away, but comes back when Tom offers him a spot in his new band of robbers if he is respectful to the widow. later that night, he flicks a spider toward a candle flame, and believes it to be a bad sign. Tom shows up outside his window and he sneaks out.

Commentary: I didn't want to start reading Huckleberry Finn until I finished reading Tom Sawyer, even if Huck did assure me that it "ain't no matter." I read anyway, mostly because his first-person narrative is just so entertaining. I see Huck as a tall, wiry boy, with often-dirty sandy blond hair and equally as sandy freckles. Also, I was curious as to Huck's age, and apparently it's thirteen or fourteen. For some reason, I was under the impression that Huck was older than Tom, but they are the same age. When I first met Huck in Tom Sawyer, he came across as extremely superstitious. I am glad to say that my first impression of him was completely reinforced. In Sawyer, Huck discusses various charms to get rid of warts with Tom, things that should in no way make any difference toward the development or decay of these warts. I wonder if all the boys are as superstitious as Huck, or if he is the only one who takes them seriously.

6. Ch 4-6 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Summary: Tom goes to Sunday school, buys himself the prestige of a bible and embarrasses himself, along with his town, in front of an important judge. Then he sits bored in church, until a dog and a pinch-bug interrupt the whole service. On Monday he pretends to have an ailment to get out of school and gets a tooth pulled out. We meet Huck Finn, who trades him his tick for Tom's tooth (Huck drives a hard bargain). He is late to school and he has to sit next to Becky Thatcher. He draws her a picture that says "I love you" and then gets dragged back to his own seat.


Commentary: In these chapters, I learned that boys are grody. Huck and Tom spend like half an hour talking about gross, old tree-stump water and warts and I don't even think I would be able to talk about those things for that long. Also, what in Cardiff Hill is that boy going to do with a tick? That is what I would like to know. I also learned that Tom is a sort of "player," in today's terms. Even considering all these things, I still find the character adorable, but that is not probably something he would enjoy knowing.

2. Ch 1-3 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)

Summary: The first thing Tom Sawyer does is play hooky to swim in the river, and he almost gets away with it, until Sid points out the black thread he used to sew his collar back together. He also gets into a fight with a slightly snotty boy and the next morning tricks several neighborhood boys into whitewashing a fence, and paying him for it on top of that. Then Tom lays eyes on the adorable Becky Thatcher, and later Sid knocks over and breaks the sugar bowl and Tom gets clobbered for it, because let's face it, his hand is in the sugar bowl half the time anyway.

Commentary: I started reading this book in the 9th grade but I wasn't all that interested in it, to be honest. But when I picked it up again this year, I was pleased to find that I truly enjoyed it. Well, the first seven chapters, anyway, because that is all I have read for now. I'd always heard of the infamous whitewashing scam, but this is the first time I actually read it from the source. The way Twain so matter-of-factly narrates Tom's various misadventures only emphasizes the boyish foolishness of Tom Sawyer, and the occasional snippets of moral wisdom that are extracted from Tom's experiences also appeal to the adult I pretend to be.