Sunday, 30 June 2013

Summary Ch 1-10

Chapter 1
  • "Tom!" That's how it begins.
  • Old Aunt Polly is looking for her rascal of a nephew, Tom Sawyer, but he can't be found.
  • She looks inside and out before finding in snooping around in the closet. He's caught red-handed and, uh, red-mouthed. He's been stealing jam from the pantry.
  • Tom, ever the clever one, pulls the old "Look out behind you!" trick and it works.
  • He hops over a fence while Aunt Polly curses herself for falling for such a stupid ploy.
  • After playing hooky all day, Tom helps Jim, a young slave, chop wood. Well, Tom mostly talks about his adventures, while his annoying, well-mannered half-brother Sid does his chores. The Jim mentioned here is not, it should be noted, the same Jim that appears in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
  • Over dinner, Aunt Polly interrogates Tom – she has a feeling he didn't go to school – but he manages to evade all her questions while also stealing sugar from the sugar bowl.
  • Sid tattles on Tom, but not before Tom can make his way out the door.
  • He leaves the house, whistling away his troubles, until he happens on a well-dressed boy – a "too well-dressed" boy in the street.
  • The two stare each other down, Old West style before they start arguing about who could lick who and who's a liar and my brother can beat up your brother and all that stuff. Then they finally put their money where their mouths are and start fighting.
  • Tom comes out on top, but ends up chasing the boy home after the sore loser hits him with a stone while his back is turned.
  • Tom attempts to sneak through a window, but he's ambushed by Aunt Polly, who decides that he will definitely not be having fun the next day, Saturday.

 Chapter 2
  • It's another beautiful day in St. Petersburg, Missouri, but Tom Sawyer certainly isn't going to enjoy it.
  • He's got a big bucket of whitewash with him, and big fence to whitewash.
  • Tom attempts to get Jim to do some of his work for him, promising to fetch water from the well in return.
  • When Jim looks skeptical – he doesn't want to get punished – Tom promises to trade him a "white ally" marble, marbles apparently being a hot commodity in St. Petersburg, and, when that fails, to show him his sore toe – sore toes apparently being similarly sought after.
  • Jim tricks the trickster: he takes a look at Tom's toe, and runs away, laughing.
  • So, Tom actually sets to work whitewashing the fence, but it's not too long before he gets bored out of his mind and sets about concocting a scheme.
  • He takes his "stash" out from his pockets – toys, marbles, garbage – and puts it by his side; then he puts on his happiest face and goes back to painting.
  • Tom's buddy Ben Rogers, a notorious teaser, comes by.
  • Ben's enjoying his Saturday, pretending to be a big ol' steamboat, but when he finally stops and tries to call attention to Tom's troubles, to his work, Tom pretends that he'd rather be painting fences than anything else, even playing or swimming.
  • This makes Ben very interested indeed and in no time – by pretending that fence-painting really is an art – he's got Ben painting the fence and Ben's prized apple in his hands.
  • By the time Ben's tired out, Tom's already got a new mark lined up, and the process continues – Tom taking payment for the "privilege" of whitewashing – until, before too long, the fence is completely painted.
  • Tom, well rested and considerably wealthier – wealthier, that is, if broken glass, old keys and one-eyed kittens constitute wealth. He heads back to report his good work to Aunt Polly.
 Chapter 3

  • Aunt Polly, surprised to see Tom back soon or at all, doesn't believe it when her nephew tells her he's finished his chore.
  • She's even more surprised to see that he's actually done it, and she gives him an apple as a prize and sends him on his way; Tom, never satisfied, steals a doughnut on his way out.
  • In order to celebrate/avenge himself, he throws a bunch of dirt clods at Sid.
  • Tom makes his way to the town square, where two "armies" are preparing for battle, he being the General of one of them.
  • He and his friend Joe Harper, commanding officer of the other army, set the battle in motion, then sit by the side chatting while things go down.
  • Tom wins the battle, works out the date and time of the next battle with Joe, and, when all is said and done, skips home.
  • On his way back, he passes the house of his schoolmate Jeff Thatcher. In the yard he spies a certain beautiful girl who immediately captures his heart and erases all memory of his previous girlfriend, Amy Lawrence. Tom isn't exactly a faithful kind of guy.
  • When he's sure she's watching, he begins to show-off, acting like a fool, doing all sorts of silly acrobatic maneuvers – and, though it seems, for a moment, that she's unimpressed, she throws a flower to him just before she goes inside.
  • Tom tries to act cool and nonchalant, then runs and grabs the flower between his toes when he's sure she's gone.
  • He hangs around for the rest of the night, hoping to impress Becky some more, but she never returns, so he heads back home.
  • At supper, Tom is so happy that he doesn't mind being scolded for dirt-throwing or getting a slap on the wrist for sugar-stealing.
  • When Sid tries to steal some sugar, only to knock the bowl to the ground, Tom sits, ecstatic, waiting to see Sid get what he deserves. Instead, he gets blamed for the incident and hit again.
  • Still, Aunt Polly feels guilty when she hears the truth of the matter, and Tom does his best to play up his emotions, to cry and pity himself. He really does cry and he really is sad, though he likes the feeling.
  • Just then, his saintly cousin Mary (allusion alert!) strolls in, having been away for a week, bringing cheer in with her; Tom, still sulking, takes his bad mood outside with him.
  • Tom wanders down to the river, plops himself down on a raft and sulks some more, until he remembers Becky and her flower.
  • He wonders, then, if she would care about his problems, so he heads toward her house and lies down under a candle-lit second-story window, waiting to die, hoping Becky will find his dead body and cry for him.
  • Instead, the Thatcher's maid servant pours a bucket of something or other (probably the unpleasant contents of a chamber pot) out the window and onto Tom.
  • Tom throws a rock at the window, breaking it, then runs back home and sneaks into bed.
 Chapter 4

  • The next day, after breakfast, Aunt Polly and Mary try to teach Tom and Sid their bible verses – this is the kind of thing they have to do before Sunday school.
  • Tom isn't much for studying, and can't even remember the very short verses from the Sermon on the Mount ("Blessed are the poor in spirit," etc.).
  • Though he can't recite a thing, Tom receives a knife from Mary, and proceeds to carve up anything in sight. Mary then forces Tom to bathe and get dressed – wearing shoes and everything! – and she and Tom and Sid head off to Sunday school.
  • Tom proceeds to barter with his fellow boys – remember, he's rolling in "dough" – for a bunch of colored tickets. The Sunday school, it seems, has a system for rewarding good pupils: for every bible verse recited, a student receives a ticket; the more bible verses the more tickets, with some tickets being worth, say, five verses, and others ten.
  • Tom manages to collect enough tickets for, well…let's not get ahead of ourselves.
  • Now, eventually, if a student memorizes enough verses and gets enough tickets, they are given a plainly bound Bible in return. We're told that Mary, the reverent studious girl that she is, has collected two – in two years' time – and that this German kid – clearly some kind of automaton – has managed to win five, but that he also lost his mind in the process.
  • In the middle of Sunday-school Superintendent Walters's boring little sermon, the boys and girls begin to whisper to each other: an older, dignified gentleman and lady have entered the room, and with them is…the girl from outside Jeff's house.
  • As usual, Tom is love-struck and starts showing off again.
  • Turns out the man is Becky's father, Judge Thatcher – Judge being his title, not his name – from faraway, or, well, twelve-mile-away, Constantinople.
  • Now other people start showing off: Jeff Thatcher goes up to greet his uncle, the various teachers start making themselves busy scolding their pupils, and the pupils do whatever they can to call attention to themselves.
  • Superintendent Walters decides to really show off and let Judge Thatcher just how good a teacher he is.
  • He asks if any of his students have collected enough tickets to receive a Bible.
  • Out of nowhere, Tom Sawyer comes out of the crowd and presents his tickets; he's collected enough to win a prize.
  • Though Walters is skeptical at first – and rightly so – but the tickets are genuine, and he can only give Tom the Bible.
  • Tom is introduced to the judge, but is too awestruck and tongue-tied to form a coherent sentence.
  • Judge Thatcher compliments him on his dedication and intelligence.
  • After all this he asks, Tom if he wouldn't mind demonstrating some of his knowledge by, say, giving the names of the first two apostles appointed by Jesus.
  • Tom, who probably didn't even know how many apostles there were in the first place, is embarrassed; he can't understand why the Judge would put him on the spot.
  • After some more prodding, Tom blurts out the first two names that come to mind: "David and Goliah!"
  • Twain ends the scene abruptly, saving Tom from any further embarrassment.
Chapter 5
 
  • After Sunday school ends, the boys and girls join the larger congregation for the main church service.
  • Twain introduces a number of townsfolk: the justice of the peace, lawyers, clerks, etc.
  • The service begins with a hymn, which is then followed by church "notices" about meetings and societies and all sorts of boring things.
  • Prayers are read – prayers for the church, the village, the county, and the country, for, well, a lot of things. (As you can see, a lot of the service is long, long, long, and not particularly interesting.)
  • When the reverend finally begins to read his sermon, Tom tries his best to pay attention, and does everything he can to resist the urge to swat a fly.
  • Tom, fond of himself as he is, does enjoy it when the reverend tells the congregation that, at the end of time, the lion and the lamb will lie down together and a little child will lead them; he can't help but picture himself as that little child.
  • Soon he loses interest and takes out a small box from his pocket. In the box is a beetle or "pinch-bug."
  • Somehow the beetle ends up in the aisle, flailing wildly, helpless, on its back.
  • The beetle attracts the attention of some other bored churchgoers and that of a stray poodle. (How the stray dog got into church is anyone's guess. Things really were different back then, we guess.)
  • The dog circles around the bug for a moment, then goes in for the attack…well, sort of. He snaps at it for a while before getting bored and following a fly around.
  • In the process, he manages to forget about the beetle and sit down right on top of it. He yelps in agony, runs around the church to the amusement of the crowd, and makes a hasty exit.
  • The service, having been interrupted by laughter, continues halfheartedly, and everyone's happy when the thing is done.
  • On the walk back home, Tom decides he doesn't mind church so much as long as there's a little variety to spice things up.
Chapter 6
  • Tom's got a case of the Mondays, and he does everything he can to stay home from school. He pretends that his sore toe hurts so much that he's going to die – and he pretends so hard that he begins to believe his own lies.
  • When Sid wakes up and finds Tom groaning, he freaks out, especially when Tom starts telling him that he forgives him for everything and that he, Sid, should give his possessions to "that new girl" (6.19).
  • Sid runs down and gets Aunt Polly, who quickly figures out that Tom's full of it; all Tom can tell her is that his toe's "mortified."
  • Turns out Tom does have something wrong with him, though – his tooth's sore – and Aunt Polly sets about fixing it. She does the whole tie-up-the-tooth-with-string thing and – pop! – it's out.
  • Though Tom does not enjoy the experience and does not want to go to school, he is pleased to have a nasty tooth to show off to his buddies.
  • On the way to school, he runs into Huckleberry Finn, the "juvenile pariah of the village," a little outcast, at least as far as the adults are concerned (6.44).
  • Motherless, homeless, and the son of the town drunk, Huck is envied by all the kids because…he's free, man. He can wear what he wants, he can smoke without getting in trouble, he doesn't have to go to church or school, and he, well…he can do anything, really, as far as they're concerned. Huck, the cool guy that he is, is holding a dead cat this particular moment.
  • He and Tom get down to discussing different "cures" for warts, remedies involving beans, blood, "spunk-water" (the water found inside rotting tree stumps) – and a variety of silly incantations.
  • Huck tells Tom that he has it on good authority from Mother Hopkins, the local witch, that – get ready for this – burying a dead cat in a graveyard near the grave of a recently buried bad dude at midnight is the best cure of all.
  • It just so happens that this bad dude, Hoss Williams, was buried the past Saturday, and Huck happens to be in possession of a dead cat, so the two boys decide to head out to the graveyard that night and test out the cure.
  • Tom runs off to school, where he's immediately called out by the teacher for being late.
  • When the schoolmaster asks him where he's been he admits, or, rather, states proudly and loudly, that he has just been talking to none other than Huckleberry Finn. He then proceeds to get quite a whacking.
  • But it's all part of the plan. In addition to his corporal punishment, he's "forced" to sit with the girls. Tom, the sly dog that he is, knew this would happen, and that the only seat left open was right next to Judge Thatcher's daughter.
  • Tom flirts shamelessly with her, shooting her glances, and insisting that she accept his gift of a peach. Having gotten her interest, he shows Becky the masterpiece he's drawn on his slate – a terrible picture of a house and some stick figures; Picasso he's not…but she's not exactly a discriminating critic. She likes it enough to introduce herself – she goes by Becky – and accept Tom's offer to teach her a thing or two about drawing after class.
  • Now Tom drops a bomb – he writes "I love you" on his slate and shows it to Becky; she hits him on the hand, but it's clear she likes him too.
  • The schoolmaster, who's no doubt been watching the whole time, comes and pulls away Tom by the ear and puts him back in the boy's section. Ecstatic, Tom can no longer concentrate on his work.
 Chapter 7

  • Stuck inside on a beautiful, sunny day, Tom's mind wanders aimlessly as he waits for recess to come.
  • He takes another bug, this one a tick, out of a box he has stashed in his pocket. He watches it wander around on the desk he shares with his best buddy Joe Harper. Since both Joe and Tom want to play with the bug, they draw a line on a slate and come up with a system: when the bug is on Tom's side, Tom gets to play with it, and vice versa.
  • Needless to say, Tom gets annoyed when the tick spends most of his time on Joe's side and the two boys argue until they start getting whacked by the schoolmaster, who has caught them by surprise.
  • When the kids get out for recess, Tom runs back over to Becky, and starts chatting her up, bringing up such wonderful topics as dead rats, and the joys of swinging them above one's head, chewing gum, circuses, and marriage.
  • Tom gets Becky to tell him she loves him, and then to kiss him. Then he gets her to tell him she'll never love another, and he tells her the same.
  • Tom makes the mistake of bringing up his previous love, Amy Lawrence, which causes Becky to cry. Smooth as he is, Tom fails to rectify the situation; when he tries to give her his prized brass andiron – in short, a piece from a thing that supports wood in a fireplace – she throws it down in anger.
  • Tom runs away, and by the time Becky starts to reconsider her actions, he's nowhere to be found.
Chapter 8
 
  • Tom runs off and over the hill behind the schoolhouse and into the woods. He finds a suitable spot and sits moping and wishing he would die – "if he could only die temporarily" (8.1).
  • He starts fantasizing about alternative career choices – becoming a soldier, a pirate, or an Indian.
  • He tries to use one of his various "incantations" to find some marbles he hid a while back, and is saddened and shaken to his core when it fails – despite the fact that the same trick had failed many times before.
  • He's trying out various other bits of hooey when he hears the blast of a toy trumpet. He flings off his oppressive clothes and pulls a toy sword and bow from the pushes.
  • Joe Harper, who's apparently also grown tired of school appears, and the two run through a rehearsed – it turns out Tom can memorize things when he wants to – totally crazy version of a duel between Robin Hood (Tom) and Guy of Guisborne (Joe).
  • Things go awry when Joe won't die; he's sick of always being the bad guy.
  • They come to a compromise: Tom agrees to play the bad guy for a little while if Joe will just die like a man this time. After that's all done, Tom resumes playing Robin Hood, and the two boys enact the hero's death scene.
  • Once finished, they hide their things and run off, convinced that they'd "rather be outlaws a year in Sherwood Forest than President of the United States forever" (8.35).
Chapter 9
 
  • That night, Tom Sawyer sneaks out of his house and finds Huck waiting with his dead cat.
  • The boys make their way to the graveyard, an old, scary, unkempt plot of land dotted with sunken, crooked graves. It's a spooky place.
  • After they find the grave of the outlaw, Tom and Huck debate the ethicality of their plan, when they hear strange sounds in the distance.
  • Soon, they see "devil-fire" and the outlines of three "devils." Turns out it's "that murderin' half-breed Injun Joe," the down-on-his-luck drunk, Muff Potter, and the young Doctor Robinson (9.38).
  • Joe and Muff are out to help rob the grave for the doc (what kind of experiments he needs it for we never find out), and they have the tools to do it, but once they remove the body they try to get some more money out of him – apparently Injun Joe bears some kind of grudge against the doctor.
  • When the doctor cries foul, Injun Joe threatens him; Doc Robinson knocks him to the ground with one punch, then starts wrestling with Muff Potter.
  • While the two men are on the ground, Injun Joe gets up and picks up Muff Potter's knife.
  • After Robinson breaks free from Muff Potter and hits him with the headboard from Hoss Williams's grave, knocking him out, Injun Joe stabs the doctor in his chest.
  • Then he puts the bloody knife in Muff Potter's hand and waits for him to come to.
  • When he does, Joe tells him that he, Muff Potter, stabbed the doctor. Muff, the poor drunk that he is, believes Injun Joe. He asks Injun Joe to keep his mouth shut, and Injun Joe agrees.
Chapter 10
 
  • Tom and Huck run away, scared out of their minds.
  • They take refuge in the abandoned tannery, a curiously spooky place to hide after witnessing a murder.
  • The boys want to tell the authorities what happened, but they know that Injun Joe will come after them if they do.
  • They decide to keep their traps shut.
  • In order to make sure that they're not tempted to tell, they write up a contract and seal the deal in blood…yes, blood.
  • Soon after they hear a stray dog howl – which apparently means one of them is going to die; the two promise to change their ways if they survive, until they notice that the dog's got its back to them. Apparently that means they're in the clear.
  • Just then they hear another sound – somebody's snoring.
  • They find Muff Potter sleeping in the corner…and the stray dog is facing right toward him. That's a bad sign for Muff.
  • They try to reassure themselves that such silly superstitions don't mean anything – but they've heard slaves talk about these things, and slaves know what's up when it comes to superstitions.
  • The two boys part ways, and Tom sneaks back into his bedroom.
  • When he comes down the next morning, he finds his family looking terribly sad. After breakfast, Aunt Polly lets him know how awful he's made her feel.
  • Tom begs her forgiveness, but leaves for school feeling terrible.
  • After he and Joe Harper get flogged for playing hooky, Tom sits down and stews in his misery for a while.
  • Just then he notices his brass knob sitting on the desk, and he's thrown into a deeper, darker mood.

23 comments:

  1. Thanks! This was way easier than reading those first ten chapters. Wish me luck on my test!

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    1. Thanks, I can pass my quiz on this story know

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  2. I read the first ten chapters, but they were kind of confusing, so this was a good clarification. Thank you!

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  6. This is too long but it is interesting

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. Can we have next chapters summary like this one?

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  9. Thanks for this, it helped me study for my test.

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  10. Thank u so much this is the best thing literally i have seen in the internet the background writting so simple yet amazing LUV IT keep it up :D

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