Mark Twain and Tom Sawyer

I was asked to write something to go in the program for the school play, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

This is what I wrote

“My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.” Mark Twain

Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain (1835-1910), lived during the formative years of the United States. During his lifetime the country expanded, industrialized, fought a war with Mexico, suffered through a Civil War, ended slavery, and forced Native Americans onto reservations. After war with Spain, Twain saw his country on the verge of becoming a world power. Twain’s interest in technology, history, politics, religion and culture, coupled with his powers of observation, sense of humor and numerous writings, make him one of the first major popular culture figures in the country. Twain carried on an extensive speaking schedule often because he needed the money. In doing so he paved the way for today’s stand-up comedians and social satirists such as Jon Stewart and Stephan Colbert.

In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Twain presents what many might idealize as a typical small town in the American Midwest. St. Petersburg, Missouri provides the setting for the antics of Tom, Huck, Joe and the other children. It is easy to remember Tom’s strategy to get the fence painted or his sneaking in to watch his own funeral. You might even remember the murder in the cemetery or Tom and Huck’s fear of Injun Joe, but with the word “adventure” in the title, there has to be some action and drama to provide a bit of suspense.

This is where the book takes on a deeper meaning. When the politicians traversing our state tell us they will return the country to traditional American values it is easy to think of the innocence of Tom’s infatuation with Becky, the love of Aunt Polly, and the protective father, Judge Thatcher. It is more difficult to remember the darker side of American history. In Tom Sawyer we see the social exclusion and animosity expressed towards Native Americans in the person of Injun Joe, slavery, the alcoholism of several characters and the benign neglect of a child such as Huck Finn. Twain’s observation, “We have the best government that money can buy,” or that “There is no distinctly American criminal class - except Congress,” speak for themselves. Not all that much has changed. The past is not as neat and tidy as we usually want to remember.

After writing Tom Sawyer, Twain went on to write the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper, Innocents Abroad, plus many essays and articles. Twain was not reluctant to share his views on the social issues of his time, nor was he afraid of changing his mind, as he did with his views of Native Americans and the issue of imperialism. After supporting American expansion, Twain became an active anti-Imperialist, arguing the colonization of the Philippines violated American values. Accused by his critics of being un-American, Twain provided his definition of a patriot as, “Patriot: the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is hollering about.” It is a definition worth remembering.

Some of Twain’s more controversial writings, primarily those relating to religion were not published until after his death. The best-known of these is “The War Prayer,” where Twain presents a stinging critique of the American church’s willingness to bless violence and militarism, in the name of the Lord. Twain’s comment “It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand,” sum up the contradictions of Christianity in America. “Turn the other cheek, or give your coat to the man who has none,” are rather plain statements, easy to understand but hard to practice. Instead we distract ourselves as we prefer to argue and fuss about issues which require no change in behavior or attitude.

In Tom Sawyer, Twain celebrates youth, optimism, and orneriness, characteristics which might also be used to describe the United States. Twain also presents the darker side of human nature, and with it, the darker side of United States history, contradictions we live and deal with today.

Marcus Miller