The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Does Tom change at the end of the book. And how?
does he grow or come to learn something about himself and how the world works?
does he grow or come to learn something about himself and how the world works?
Tom evolves from a mischievous boy to a young man with a little more worldly wisdom. Tom retains that spark of charm he had but understands the world a little better and his role in it. I think that around Chapter 23 and 24 we can see a change in Tom. He had been wrestling with the moral conundrum of letting an innocent man, Muff Potter, go to jail or be executed. Tom had feared retribution from Injun Joe if he told the truth but, in the end, tells everything at the trial. Tom put the poor drunken wretch Muff Potter before his own interests. The last chapter gives us a Tom that is more self-aware. Although uncomfortable with the niceties of society, he at least accepts that he must play a part. We see this when he asks Huck to be respectable.