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¶ … Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Maria Tatar, a professor of German at Harvard, is partial to the Tales of the Brothers Grimm, who she claims purged the collection of references to sexuality but left in "lurid portrayals of child abuse, starvation, and exposure and fastidious descriptions of cruel and unusual punishments, including cannibalism" (Showalter Pp). Says Tatar, "Giants, ogres, stepmothers, cooks, witches, and evil mothers-in-law are driven by a ravenous appetite for human fare" (Showalter Pp). Indeed fairy tales always possess the elements of evil, whether in the form of monsters, step-mothers, or sorcerers. The list of how evil is presented in fairy tales is endless. However, one thing is for certain and that is there is always a duel between good and evil within the fairy tale motif.
Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" possesses many elements of the fairy tale motif. However Stanley Brodwin sees it as an "Edenic hymnal fairy tale ... another version of the natural in the world of youth clinging to and playing out its instincts and the need for adventure" (Bush Pp). Brodwin describes the story's two main characters, Tom and Huck, as "profoundly Adamic," and claims that Twain is aligning youth with nature...
However, what Brodwin fails to point out is that Twain's story is filled with "large doses of murder, mayhem, darkness, thunder, lightning, ghosts, and outlaws," all of which point more to the fairy tale motif than a Edenic work, unless of course one views the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden as possessing the fairy tale motif as well. Twain once wrote that remembering Hannibal was like "bathing in the Fountain of Youth" (Bush Pp).
Aunt Polly is certainly the fairy godmother in Twain's novel. She loves Tom unconditionally and is there for him at every turn. In fact, she can barely, if ever, bring herself to punish him even when discipline would be fitting. She is the symbol of everything good and wholesome in life.
Injun Joe is certainly the villain or ogre of the story. Although Twain sprinkles the his story with bits of his personal history, such as the way he has been treated by society, it certainly does not justify his actions. Moreover, Joe shows no remorse for his crimes, and therefore can be considered true evil. Injun Joe also possesses…
Work Cited
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Mass Market Paperback. 1989.
Showalter, Elaine. "The Classic Fairy Tales." New Statesman; 2/26/1999; Pp.
Bush, Harold K., Jr."Mark Twain's American Adam: humor as hope and apocalypse." Christianity and Literature; 3/22/2004; Pp.
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