On the Maturation of Tom Sawyer in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Abstract
Mark Twain is a great American writer in the nineteenth century. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is one of his masterpieces. It has exerted its magic to readers from generation to generation after the publishing of this novel. The novel is about the fascinating adventures of an American boy, Tom Sawyer. In his heroic and legendary adventures, we see a maturation story of Tom Sawyer, and moreover, we see the childhood of children of that generation and the social prevalence of that age. This essay mainly focuses on the maturation story of Tom Sawyer and those factors influencing his maturation. It will discuss from the three aspects: the reflection of the age, the maturation of Tom Sawyer, influences for Tom＇s maturation. Firstly this thesis expatiates on the reflection of the age from the three aspects: imagination, religion and superstition. On the basis of that, it continues to demonstrate the maturation of Tom Sawyer from the following four aspects: responsibility, love, attitude towards social custom and psychological reasons. Tom’s maturation and change come from various facets of influences, in which Aunt Polly’s instruction surely acts as a positive one. Although Tom has not fully grown up to an adult, he does well in his maturation and becomes a hero in the reader’s heart.
Key Words: Mark Twain; Tom Sawyer; maturation; reality; influence
摘 要
《湯姆•索亞歷險記》是19世紀美國傑出作家馬克•吐溫的代表作。這部講述1個美國男孩歷險故事的小說感染了1代又1代的讀者。書中的湯姆•索亞經歷了1次次不可思議的`冒險，各個方面都在不斷地成長，他從1個淘氣的小男孩變成了全村人心目中的英雄。湯姆•索亞的經歷和成長故事是這1時代的典型，從中我們可以看到當時的整個社會環境和這1代人的童年。本文主要闡述了主人公湯姆•索亞的成長經歷，以及影響其成長的社會因素。本文將從湯姆所處的年代，湯姆的成長，以及湯姆成長所映射出來的影響等幾方面來進行論述, 首先從想象，宗教以及迷信3個方面來闡述時代的影響。在此基礎上，該文從責任，愛情，對待社會習慣的態度以及心理原因4個方面論證了湯姆的成長。湯姆的成長和改變來自各個方面的影響，其中值得肯定的是來自於波利姨媽的各方面的教導。儘管湯姆還沒完全長大成人，但他已在他的成長道路上做的很好並且已成爲讀者心目中的英雄。
關鍵詞：馬克•吐溫、湯姆•索亞、現實、成熟、影響