The character Tom Sawyer is the novel's hero, who appears in almost every scene.
For me he is a genius, because his imagination and way of thinking is far beyond the thought of the average of his friends. He always thinks life as a huge game in which he is one of the players. Another character is Huck, which for me implies as the follower who always agrees to others opinions and ideas. He is somewhat a subordinate because of being uneducated. Injun Joe plays as the antagonist of the novel, which is the symbol of fear among the children.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer takes place in a small 19th century town in the village of St. Petersburg, Missouri. It is literally somewhat like at the edge of the earth where it is not linked to the civilization. Some scenes in the novel take place in the school and its premises, the church and in the whole town itself. Through these setting scenes Mark Twain takes us to an old typical American community that we cannot see today. He is like our tour guide to the past time.
The plot and the conflict is surprising and shocking. Because the conflicts Tom experienced is not experienced by ordinary kids, like witnessing a crime. His way of solving the problems is like being a matured person, and is not appropriate for a child to do.
For me, the theme of the story is the oddness of children and adults. Adults want to civilize children by telling them what to do and by these, the children tend to rebel because it hinders their freedom to do what they want. They are like in a war where they both want to win.
This novel is told by a third person omniscient narrator, I think it would have made certain scenes more effective if it is written in the first person and the readers can relate as if they are the one who is doing the action.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer should not be read not only by the children but by the adults as well. Although it is a story of a boy who loves challenges and adventures and for the most part provides us with a child's-eye view of the world still it has lessons that every adults will learn.
