The Adventures of Tom Sawyer



Themes in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Themes are the underlying ideas that run through a book or short story.

A theme is a central message, concern, or purpose in a literary work. It usually can be expressed as a generalization (or general statement) about people, their thoughts and/or behavior, or life in general. Keep in mind that the theme of a work or piece is NOT a summary of its plot or facts in the storyline. A theme is the central idea that the writer communicates either directly, though that is unusual, or indirectly, which is more common. An indirectly stated theme is an implied theme, and the reader must figure out what the theme is by carefully looking at what the work reveals about people or life.

Find/list examples, facts, and quotations from the novel to prove/support the following themes (ideas):

1. Complete freedom does not bring happiness.

2. Society places limits on the freedom of the individual.

3. Individual conscience helps a person know the right thing to do.

4. The goodness of an individual cannot be measured by social opinion alone.

5. An individual’s experiences and growing awareness about people and situations help in the development toward maturity. (By the end of the novel Tom becomes a more mature boy.)

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