Tom Sawyer Quiz

*Authors Note:  PROMPT-Select one of the more interesting chapters we've read so far and discuss what you found of value in the text.

The chapter I’ve chosen to respond to is chapter 9, which is the graveyard scene where Tom and Huck witness Injun Joe murdering the doctor.  I find that this chapter is very key to the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, because it’s where the first real, severe conflict is formed.  Without this chapter, Injun Joe wouldn’t have become the murderer that the characters fear, and the book’s plot would be weak.  It would be weak because without Injun Joe and the graveyard scene, this book would be mainly about Tom’s on and off relationship with Becky, and his pirate adventures.  It would have no real seriousness in it.

Chapter nine is obviously irony.  It's very unrealistic, because what is the chance that two 12 year old boys happened to be at the exact same place at the exact same time as a terrible killing occurs?  Injun Joe, the evil in the chapter, is completely in control, and Huck and Tom are weak and stupid compared to him.  The only other character that had any potential to be good is Muff Potter, and he’d had a few too many drinks that night, and is therefore also weak and stupid.  The chapter starts off with Tom and Huck going off to the graveyard to use a dead cat’s body to remove their warts, then all of a sudden, three mysterious men arrive and Huck and Tom witness a murder, which is the major conflict.  In the end, the death symbolism is that if they don’t tell someone in authority, Injun Joe will get away and Muff Potter will be blamed and possibly hung for the murder, and if they do snitch on him, Injun Joe will most likely seek revenge against them and try to murder them as well.  Some symbols are the barking dogs that Tom hears, as well as the graveyard at midnight, the weeds that they’re lurking in, and the worm-eaten graves.

In conclusion, I believe chapter nine is one of the most important chapters in the book, because it’s where all the evil business with Injun Joe unfolds, and the plot begins to form.