The Friendship of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn Thesis: Through escapades, the South, characters, and two novels, Mark Twain Develops the famous friendship of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. IntroductionII. FriendshipA. Differences of statusB. AdventuresC. LoyaltyIII. HuckleberryA. The basis for Huckleberrys characterB. Huckleberrys and Toms loyalty and friendshipC. Huckleberrys concern with statusIV. TomA. The basis of TomB. The exasperation and appeal of TomC. The depth of Toms characterV. TreasureA. Symbolic of the boys journeyB. The responsibilities and changes the treasure bringsVI.ConclusionThe Friendship of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry FinnTodd ReaFebruary 28, 2002Born in 1834 as Samuel Langhorne Clemens, Mark Twain set out on his own when he was eighteen years old. He traveled America, working as a riverboat captain, gold rush explorer, and finally as a writer. As a newspaper reporter in Nevada he wrote articles poking fun at politicians. To keep his identity secret he signed his articles Mark Twain. The name is a term he learned as a steamboat captain. The term means that the water is deep enough for a steamboat to sail safely (Rinaldo 7).June 6, 1876, Mark Twains novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was published in England. It would not appear in America for another six months (American Heritage 96). Mark Twain once said of Tom Sawyer, that it was not a boys book at all, but would be read only by adults. He had given the book his full powers of serious communication and did not want it to be thought of as a mere childrens book. Ever since its publication in 1876 until quite recently, the readers have mainly been children. He wrote the novel while he and his family were living in Hartford, Connecticut, and while Twain was enjoying the fame he had achieved (Trilling 17 29). Mark Twain gives us a clear-eyed look at childhood in the 1800S through the eyes of two very different American boys. Their differences refle...
