Chapter II
strong TEMPTATIONs • strategic movements • the innocents beguiled
SummaryOn Saturday morning, Aunt Polly makes Tom whitewash the fence as punishment from the fight with the city boy. This makes Tom feel gloomy and embarrassed, so as Jim passes by, Tom tries to get him to whitewashing some of the fence in return for a white alley marble, his bucket of water filled, and a quick look at Tom's soar toe. Jim almost agrees, but Aunt Polly appears and chases him off, leaving Tom alone with his drudgery.
A little while later, Ben Rogers, another neighborhood boy, walks by pretending to be Big Missouri (steam boat). Tom convinces Ben that whitewashing a fence is a privilege, and after some bargaining, Ben falls under Tom's spell and gives his apple to Tom in exchange for the privilege of whitewashing the fence. Throughout the rest of the day, many neighborhood boys get tricked into whitewashing and giving away their pockets. By the time Tom runs out of whitewash the fence has three coats and Tom has a mass of random treasures at his disposal. In the end, Tom contemplates the definition of work and how it is only work if said person obliged to do so because humans want what they cant have. |
analysis |
This chapter is a perfect example of Tom's extreme cunningness and lack of worth ethic as he contemplates basic psychology. The ending of this chapter greatly shows the small genius side of Tom that learns something from every part of his life. Lastly, even though Ben's paragraph acting like a steamboat does not have much effect on the story, other than character development, it is a good example of Mark Twains history and uniqueness placed into the book (read about Mark Twains past here)
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Questions To think about |
What about this chapter makes it one of the most famous parts of this book?
Do you think that Tom's use of manipulation was an act or genius or immorality? |
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