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Aerial's Reviews > Tom Sawyer Abroad
Tom Sawyer Abroad
by
by
Mrs. Messerole
Honors English II
March 7th, 2019
Aerial Bochmann
Tom Sawyer: Seeing The World
Refusing to be outdone gets you places, and Tom Sawyer a prime example. In Tom Sawyer's Abroad, Mark Twain tells the story of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn exploring the world trapped in a futuristic hot air balloon. They manage to travel from The Mississippi River to The Great Pyramids of Giza. This book is an adventure fiction novel narrated by Huck.
The book starts with a mysterious man who comes to Tom’s hometown to unveil his new airship. He eventually asks for volunteers to come look inside. While Tom and Huck are viewing the ship, the mysterious man cuts the ropes and the ship floats away. This man hopes to make it to London if they continue eastward. While Tom and Huck argue where they are, the man proves himself crazy and jumps overboard. Huck says there’s no way they’re going so fast because they haven’t passed Indiana yet. When Tom asks Huck how he knows, Huck says he hasn't seen any pink yet, the land is still green (referring to how the United States map has each state a different color than its surrounding states). Tom eventually convinces Huck he is wrong, and map makers only do this to show the divide between states. As they keep eastward, Tom teaches Huck about time zones, proportion, and hallucinations. Sooner or later they see sand, and they are pretty sure they’re in the Sahara Desert. They manage to make it to the pyramids after a lengthy trip with more disputes. The book pretty much ends after this, there's no real satisfactory ending.
One of the big themes seen over and over in this book is optimism vs realism. Throughout the story one sees various disputes between Huck and Tom. Huck is the optimist who sees disappearing lakes and has other superstitious ideas, and Tom is the realist who has answer and argument for absolutely everything. Throughout the story we see examples of each personality trait shine in its own way. This theme works perfect with the characters personalities to create interesting dialogue and verbal conflict between the characters. Throughout the novel, they are all trapped on this stray airship together which could symbolize life and how you have no control what happens. Another symbol in this story is Tom’s pipe, which he flies all the way back to Mississippi to get. I think this symbolizes homesickness. Even though he was enjoying his trip, he still wanted an excuse to go home. While Tom and Huck are both very round, they are also both static. Throughout the story, they stay the same stubborn people they always have been.
This book starts very interesting, but it ultimately goes nowhere. In the dialogue aspect, it is spot on with accent and dialect of Tom and Huck. The author’s style is very informal but it works well with the setting and characters. Purely the style of writing in this book makes it much more enjoyable. I would unquestionably recommend it to anyone, of any age, who wants a quick and hilarious read without too much deep thinking. This is a great book for anyone who hasn't read Mark Twain before, or someone who needs introduced to classic novels. Though if you’re looking for profound thoughts or a complex plot, this is not the book for you.
Honors English II
March 7th, 2019
Aerial Bochmann
Tom Sawyer: Seeing The World
Refusing to be outdone gets you places, and Tom Sawyer a prime example. In Tom Sawyer's Abroad, Mark Twain tells the story of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn exploring the world trapped in a futuristic hot air balloon. They manage to travel from The Mississippi River to The Great Pyramids of Giza. This book is an adventure fiction novel narrated by Huck.
The book starts with a mysterious man who comes to Tom’s hometown to unveil his new airship. He eventually asks for volunteers to come look inside. While Tom and Huck are viewing the ship, the mysterious man cuts the ropes and the ship floats away. This man hopes to make it to London if they continue eastward. While Tom and Huck argue where they are, the man proves himself crazy and jumps overboard. Huck says there’s no way they’re going so fast because they haven’t passed Indiana yet. When Tom asks Huck how he knows, Huck says he hasn't seen any pink yet, the land is still green (referring to how the United States map has each state a different color than its surrounding states). Tom eventually convinces Huck he is wrong, and map makers only do this to show the divide between states. As they keep eastward, Tom teaches Huck about time zones, proportion, and hallucinations. Sooner or later they see sand, and they are pretty sure they’re in the Sahara Desert. They manage to make it to the pyramids after a lengthy trip with more disputes. The book pretty much ends after this, there's no real satisfactory ending.
One of the big themes seen over and over in this book is optimism vs realism. Throughout the story one sees various disputes between Huck and Tom. Huck is the optimist who sees disappearing lakes and has other superstitious ideas, and Tom is the realist who has answer and argument for absolutely everything. Throughout the story we see examples of each personality trait shine in its own way. This theme works perfect with the characters personalities to create interesting dialogue and verbal conflict between the characters. Throughout the novel, they are all trapped on this stray airship together which could symbolize life and how you have no control what happens. Another symbol in this story is Tom’s pipe, which he flies all the way back to Mississippi to get. I think this symbolizes homesickness. Even though he was enjoying his trip, he still wanted an excuse to go home. While Tom and Huck are both very round, they are also both static. Throughout the story, they stay the same stubborn people they always have been.
This book starts very interesting, but it ultimately goes nowhere. In the dialogue aspect, it is spot on with accent and dialect of Tom and Huck. The author’s style is very informal but it works well with the setting and characters. Purely the style of writing in this book makes it much more enjoyable. I would unquestionably recommend it to anyone, of any age, who wants a quick and hilarious read without too much deep thinking. This is a great book for anyone who hasn't read Mark Twain before, or someone who needs introduced to classic novels. Though if you’re looking for profound thoughts or a complex plot, this is not the book for you.
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