The Adventures of Tom Sawyer tells the adventures of Tom Sawyer, mischievous urchin and superstitious, accompanied by several of his comrades, first and foremost Huckleberry Finn and Joe Harper. The city of Saint Petersburg, on the Mississippi, is the scene of these adventures. Tom was raised by his Aunt Polly after the death of his parents while his friend Huck lives in barrels. The work consists of 35 chapters and five separate storylines but are intertwined throughout the novel. The first story line opens the novel and occupies the first chapters; we discover the relationship of Tom with his family and with the school and his classmates. This part shows the manipulative character of Tom, his ability to fool his entourage. His deceptions are often made through negotiations that allow it to make others work for him or to collect undeserved honors. A second narrative line appears in the first, is distinguished while remaining within the family and school context: it is the meeting in chapter 3 and the beginning of the relationship with Tom Becky Thatcher. The story continues later expanding into complex intrigues mingling heartbreak and jealousy. It culminates in the final chapters where it is mixed with the history of Indian Joe and the treasure hunt.
About the Author: Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called "the Great American Novel." Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which provided the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. After an apprenticeship with a printer, he worked as a typesetter and contributed articles to the newspaper of his older brother Orion Clemens. He later became a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to join Orion in Nevada. He referred humorously to his singular lack of success at mining, turning to journalism for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. In 1865, his humorous story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," was published, based on a story he heard at Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California, where he had spent some time as a miner. The short story brought international attention, and was even translated into classic Greek. His wit and satire, in prose and in speech, earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty. Though Twain earned a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, he invested in ventures that lost a great deal of money, notably the Paige Compositor, which failed because of its complexity and imprecision. In the wake of these financial setbacks, he filed for protection from his creditors via bankruptcy, and with the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers eventually overcame his financial troubles. Twain chose to pay all his pre-bankruptcy creditors in full, though he had no legal responsibility to do so. Twain was born shortly after a visit by Halley's Comet, and he predicted that he would "go out with it," too. He died the day following the comet's subsequent return. He was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age," and William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature."