The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Symbols

The Village

St. Petersburg typifies small-town America in the nineteenth century. Tom reaches maturity over the course of the novel in realizing that he must act as a responsible member of this community rather than rebelling against… read analysis of The Village

The Island

Tom, Huck, and Joe Harper escape to Jackson's Island to live as outlaws, leaving behind the rules and strictures of St. Petersburg society. Its physical isolation brings them all the freedom they could… read analysis of The Island

The Treasure

Finding treasure is a fanciful notion appropriate to Tom's romantic boyhood imagination. Yet this unrealistic dream nonetheless comes true by the novel's end. Tom and Huck achieve maturity with the windfall of their treasure, which… read analysis of The Treasure

The Cave

In the harrowing experience of surviving several days lost in MacDougal's Cave, Tom's proves his manhood. Like the island, the cave involves physical isolation from the village community. While Tom runs away to the… read analysis of The Cave

Storms

Incidences of bad weather occur several times in the novel, each time signifying that Tom is in a particularly troubled psychological state. On Jackson's Island the homesick boys survive a storm that wreaks considerable damage… read analysis of Storms