Tom Sawyer Prompt

The topic I would like to discuss is the issue of the country boy vs the city boy and how are opinions can often be based off of what we feel is relatable. Tom Sawyer was a scheming country boy who loved nothing more than to play and to swim and hated doing any sort of labor or chore. He lied to his aunt on several occasions, skipped school, and even tricked friends of his into doing the work he was assigned to do. And despite all of these negative and troubling characteristics, it seems everyone who reads Tom Sawyer loves him. Yes he may be lazy and inconsiderate of others (even breaking a poor girls heart to follow his short attention span of a heart), but everyone just loves this character. However earlier in the semester we encountered a very similar character named Ragged Dick. He was a city boy who worked the streets as a boot blacker in order to have some sort of income. He lived on the streets and had very little money to his name however he never shied away from paying for a friend's breakfast so that they could eat and never stole from any rich customer, even when the chance was basically handed to him to do so. But despite these seemingly better characteristics than that of our friend Tom, not many people liked Ragged Dick. They looked at him as a trickster and an overall "naughty boy"; some even went as far as saying they just flat out hated this character. But how is it that we can encounter such similar boys, one I feel has a few more honest characterisitics than the other, but have such polar opposite views of them? Well this is where the idea of the country boy vs the city boy comes into play.

Although Tom was a handful of a boy, he still had a guardian, he still went to school, he still went to church, and he still did chores; much of which I would say we all can relate to. He lives in the country and, like many country boys, would much rather swim than paint a fence. We see him go from one idea to the next, exhibiting the stereotypical short attention span of a young boy that we are accustomed to seeing. For example on pg. 318 we see him in a huff after Sid rats him out to his Aunt Polly about ditching school but less than two minutes later we see him completely forget about these troubles because, "a new and powerful interest bore them down and drove them out of his mind for the time." We see Tom get stuck doing chores on a Saturday, something every young boy dreads, but somehow manage to get all of his friends to do it for him by making them envious of his work saying, "I reckon there ain't one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, that can do it the way it's got to be done." Obviously every young boy wants to be better than the other, and Tom used this completely to his advantage. It seems like Tom Sawyer has all the characteristics of say, our own little brother. While reading this novel I am sure many felt as if they almost new Tom Sawyer or a had a Tom Sawyer type character in their actual lives. This is because he is relatable. A young country boy bouncing from one thing to the next, doing whatever he needs to get himself recognized, such as showing of in Sunday School for his "Adorned Unknown", or to entertain himself. We know Tom Sawyer, we see Tom Sawyer's everyday, we may even live with Tom Sawyers. This is why I feel the opinion towards this character is much more positive than that of Ragged Dick.

Ragged Dick is homeless, he works on the streets, smokes cigars although he is very young, and plays poker. Yes he maybe honest, he may help out those who are even more so in need than him, and he may witty, but he is definitely not a character many can relate to. It is not very often you see a young homeless country boy outside your door but maybe if it was, our views of Ragged Dick would be different. However this is not the case. Ragged Dick is has, from what we know, never had a real guardian and therefore has basically taught himself everything he knows, which is pretty good considering he knows right from wrong and does not partake in wrong behavior. Unlike Tom who takes from his friends at every chance he can, even when it's just a fragment of chalk, Ragged Dick does not steal, and actually helps his friends. But still we view Ragged Dick as simply that, "Ragged". He is someone we do not know, we do not see everyday, and most likely do not live with. We do see him do a type of trickery such as Tom Sawyer, however not even this is relatable because he makes a reference to a poor widow that she needs to pay her taxes. I don't know about ya'll but when I was that age I had no idea what taxes were, so not even this is really something we can feel a connection to. He is a homeless city boy trying to make a living at such a young age.