In Chapter two, we read about Tom and Ben Roger’s whitewashing incident.
“Oh come, now, you don’t mean to let on that you like it?” The brush continued to move.
“Like it? Well I don’t see why I oughtn’t to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?”
That put the thing in a new light. Ben stopped nibbling his apple. Tom swept his brush daintily back and forth—stepped back to note the effect—added a touch here and there—criticized the effect again—Ben watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed. Presently he said:
“Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little.”
This episode of whitewashing gives us a preview of Tom’s ingenious character. Tom is able to stay ahead of his acquaintances because is gets them to act in a certain way with his clever communication skills; Tom is a trickster. Throughout the literature we have read so far, we have not really come across someone like Tom. Ragged Dick resembled Tom in some ways but Gerty, Ellen, Sybil, and all the other girls we have read about acted in the same manner as Tom or Ragged Dick.
The end of the scene ends with Twain saying, “Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.”
I think we can all relate to this quote as well. I think Twain is also telling people that people desire things just because they are forbidden or risky.
I have really enjoyed the change from the childhoods of boys and girls in the 19th century. They are depicted very differently and seeing the differences in the two assumptions about girls in boys is pretty entertaining.
I agree that Tom is a very unique character. He is like Ragged Dick in that he is smart, but he uses his smarts to get out of work. The whitewashing scene, along with the Bible scene show us that Tom is able to make up elaborate schemes that take advantage of others without them knowing it.
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