FREE ESSAY ON THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER

MOST of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred; one or two were experiences
of my own, the rest those of boys who were schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from
life; Tom Sawyer also, but not from an individual -- he is a combina- tion of the
characteristics of three boys whom I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order
of archi- tecture.
The odd superstitions touched upon were all preva- lent among children and slaves in the
West at the period of this story -- that is to say, thirty or forty years ago.
Although my book is intended mainly for the en- tertainment of boys and girls, I hope it
will not be shunned by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has been to try
to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and of how they felt and
thought and talked, and what queer enterprises they sometimes engaged in.