Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy
Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy
Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Tom Sawyer: Hero <strong>of</strong> Middle America 223<br />
hght and presently "pushed his head and shoulders through a smaU hole<br />
and saw the broad Mississippi rolling by!"<br />
is saved by Tom, by<br />
Tom is thus saved, and Becky<br />
a hght vouchsafed to him far within the innermost<br />
recesses <strong>of</strong> the cave, at a point where the probabUity <strong>of</strong> finding light or <strong>of</strong><br />
hght finding him was the most remote, if not most unreasonable. Tom<br />
thus becomes an authentic hero <strong>of</strong> that new Calvinism in which grace<br />
comes, not by works or faith, but by the spirit <strong>of</strong> utter and indefeasible<br />
self-reliance. Tom, we may say, is saved by the Lord because the Lord<br />
finds merit in the fact that it had never occurred to Tom to ask for help.<br />
Tom may have appeared as a clever and lucky trickster hitherto. But he<br />
wUl emerge with a new aura <strong>of</strong> authenticity and legitimacy. The highest<br />
principle <strong>of</strong> the old order has now anointed the leader <strong>of</strong> the new. Tom's<br />
education and the formation <strong>of</strong> his character have been completed deep<br />
within the earth. Tom Sawyer's Gang is now ready for the hght <strong>of</strong> the<br />
sun.<br />
Huck meanwlule has kept his own faithful vigil. On the night that Tom<br />
and Becky are wandering ever deeper into the cave, Huck foUows Joe<br />
and his companion as they leave their lair. But they carry a box with them,<br />
which Huck mistakenly believes is the treasure. There is no time to go for<br />
Tom. The men pursue a course toward the Widow Douglas's, and follow<br />
ing closely in the dark, Huck discovers the evU nature <strong>of</strong> their mission.<br />
But the widow has company, and the men lurk under cover waiting for<br />
the lights to go out. Then Huck runs for help. The Welshman and his sons<br />
arrive with guns. Joe and his confederate are driven <strong>of</strong>f, but not captured.<br />
Huck is terrified and is taken into the Welshman's house,<br />
seized with a fever and for a long<br />
where he is<br />
time loses consciousness. When he<br />
comes to himself again, he too wiU taste, but without pleasure, the glory<br />
<strong>of</strong> a hero.<br />
Before Huck recovers, Tom and Becky triumphantly return. Judge<br />
Thatcher has the mouth <strong>of</strong> the cave sealed, not knowing that Joe is within.<br />
And Joe dies <strong>of</strong> thirst and starvation before Tom discovers what the<br />
Judge had done. The hght that had been vouchsafed to Tom has been<br />
denied to Joe.<br />
Now the boys are safe, and when Huck is well enough, Tom takes him<br />
aside and imparts his secret. Number Two is in the cave, and Tom knows<br />
an easy way to get there. He is sure that that is where the treasure is kept.<br />
They gather up provisions and two bags to carry the treasure. Then they<br />
head for the secret place five miles below the mouth <strong>of</strong> the cave from<br />
which he and Becky had emerged to safety. Exploring the chamber where<br />
Tom had nearly stumbled upon Joe, they discover a cross, done with<br />
candle smoke on a big<br />
the treasure must be "under the<br />
rock. This without doubt is "Number Two,"<br />
cross."<br />
and<br />
But Huck is again struck with<br />
terror. Injun Joe's ghost must be nearby. Tom remonstrates that the ghost<br />
must surely be at the mouth <strong>of</strong> the cave, where Joe had died, rather than<br />
here. But Huck disagrees, "No, Tom, it wouldn't. It would hang around