boy, oh boy

Boys… better yet, brothers. What can I say about growing up as the only girl with 2 brothers? Ha! One thing is for sure, I was a tom-boy. I would much rather wear a pair of jeans or shorts than a skirt any day. I would have rather played in the woods than played dress up, and I would have definitely rather ran with my brothers and their friends than stay inside alone. My brothers are now two of the most wonderful men I know and I love them dearly. Then? Well that’s another story. Jordan my youngest brother was sometimes my best friend (yes, not all of the time-we would also fight like cats and dogs). He would play Ninja Turtles and Barbies with me, or board games or whatever. Jordan has never been one to be bored, as a small child he could play by himself for hours, I was the one that need to be entertained. So, when I say he would play with me, that was exactly it. Ky on the other hand was too old to play our little games, Jordan and I would play secretly with his toys, and somehow he would always know. I remember two specific times when Ky was gone to a friends and when he got back home, we were in trouble. One time, somehow he could tell we played with his transformer, and he probably knew because we apparently broke it. He was so angry I thought for sure we were goners. The other time was when Ky was gone for a whole weekend. The boys shared a room and for decoration, Ky had a baseball pennant collection. He had so many the entire room was covered in them, and of course each corner had a thumb tack in it. Jordan and I took out all of the thumb tacks and made a tent from the ceiling with bed sheets. We had so much fun playing in our hand made fort, but it was apparently the dumbest idea we’ve ever had in our young lives (and by that time, I’m certain that Jordan and I had burned the families storage building down, ran away to a gas station to buy kit kats, and played with the neighbors hundreds of cats when we weren’t allowed to), because when Ky got home I remember Jordan and I hiding in a closet waiting for our punishment. Now, 20 years later, my brothers are wonderful. Whenever we are all together we have a great time. We talk, we laugh, and we just enjoy each others company. All of that to say, I believe that I know little boys and how they act.

So, whenever I picked up Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, I felt right at home with Tom and Huck (Huckleberry Finn, that is). These two mischievous little guys will forever be marked in history as true American boys. I have two favorite scenes, the first is when we first meet Huck and he and Tom are talking about the dead cat that Huck has bought from another boy. And the other is when these two and another boy named Joe decide to run away and become pirates. The first is because of the boy’s conversation about the cat, for instance, Tom comments that the cat is “mighty stiff” and Huck informs Tom that dead cats can cure warts (of course it has to be in a graveyard at around midnight, and you have to speak an incantation). The second is because I love pirates…arrrr matey!

The dead cat that can cure warts leads me to another fantastic part of the story, which is all of the superstitions. It seemed like Tom had a little incantation for all situations, one of my favorite is when he sees a lady bug he tells it, “Lady bug, lady bug, fly away home, your house is on fire, your children’s alone,’ and she took wing and went off to see about it- which did not surprise the boy, for he knew of old that this insect was credulous about conflagrations, and he had practiced upon its simplicity more than once.”

Tom Sawyer is such a great character because he is mischievous, but he also has a good heart. He saved the girl of his dreams from a beating at school and took the beating himself. He always did the right thing in the end and was often the hero. This childhood classic should be in the homes of all American families. Besides it being one of America’s literary classics, it is a great story with many great lessons that we can all learn from. Samuel Clemens or better known as Mark Twain is of course one of America’s great authors he will forever me remembered for his work.