We finally finished Tom Sawyer. Some of them just gave up on me. Some of them realized it got easier as they went along. Some of them actually enjoyed it. But ALL of them had fun during one of our last discussions of the book; it’s chapter 33, where Tom and Huck go back to the cave for the money. Throughout the novel we talk about how Tom, when he plays, always has to “go by the book.” Or to use one of this week’s academic words, Tom always follows protocol. He climbs the fence, instead of running through the gate, after pelting Sid with dirt clods for ratting him out about the thread. He won’t “die” when Joe runs him through in their sword fight, because Tom’s playing Robin Hood, and he can’t die. He goes over the cliff with the ham, instead of using the trail, when they run away to the island, because that’s what a pirate would do. And he does it again in chapter 33. The bonus question on the quiz that day was… “*Bonus: There is an example of Tom “going by the book” in chapter 33 which he would probably be very embarrassed
