Children's Charm

Of all the works Mark Twain accomplished in his life, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn most strikingly stand out. There must be something of unusual qualities in Mark Twain's children protagonists, which distinguish his children's fiction from his other works. On the basis of the former critics' research, this thesis attempts to go one step further to explore the roles of the children protagonists in the themes and structures of the two novels.Through the contrast between children's innocence and adults' vice, Mark Twain threw strong criticism on the society he lived in. In addition, Tom and Huck not only have the typical characteristics of American people, but also show the basic human nature—kind and rebellious. Concerning the structures, Tom's and Huck's moral maturation run through the two novels, which unite the clusters of incidents together, hence giving consistency to the structures of the two Adventures.Tom and Huck contrast pleasingly with each other. Tom whose adventures are confined to the small village is a son of society, because he can only realize his value in the society. Tom is thought to be the pillar of the American society. Along the journey down the moving and mighty Mississippi River, Huck, in the hug of nature, looks for truth and pursues self-identity. Huck is an ideal image, who is a son of nature. Changed from the son of society to the son of nature, from the small village to the mighty Mississippi, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn surpasses...