From Boy to Man

Growth. Maturity. Attractiveness.

Photo by Tim Graf on Unsplash

*This piece refers to Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventure of Tom Sawyer; a novel which deserves the popularity that it possesses, and which I highly recommend everyone.*

The significance of Becky Thatcher in the book should never be underplayed. Becky’s presence and character are a representation of how the female sex is not only able to put the male sex to shame by rendering them more self-conscious; but also to nurture and cultivate young boys to be reliable, generous, productive and mature men, who will be attractive potential romantic partners. 

From an evolutionary perspective, the male sex is primed to be influenced by the preferences of the female sex. One such example historically, is how men are likely to showcase traits like physical abilities and willingness to provide resources in order to attract their female counterparts. In modern times, men still attract potential mates in very similar fashions: displaying athleticism, intellect and most significantly generosity (the lack of which actually amplifies females’ distaste—more so if the males are shown to be competent but stingy). 

Even without a close examination of Tom Sawyer, it is evident that he is carefree, infantile and most importantly, absent-minded–to the degree that he is heedless of how he is perceived by others around him, especially the opposite sex. Of course, given Tom’s age, one may be prone to empathize with him and consider his lack of self-awareness to be acceptable, if not normal. 

The emergence of Becky Thatcher propels Tom to be self-conscious and then somewhat shamed. In an attempt to gain Becky’ attention as someone who is not a “model” boy in town, Tom experiments with a variety of boyish tricks to court her. But to no avail. Notwithstanding Tom’s hardest efforts, he was met with a statement which is effective in bringing about heartaches: “Mf! some people think they’re mighty smart - always showing off!” Nevertheless, it should be noted that the effect on Tom is merely temporary, given his boisterous and persistent character. Having said that, Tom’s pursuit for Becky’s attention and infatuation do not cease. 

In spite of Tom's mischief, one cannot deny that his courting Becky eventually leads to the development of his character as someone who is reliable. The first concrete piece of evidence demonstrating this is when Tom volunteers himself to take a “whipping” for Becky. Undeniably, his upward trajectory to ceaselessly display qualities of a reliable, generous and productive man does not halt. When trapped in the cavern with Becky, he learns and acts in manners that are reflective of behaving not only courageously and intellectually, but also sacrificially. He even moves on the earn the approval of Judge Thatcher, whose impression of Tom is previously tainted due to Tom’s un-conscientiousness and mischievously deceptive ways (i.e. impersonating a model student and then failing to recall lines from the bible). 

Although the significance of Becky’s presence and character may be misconstrued as providing merely entertainment and (later on in the book) suspense, one should not disregard her representation of the process of maturation of a male character, in the face of a female sex who he finds to be attractive and a potential romantic mate. Twain conveys and illustrates this with brilliance by demonstrating how Tom’s encounter with Becky results in his self-consciousness and shame; and later on, how his pursuit for Becky’s reciprocal attraction allows Tom to realize his potential as a reliable, generous and productive man.