In his novel Mark Twain shows how this young boy named Tom behaves as he progresses through childhood. He lives with an aunt named Aunt Polly who is a very strict person. When Tom does things he shouldn't do, she punishes him. Even when he knows he is wrong and shouldn't steal, he does it anyway. He knows what not to do because they are religious too. They go to church almost every Sunday but Tom hates it and thinks the sermons are boring. After a while adulthood starts to set in and he starts to calm down and no longer does the things he used to do. He starts realizing different things and starts to mature more into a different Tom. The different Tom is better because he obeys, he stopped stealing, he wasn't as lazy as he used to be so the different Tom was a better Tom. In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain shows coming of age and how the typical American boy progressed through childhood. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In the adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom shows how some kids like him are very rebellious and disobedient. At the beginning of the novel Tom is stealing jam from the pantry when his Aunt Polly finds him. When Aunt Polly finds him before he can do anything, he tricks her into turning away, and when she turns away he jumps over the fence and runs before receiving punishment. In another incident, his Aunt Polly asks Tom questions because she feels he didn't go to school that day, but she doesn't know that while she asks him questions he is stealing sugar. His brother Sid sees him stealing the sugar and tells him about it, but Tom is quick enough to get out of the house before receiving punishment once again. While leaving the house he saw this guy on the street who was so annoying that Tom decided to start arguing with this guy and then they start arguing about nothing. When he decided to go to his crush house and water was poured on him, he threw a stone at the window, broke it and secretly went back into the house. Some children change their attitude if they go to church or if they have a role model in their life. Tom goes to church and Sunday school, but thinks it's very boring and doesn't really pay attention to what Mr. Walters says. In the story Aunt Polly shows how she disciplines rebellious and disobedient children like Tom. When he did bad things she would sometimes make him do housework or what she thought was a good punishment for him. At the beginning of the story Tom was stealing jam and she tried to beat him but he tricked her into not beating him. Try giving him other types of punishment instead of constantly hitting him. Tom was stealing sugar at the table and left the house before he received punishment, so when he tried to sneak back in, Aunt Polly told him to whitewash the fence. When Sid tried to steal the sugar, Aunt Polly blamed Tom and beat him even when he didn't. This really hurt Tom because he was blamed for something he didn't even do. And she didn't even apologize to him after she found out Sid did it. After this happens, Tom feels very sad and wonders what she would do to him and what she would say to him if he were to die. Tom says, "How she would throw herself upon him, and how her tears would fall like rain, and her lips would pray to God to give her back her child, and she would never abuse him again"! After a while she began to slow down the way she disciplined him. Once he goes on that pirate adventure with his friends and doesn't tell them and they think they're dead, she starts to realize that she shouldn't have treated him the way she did.Done. Aunt Polly says: “He wasn't naughty, just mischievous so to speak. Just a little dizzy, and harum scarum, you know. He was no longer responsible for a foal. He never had any bad intentions and was the best-hearted boy who ever lived.” When she discovered Tom's trick she thought it was cool but was also disappointed because he didn't tell her it was all fun and games. Aunt Polly got angry because she was teased because Joe Harper had already told her mother about Tom's trick. Even when Tom said he didn't think they knew, Aunt Polly couldn't believe him because she couldn't trust him anymore even if she tried. At the end of the novel Tom begins to grow up. He is not the same boy he was at the beginning of the novel. Even though he could still play a lot and have a childish manner, some things he stopped doing for the best. He wasn't the same Tom who didn't do his chores, or the one who stole, or the one who was lazy, he was a more mature Tom. The adult in Tom came out when he returned to Aunt Polly's house and thought about leaving her a note to tell her he was okay even though he didn't. Tom even stopped stealing because at first he always felt like he had to steal things. For example, he had stolen sugar from the table and also jam from the pantry and was always caught. When he went on the pirate adventure with his friends, they stole many different things. When Tom and his friends first met, each of them had stolen some supplies such as boiled ham, some trifle, frying pan, semi-cured leaf tobacco and other supplies. They even stole a raft just so they could go on the journey they were destined for. They even pretended to be Indians and decided to smoke pipes. Before they went to sleep they prayed and were afraid that lightning would strike them because of all the bad things they were doing. When they prayed they promised that they would never steal like pirates again because they knew that what they were doing was very wrong and that the Bible does not command it. This is the beginning of why Tom stopped stealing because they promised not to steal like pirates. Once you get into the habit of doing something, you keep doing the same thing over and over again, so if he hadn't stolen for a long time the outcome after the adventure would most likely have been that he wouldn't have stolen anymore. He began to mature as an adult and grow up when he witnessed Dr. Robinson's murder. Tom has found himself in a situation that he didn't understand as a boy, but that he understands as he begins to mature. With all the lies he ever told, once he entered the mature stage everything changed, he couldn't keep quiet about the murder and told the truth about everything. He no longer thought of himself and did what was right, so when the widow needed saving he goes to help save the widow. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get Custom EssayTom is a really good example for people like him who start out pretty rough but start to see things differently. Some kids are “bad,” but all you need is something to change your life or someone to come into your life and teach you certain things that other people couldn't teach you. Aunt Polly couldn't teach Tom how to start being mature and act like an adult. As he grew up, he had to enter certain situations where he had to make decisions as an adult. Beatings aren't always the answer if a child does something wrong, because then kids like Tom start to wonder how their guardian would feel if they were to die or run away. You should also take time and talk to your kids to understand why so.