As we discussed in class about how Mark Twain originally intended for Tom Sawyer to be an adult’s novel, the idea of Tom as a study of boyhood arose. Encapsulating, the discussion of Tom as a window through a layered window in which the society of the time viewed boyhood in the south. Tom Sawyer embodies many of the ideal that still persist today and can be credited in ways to what we believe to be the ideal stance of childhood. Tom is charming, and dangerously intelligent. Despite Tom’s tricks and adventures, he never strays too far to go as far as breaking breaks the law. This keeps the novel within that realm of childishness because as far as tom does not break any adult laws, there are no real consequences. Tom here can be seen as one who separates himself from the rest of society by choosing an unconventional method of improving himself. American have always loved the ideal of the outcast hero who breaks away from the stifling society to venture out on his own because it reminds us of our own independence from the British crown, how a few rogue members of society could inspire a nation to revolt against an empire.