return to an excited crowd. Tom blurts out the news that Huck is now rich. The Widow Douglas announces that she plans to adopt Huck because he saved her from the revenge of Injun Joe. Her husband had once mistreated Injun Joe and he wanted revenge on the Widow Douglas. She is grateful to Huck. She takes him in and attempts to "civilize him, with clean clothes and church and polite manners. But Huck is miserable. He is full of gratitude and loyalty to this kindly woman; he respects her teachings, but cannot submit to clothes and a bed and baths. Civilization is almost literal death to Huck instead of just the nuisance that it is for Tom. Huck eventually chooses his way of life over the Widows (Rinaldo 23). She is too protective. He runs away, explaining later to Tom that it was awful to be tied up so. Only Tom can convince him to return to the Widow Watson. Because of their friendship he knows the right promise to make to Huck. He promises him that they will be robbers together, for which they both need to have respectable reputations (Rinaldo 4-5).However, at the end of the novel the treasure is symbolic of the end of the boys journey. It creates Toms transition into adulthood and Hucks transition into civilized society. The treasure also proves the boys are heroes. They are now exceptional in a world where conformity is the rule. The money is given to a responsible adult. With their healthy allowance, the boys can continue to explore their role as commercial citizens on the way to responsible adulthood (Machlis 680).Childhood is a complex and difficult period, as the child is forced to deal with issues, which are far beyond his understanding but not beyond his concern. It would be nice if all humans could go through their childhoods role-playing, as Tom Sawyer does. Mark Twain suggests that children who have always had the perfect childhood have no reason to question the workings of their world, even when that world is...
