The life of Tom Sawyer is filled with mischief and caprices. An important part of his life is his belief in superstitions. Life is made magical by his incantations, and reality is no longer what it used to be. In Tom’s world, warts are cured by a chant, marbles are restored and beetles become informative. Unfortunately, these superstitions lead him through a valley of deception, disappointment and unrealistic expectations.
“Barley-corn, barley-corn, injun-meal shorts. Spunk-water, spunk-water, swaller these warts.” Tom Sawyer adamantly believes that if said properly, this chant will cure anyone’s warts. To say it properly, however, involves going alone to the spunk-water spout at midnight to perform a routine. Tom demonstrates his youthful imagination with his firm belief in superstitions. However, his imagination crosses the line and touches the border of boyish deception. For instance, Tom convinces Huckleberry that he has cured thousands of warts by saying this incantation while performing a midnight routine. This can be taken as an understanding that Tom has either convinced himself that he has been cured, or he has deceived Huckleberry into believing Tom’s miraculous cures. Superstitions play a large role in the life of Tom and his friends, thus it is necessary for them to imagine or deceive in order to keep their firm faith alive. Mark Twain clearly illustrates that Tom’s youthful immaturity blocks the path of reality, which sometimes causes his high hopes to crash.
Tom was certain that if he recited a particular incantation while burying a marble, in a fortnight the marbles he had lost in the past would gather next to the buried marble. It came as a bitter disappointment to learn that this incantation never fulfilled itself. Tom’s explanation for this lack of fulfillment was that someone had interfered with the charm. His childish mind exhibits itself, showing a wistful imagination that controls his common sense. Tom enjoys the delightful idea of a...