Summary:
From The Adventure of Tom Sawyer written by Mark Twain, we can learn something about how to gain popularity among the group. After reading the novel, we tend to hold the opinion that Tom gained his popularity by the tricks he played. He was so smart a boy that it seemed that he knew how to lead the others pretty well.
Millions of people in the world dream of becoming popular among their fellows but always fail to find out how. Maybe they can get some clues from the little boy in the Adventure of Tom Sawyer -one of Mark Twain's most famous novels.
After reading the novel, we tend to hold the opinion that Tom gained his popularity by the tricks he played. He was so smart a boy that it seemed that he knew how to lead the others pretty well.
One of the most impressive scenes for most readers is Tom whitewashing the fence as a punishment from his aunt. He acted like that he enjoyed it so much that he didn't want anybody to have his job. As a result, this aroused the other boys' interest. They even traded tickets with Tom for a chance to try this actually boring task. It seemed that Tom was sacrificing himself and benefiting others. Actually he was the one who benefited the most because he had had his work done without doing a thing.
Another time while he was away from home leading his pirate's life with Huckleberry and Joe, Tom used to come back home once and heard his aunt's talking about him, according to what his aunt had said, he planed that they could play a trick with their family--to appear suddenly at the funerals of themselves. But he didn't tell Huck and Joe about the plan until the last minute because he had already guessed that they might want to go home after they became bored and this plan would be the only attraction for them to stay. By using these tricks, Tom became very popular and almost all the boys considered him as the leader.
But only with these tricks, one can definitely not become popular. There must be some good qualities in him that are admired by the group--just like what Tom Sawyer had.
First, he could fight well. As a boy like him, it was a very proud thing if he could beat another boy. In the novel, Tom had a fight with a boy in the very beginning chapter, and he won. To some extent, this helped bring him respect from others because boys are likely to follow another boy if he could win him in a fight.
Then, he was comparatively knowledgeable than other boys, especially in those fun things. He knew more than others about pirates, about Robin Hood, even about the engagement in the adults' world and always provided some brilliant ideas. So, when he said something, others always believed it and did just about everything Tom told them.
Another reason that the boys liked Tom was that he was very courageous to do something that they didn't have the gut to do. Tom once stood out for Becky to receive the teacher's punishment so he gained favor from Becky by doing this. And in one of the most exciting chapter, Tom spoke up in the court, telling everyone what he had seen that night and this made him a really great hero.
Tom Sawyer, with all the qualities he had and the help of some little tricks, enjoyed his leadership among kids from his class and neighborhood and even among those adults in the village. In him, we can see what makes a popular person and get to know something about how to gain popularity among our group.
This is the complete article, containing 561 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
