Good Night, Mr. Tom Themes & Characters

Good Night, Mr. Tom Themes and Characters

The central characters of Good Night, Mr. Tom are William Beech and Tom Oakley. When he appears at Mr. Tom's door, Willie is nearly nine, but he looks like a six-year-old. The thin, malnourished boy is covered with bruises and cuts from his mother's beatings.

Because of his lifelong abuse, everyone and everything terrifies the boy, leaving him uncommunicative, inept, unable to read or write. He vomits from excitement and wets the bed nightly. Gradually Mr. Tom's kindness and encouragement overcome Willie's fears, and he becomes a happy, normal boy who loves his benefactor dearly. Through association with other children, particularly the lively Zach, he develops friendships for the first time.

Tom Oakley, embittered by the death of his artistic young wife and infant son, William, has been the village recluse for years. Now in his mid-sixties, Mr. Tom agrees to take an evacuee child because...
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