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TOM’S MATURITY PROCESS AS THE RESULT OF CONFLICTSSEEN IN MARK TWAIN’S

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirementsfor the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

LENI ANDRIANI

Student Number : 034214121

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMMEDEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERSSANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA2009

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This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to:

My beloved parents, H. Heru Suyono and Hj. Endrastutik

My wonderful sisters, Luqi H, Lucia, Lutfi and my brother, Faisal

and those who have given me support and love in my life.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My first gratitude goes to Allah SWT for blessing me in my life and for

guiding me in writing and completing my undergraduate thesis.

I would like to express by best gratitude to my advisor, Dra. Th. Enny

Anggraini, M. A. I thank her for taking the time to guide me and for sharing her

knowledge with me. I also thank my co-advisor, Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.

Hum for reading my undergraduate thesis and giving me suggestions in order to

make it better. And I also thank all my lecturer for their guidance and their time to

share their knowledge during the years of my study.

My best gratitude goes to my beloved family for supporting me in writing

my undergraduate thesis. My deepest gratitude and love goes to my wonderful

father, H. Heru Suyono and my mother Hj.Endrastutik for their love, support and

prayers. My special gratitude goes to my beloved sisters and brother; Luqi

Hermawanti, S.P for always supporting me, Lucia Herlinawati, S.E, Lutfi

Hervianti, and Faisal Lukman Nugroho, I love them all.

I also would like to express my thanks to friends in Sastra Mungil and

“Street Car Named Desire’ team: Andre, Wahmuji, Yusak, Mando, Demuz, Theo,

Abit, Cita, Mei, Ketut, Nani, Sondang, Bigar, Yaco, Ginting, Agnes, Yuni, Intan,

Dewi, Ike, Cisil, Afril, Inop, Maya, Dean, Daud, for giving me happiness,

laughter, and knowledge. I thank ‘Ndre’ for always giving me happiness and

support. Thanks for coloring my life. Also, I thank all 2003 English Letters

Department students who have been with me during my study.

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Many thanks are to my boarding house friends, Cumi and Lindut,. Thanks

for being true friends for me. Thanks for a lot of things, for the laughter, love,

tears, and silly things you have shared. Keep our friendship forever. I love you all.

My special thanks go to ‘Ant’ for being such a good boyfriend. Thanks for

your endless support and love.

Last but not least, my thank goes to friends in “Sekar Jepun” for giving me

happiness and helping me to leave my tension awhile in the writing process of my

undergraduate thesis.

Leni Andriani

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE .................................................................................................... iAPPROVAL PAGE .......................................................................................... iiACCEPTANCE PAGE .................................................................................... iiiDEDICATION PAGE ...................................................................................... ivACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................. vTABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................. viiABSTRACT........................................................................................................ viiiABSTRAK ......................................................................................................... ix

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 1A. Background of the study .................................................................... 1B. Problem Formulation ......................................................................... 6C. Objectives of the study ...................................................................... 6D. Definition of Terms ............................................................................ 6

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW .................................................... 8A. Review of Related Studies ................................................................. 8B. Review of Related Theories .............................................................. 10

1. Theory on Character and Characterization ........................... 102. Theory on Conflicts .............................................................. 143. Theory on Maturity ............................................................... 15

C. Theoretical Framework ......................................................................18

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ................................................................. 20A. Object of the Study ............................................................................ 20B. Approach of the Study ....................................................................... 21C. Method of the Study .......................................................................... 21

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ............................................................................. 23A. The Characteristics of Tom Sawyer .................................................. 23B. The Conflicts Experienced by Tom .................................................. 30C. The Result of Conflicts toward Tom’s Maturity Process ................. 47

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ........................................................................ 58

BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................. 60

APPENDIX: Summary of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ................................ 62

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ABSTRACT

LENI ANDRIANI. Tom’s Maturity Process as the Result of Conflicts Seen inMark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Yogyakarta: Department ofEnglish Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2009.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is one of Mark Twain’s best novels. Thisundergraduate thesis focuses on the novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer writtenby Mark Twain. It became a best-seller novel when it was first published. Thestory of the novel is about a boy who likes to have some adventures in his life.The name of the boy is Tom Sawyer. The novel tells about Tom’s life which isfull of extraordinary experiences and conflicts. Although he is a boy, he alreadyhas ability to face all the experiences. It shows that he is able to reach maturity inhis very young age.

There are three problem formulations in this undergraduate thesis; (1)What are the characteristics of Tom? (2) What are the conflicts experienced byTom? and (3) How do the conflicts influence Tom’s maturity process?. Theobjectives of this undergraduate thesis are; first, to explore the characteristics ofTom Sawyer as the main character, second, to find out the conflicts experiencedby Tom during his childhood, and third is to show Tom’s maturity process as theresult of his conflicts.

This undergraduate thesis uses library research. The writer collects all thedata from books and theories which are found from documents, either printed oron-line. The psychological approach is applied to analyze the novel.

Through the analysis, the writer finds that Tom Sawyer is a mischievousboy who often gets and out into troubles. He is also an imaginative, lazy, full ofcuriosity, and cowardly. Most of them are clearly seen in his speech, his attitude,and his thought in facing his life. Moreover, the analysis shows that the boyexperiences some conflicts with other characters; they are Aunt Polly,Huckleberry Finn, and Becky Thatcher. Those are the most important conflictswhich help him mature.

The conflicts with those other characters change Tom’s mind and attitude.His understanding toward problem in his childhood shows that his maturity beginsto attain. Moreover, Tom’s maturity is seen in his self-evaluation, his ability todeal with frustration, and his sense of responsibility. Those criteria prove that hismaturity process is already proven in this study.

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ABSTRAK

LENI ANDRIANI. Tom’s Maturity Process as the Result of Conflicts Seen inMark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Yogyakarta: Jurusan SastraInggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2009.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer adalah salah satu novel terbaik karanganMark Twain. Skripsi ini berfokus pada novel yang ditulis oleh Mark Twain. Noveltersebut merupakan novel yang sangat disukai ketika pertama kali novel tersebutditerbitkan. Cerita dari novel ini berkisah tentang seorang anak laki-laki yangsangat menyukai petualangan di kehidupannya. Nama anak laki-laki tersebut yaituTom Sawyer. Novel ini menceritakan tentang kehidupan Tom yang penuh denganpengalaman-pengalaman luar biasa serta banyak konflik. Walaupun dia masihtergolong seorang anak, dia mampu menghadapi semua pengalamannya. Haltersebut menunjukkan bahwa Tom telah sampai pada kedewasaan di usianya yangmasih sangat belia.

Ada tiga pokok permasalahan dalam skripsi ini; (1) Apa sajakahkarakteristik yang dimiliki oleh Tom? (2) Apa sajakah konflik-konflik yangdialaminya? (3) Bagaimana konflik-konflik tersebut mempengaruhi proseskedewasaannya? Tujuan dari penulisan skripsi ini adalah; pertama, untukmengeksplorasi karakteristik Tom Sawyer sebagai tokoh utama, kedua, untukmenemukan konflik-konflik yang dialami oleh Tom, dan ketiga adalah untukmenunjukkan proses kedewasaan Tom sebagai akibat dari konflik-konflik yangdialaminya.

Skripsi ini menggunakan metode studi pustaka. Penulis mengumpulkansemua data dari buku dan teori yang ditemukan dari dokumen, baik itu dari mediacetak ataupun media on-line. Pendekatan psikologi diterapkan untuk menganalisa.

Melalui bagian analisis, penulis menemukan bahwa Tom Sawyer adalahanak yang nakal yang selalu membuat masalah. Ia juga anak yang mempunyaibanyak imajinasi, malas, penuh dengan keingintahuan dan penakut.Penggambaran tokoh Tom Sawyer ini terlihat jelas dari perkataannya, tingkahlakunya serta dalam pemikirannya dalam menjalani kehidupan. Lebih lanjut,analisis ini menunjukkan bahwa ia mengalami banyak konflik dengan karakter-karakter lain; mereka adalah Aunt Polly, Huckleberry Finn, dan Becky Thatcher.Konflik-konflik tersebut merupakan konflik yang paling pokok dalam cerita iniyang nantinya dapat mendewasakan Tom.

Konflik-konflik dengan karakter lain telah merubah pikiran dan tingkahlaku pada diri Tom. Pengertiannya terhadap masalah di masa kecilnyamenunjukkan bahwa kedewasaannya sudah mulai tercapai. Lebih lanjut,kedewasaan Tom terlihat jelas pada kemampuan evaluasinya, pada kemampuandalam mengatasi kekecewaan, dan pada pengertiannya tentang tanggungjawab.Semua criteria tersebut membuktikan adanya proses kedewasaan Tom dalam studiini.

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

As we know that every human being changes from time to time. His

growth proceeds in the physical change and at the same time, it changes in his

behavior as the direct consequences of the growth. As human beings, they

undergo stages of development from their process to become an infant, a child, a

teenage, an adult and an elder person.

Human beings always get their childhood. It becomes one of human’s life

stages of development that has to be faced by everyone. As they grow, they

always learn and interact with others from their surroundings. Those learning and

interacting processes often influence or change their characteristics. Basically,

they face some kinds of developmental changes in their childhood and one of

them is maturity development. They will reach their physical change, categorized

as the external growth, and reach mental maturity, categorized as the internal

growth, in their age after facing some experiences in life. Being mature according

to R. Guys Lefrancois is “related to development which includes growth and

learning as a relatively permanent change in the behavior of individual resulting

from experience” (Psychological Theories and Human Learning, 1982:107).

In literary work if there is a conflict appears in its plot, it becomes more

interesting to read. That is why conflict becomes an important aspect of an author

when creating a literary work. In a literary work, characters need to struggle to

overcome their conflicts which then lead them into their changes. As Ellen

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Jackson stated in her article “Conflict and Change”, conflict is the challenge a

character must face and, in the end, overcome. Think of "conflict" as another

word for "problem." The characters need to struggle a bit to resolve a difficulty.

This problem of facing challenges and figuring out how to overcome them makes

for exciting reading. If the characters do not have a problem to solve, they have no

basis for an adventure. As the author, we want our readers to care about our

characters, and to remain curious about the way the problem will be solved. Thus,

the author must devise a story problem and then intensify it by throwing

difficulties in the way of our characters. When our main character is confronted

by an unpleasant event – the death of a pet, a fight with a friend, parents

divorcing–he changes. Maybe they are not in the right away, but eventually. The

author’s job is to show that change and to make the process seem believable

(March 26, 2007).

In real life, conflict also becomes an important aspect in human life. To

develop, sometimes people deal with conflicts which then lead them into their

changes or help them shape their maturity.

As Jeannette Santino stated in her article “Level of Maturity”

(November 14, 2007),

human beings display some kinds of maturity level in their behavior. Generally,

we would expect that people behave according to the levels of maturity of their

age. We might think that people in the forty year old age would act like a forty

year old age and twelve year old like a twelve year old, and so on. This is not that

case. One can be a fully grown person but immature or, on the contrary, they can

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be a person in young age but very mature in their mental and emotional. As

human beings grow from infant to adult, they have more experiences helping

them to develop and to understand those events that occur in life. As mature

person, we become more flexible. There are some greater capacities to find

peaceful solutions when human faces the differences with others. It results a more

independent attitude, ultimately achieving interdependence. In addition, greater

maturity will produce more kindness, compassion, and respect toward others,

along with self-confidence and clarity of purpose.

Sometimes maturity is used to indicate person’s response to the

circumstances or environment in an appropriate manner. As Overstreet said in his

book The Mind Alive, that to label someone becomes mature, he or she must know

the appropriate behavior toward his age, and his power over his environment is

matched by a growing awareness of what is involved in what he does (1949:44).

One example of literary works which requires a story about children

developmental changes in their maturity is in Mark Twain’s work, The Adventures

of Tom Sawyer. This analysis is going to discuss the main character’s maturity

process as the result of conflicts in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

The writer chooses this novel for the study because of some reasons. The

first reason is because of the novel itself. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is

considered as one of Mark Twain’s popular works in his period, 1876. He is

considered as one of the eight American authors as James Woodress states in his

book Eight American Authors. Because of that the writer thinks that his work of

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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer can be a good sample of American literature to

analyze.

The second is because of the content of the story. The novel itself concerns

about childhood experience. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is about a boy

maturing throughout a span of adventures in love, treasure, and everyday life that

make him more of an adult, then a boy. The name of the boy is Tom Sawyer. He

is described as a boy from the beginning of the story. Although there is no specific

description about Tom’s age, it seems that Tom is a boy which is approximately

more than 6 years old. It is very important to categorize Tom to that age, because

it will help the writer to give the limitation to know his maturity development for

the analysis. According to Hurlock, he states “the late childhood for girls occurs

in the range between 6-13 years old and for boys in between 6-14 years old”

(2000:146). Based on the explanation above, Tom can be categorized in the late of

childhood phase.

Twain wrote this novel based on his own experiences in his childhood.

The scenes and events were drawn largely from Mark Twain’s childhood

experiences in Hannibal, Missouri. He wrote the novel to remind adults of what

they were once. As can be seen in the preface of the novel The Adventures of Tom

Sawyer, it is clearly seen that the events in the story take place in Twain’s

childhood. As Twain states himself that “Most of the adventures recorded in this

book really occurred; one or two were experiences of my own, the rest of those

boys who were schoolmates of mine” (1920).

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The main character in the story is Tom Sawyer. He and its story represent

everything about childhood. Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is filled with

Tom's adventures playing pirates and wars with his friend Joe Harper and Huck. It

is a story filled with adventures, imagination, love, superstition, and

mischievousness. The whole story is seemingly a complication of what people do

or wish they do during their childhood.

Furthermore there are a lot of conflicts occur between the characters in the

story. The writer found it as an interesting topic to be analyzed. Tom experiences

some conflicts which then lead him into his maturity in his age. As Tom Schenk

(November 16, 2007)

stated in his article, that immature people tends lack of understanding when

dealing with conflicts. But a mature person tends to expect and respect conflict.

Therefore, to improve his or herself, a mature person utilizes conflict while

respecting its danger, they appreciate its benefit.

This study tries to observe more closely on the self-maturity of the main

character in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The writer focuses on

the character of Tom Sawyer as the main character in the novel. Then the writer

intends to show Tom’s conflicts with other characters. Therefore the writer

attempts to identify how the conflicts of the main character’s childhood life result

in his maturity process.

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B. Problem Formulation

Based on the explanation above, the writer formulates the following

questions as problems to answer in the analysis:

1. What are the characteristics of Tom?

2. What are the conflicts experienced by Tom?

3. How do the conflicts influence Tom’s maturity process?

C. Objectives of the Study

Considering the problem formulation above, there are three objectives in

this study. The first objective is to explore the characteristics of Tom Sawyer as

the main character.

The second objective is to find out the conflicts experienced by Tom

during his childhood, which then lead him to his maturity. The last objective is to

show Tom’s maturity process as the result of his conflicts.

D. Definition of Terms

In this study, the writer needs to define some terms in order to get better

understanding of the title and to make the discussion clearer.

1. Maturity

According to Justin Pikunas in Human Development, An Emergent

Science, maturity is defined as “the state of maximal function and integration of a

single factor or a total person; also applied to age-related adequacy of

development and performance” (1976:48).

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2. Conflict

According to Perrine in Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense, conflict is

defined as “a clash of action, ideas, and desires or will between two individuals,

or among people in the story” (1974:44).

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CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL REVIEW

A. Review of Related Studies

Mark Twain was born in Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835. He got

his first success in 1869 after he wrote his novel The Innocents Abroad. The next

major published work The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn considered him as the

great American literature writer at that time. Another example of his well-known

book of his is Life on the Mississippi in 1883. In 1876, he published The

Adventures of Tom Sawyer and it became the most well-known novel and made

him soon famous all over the world.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was first published in 1876, and after its

publishing, he received some criticisms, appreciations and comments toward

Twain himself and his literary works from other writers. Those are very important

for the writer to support the analysis of this study.

The writer obtains criticism from articles in Nation magazine on May, 12

1910. In that article, Sherman states that a good reputation among the other

American literature writers at that time.

No American writers have ever enjoyed a more purely democratic reputationthan Mark Twain. From village celebrity to international renown, he hasbeen advanced stage after stage by popular suffrage. The plain, unbookishburgess holding both his sides at public lecture has helped roar to him intoeminence(October 16, 2007).

One criticism also comes from Robert E. Spiller. In the book titled The

Cycle of American Literature, he says that The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is the

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reflection of Mark Twain himself. The character of Tom Sawyer is the

representation of Mark Twain when he was a child. The events happened in the

life of Tom Sawyer were based on Mark Twain’s own childhood and it really

happened in his real life.

Tom was the Sam Clemens who sought the violence and excitement of lifein a frontier town, Huck the sensitive dreamer who puzzled over man’s inhumanities. The two were never reconciled in the boy of Hannibal nor inthe man who lectured and was read around the world; but through them hedid his best writing (1957: 120).

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer becomes a great novel to read and also an

interesting literary work to be analyzed. The study about Mark Twain’s The

Adventures of Tom Sawyer had been conducted before by student of English

Letters Department and student of English Language Department of Sanata

Dharma University, Yogyakarta. They were approved and successfully defended.

Yulius Yoma Preston, student of English Letters Department of Sanata

Dharma University, Yogyakarta in his undergraduate thesis entitled The

Influences of Peers and Family on Tom Sawyer in his Social Development as

Depicted in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer states that Tom’s social

development as the main character is mostly influenced by his society which is

represented by peers and family. The existence of peers and family give either bad

or good influences on Tom’s character during his social development (2003: 62).

Discussing more about the character with its development and other

intrinsic elements in which in this analysis is presented by conflicts, Linda Novita

Sugiono, student of English Language Department in her undergraduate thesis

The Significance of Tom’s Conflicts in his Character Development in Mark

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Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, proves that the internal and external

conflict experienced by Tom in his childhood have change him into mature and

responsible boy in his age (2001: 59-60).

From those reviews and comments, the writer finds that the character of

Tom Sawyer is interesting to be analyzed. The writer finds also that there is no

study which talks about the child maturity process. Because of that the writer

intends to discuss more about the maturity process that is reflected in Tom’s

characteristics after facing some conflicts.

B. Review of Related Theories

To support this study, the writer presents some theories that would deal

with the topic about maturity process of Tom Sawyer as the main character seen

in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The theories are theory of character and

characterization, theory of conflicts and theory of maturity. The writer would like

to use those theories in order to get appropriate answer of problem formulation in

this study.

1. Theory on Character and Characterization

Characteristic according to Stanton in An Introduction to Fiction

(1965:17), literature or literary work is “the mixture of interests, desires,

emotions, and moral principles that makes up each of these individuals.”

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Still according to Stanton, characterization is “the traits of a character, or

his development, or his attitudes toward others, or his effects upon them (and vice

versa), or his similarities to and differences from them” (1965:70).

Roger B. Henkle states that a character can be described as major and

secondary characters. Major characters are the most important and complex

characters in the novel. They can be identified as such through the complexity of

their characterization, the attention given to them (by author and other characters)

who deserve our fullest attention because they perform the key of structural

function. Secondary characters are the characters who perform more limited

functions. They are limited in ways that the major characters are not. They may

be less sophisticated, so their responses to the experience are less complex and

interesting (Reading the Novel: An Introduction to the Techniques Interpreting

Fiction, 1965:60).

According to Baldick in his book The Concise Oxford Dictionary of

Literary Terms, character is a person in a narrative or dramatic work. It is

different from characterization, in that characterization is the way in which a

character is presented. Therefore, character is the result, while characterization is

the process (1991:83).

Characters according to Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms

(1981:20), are divided into major and minor characters. Major characters are

involved in the main action and become the most important in a story. Minor

characters are character who appear in certain setting or some parts of the story as

the background of the major characters.

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In addition, still according to Abrams, characters are also divided into flat

character and round character. Round characters are fully developed in the story.

They appear as the central of the story and possess all the characteristics of real

human beings. While flat characters are not fully developed as the major

characters. They are static and do not change the story.

As Murphy states in his Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to

English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students says that

characterization is how an author conveys to the reader what sort of people they

are, how an author makes the reader get to know and understand them. According

to Murphy, a character can be understood from 9 ways: “personal description,

character as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation by another characters,

reactions, direct comment, thought, mannerisms” (1972:162-173).

a. Personal description

The author describes a person by giving details of appearance. The author can

tell the readers the details of the color of the skin and of the hair, the shape, or

the clothes used, which may keep the readers to visualize the person and to

know characters as well.

b. Character as seen by another

Using this way means that the author may describe a person by using another

person’s eyes and opinion. What people in the story think about certain

character can be significant to the reader’s understanding from which the

readers can set a reflected image on the character.

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c. Speech

The author can give the readers an insight into a person’s character through

what the person says. Whenever a person speaks in a conversation, or it gives

an opinion, he gives a clue that the reader may know how his character is.

d. Past life

It suggests that the author may picture a person’s past life permitting the

readers to obtain a clue to events that have helped to shape his character. This

can be done by direct comment by the author, through the person’s thought,

through his or her conversation or through the medium of another person.

e. Conversation of other characters

The author uses this way to give a description of a person through the

conversation of other people and things they say about him. People do talk

about other people and the things they say often served as a clue to the

character of the person that is spoken about.

f. Reaction

To describe a person, the author can show how the person reacts to various

situations and events which allow the readers to get a clue to his character.

g. Direct comment

It means that the author can explicitly give direct description or comment on a

person’s character.

h. Thoughts

The author can describe a person’s character by giving the readers knowledge

of what the person is thinking about.

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i. Mannerism

It suggests that the author can convey something about a person by describing

his mannerism, habits or idiosyncrasies.

2. Theory on Conflicts

According to Redman (Second Book of Plays, 1964:363), there are two

kinds of conflicts. Firstly, it is inner or internal conflict, it means that the conflict

occurs within one’s character. For example, in a certain situation the character

feels that she should take an action which is good according to her, but her belief

prevented her to take it. In that situation, the clash occurs between her desire and

her belief. Secondly, it is external conflict. This kind of conflict occurs between a

character and his/her outside aspects. It can be the other characters, the setting, or

society. Those outside forces are different from the character’s belief, desire or

way of thinking which then create clash between them.

Perrine also states in his book Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense,

“conflict is a clash of actions, ideas, desires and will between two individuals, or

among people in the story” (1974:44).

Elgin F. Hunt in Social Science: An Introduction to The Study of

Society, states that a conflict does not always has the form in direct ones, such as

frontal war, riot, fight, or any kind of open hostilities. Conflict does not always

mean hate, hatred, or distrust. It also can happen through the limitation of

differences of opinion, judgment, perspective, and their opposing arguments

(1955: 31-32).

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3. Theory on Maturity

According to Justin Pikunas in Human Development, An Emergent

Science, maturity is defined as “the state of maximal function and integration of a

single factor or a total person; also applied to age-related adequacy of

development and performance” (1976: 48).

In addition, he states that there are nine criteria of maturity. They are

“differential responsiveness, interdependence, participate activity, in the term of

application of knowledge and experience, communication of experience,

sensitivity to the needs of others, ability of dealing constructively with frustration,

willingness to assume adult responsibilities and perceive a moral character”

(1976: 300-304).

a. Differential responsiveness

The author states that a child and adolescent have a different kind of

responsiveness if compared to the mature person. Mature person seems more

responsive toward surrounding than a child and adolescent.

b. Interdependence

It means that in this case, the main point is not become fully independent but

more on self-realization of becoming self-reliant individual.

c. Participate activity

The author believes that in his or her action, a mature person has to be able to

act based on his or her initiative, set goals, and involves others in activities.

d. Application of knowledge and experience

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The ability to evaluate and to self-examine is one of the most important

criteria of maturity. That ability will help a mature person gains his or her

appropriate decision in life.

e. Communication of experience

The author points out that communicating one’s needs and experiences with

others shows the level of maturity in each individual.

f. Sensitivity to the needs of others

A mature person is a person who realizes the needs of others in his or her life.

g. Ability to deal with frustration

The ability to deal with frustration is important to apply in life of a mature

person. A mature person should be able to examine and draw positive lessons

from his or her past frustration.

h. Willingness to assume adult responsibilities

The author believes that this criterion involves with sacrifice and courage to

overcome fear of failure, disregard moods, feeling of disgust and also involves

readiness in ignoring others comments when he or she should meet with

responsibilities in life.

i. Perceive moral character

Pikunas states that people will be influenced by moral value of a certain

society and a mature person will be able to behave mannerly according to

those values.

As Jayaram V stated in his article Maturity of Mind and Adult Behavior

(Nov 14, 2007), maturity refers

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to a complete physical and mental growth or the state of adulthood. People can

make an intelligent guess of what complete physical growth means. Physical

growth is visible, measurable, and does not continue beyond a particular age

except in certain other ways. Every individual undergoes physical maturity, but

few individuals fail to grow normally because some exceptional conditions or

circumstances. In case of mental maturity, an individual can grow mentally for

long. It is difficult to say when an individual actually stops growing mentally.

Mental growth varies from each individual. Some people develop in their mental

maturity and rationality much earlier in their lives compared to others.

Furthermore, he states that maturity does not necessarily come with age,

but with awareness and understanding, borne out of individual perception and

cognitive experience. To be mature according to him does not necessarily mean

just a fully grown up individual. It becomes a combination of many things that

includes age, awareness, intelligence, decision making ability and more.

Worchel says in his book, Psychology: Principles and Applications, in

their development, people sometimes deal with conflicts that they have learned

from their experience of life. A mature person will not avoid problems or

conflicts, he or she will accept it to develop his or herself. In addition, he or she

must be able to solve problem without always depending on other’s help. He or

she has a good amount of responsibility of life. A mature person is a people who

“grows and accept responsibility” (1985:109).

Mature person can solve his own problem without always depending on

other’s help. He must be independent and help himself. He must be brave in

18

facing the difficulties and sometimes he has to make a decision in order to make

his life better (Overstreet, 1949:51). Furthermore, when he deals with problems

and conflicts, he will make a mature solution of such conflict that would involve a

mutual out of the situation and the reaching of an agreement. So it can be said that

a mature person will not avoid problems. But, he will attack the problems by

developing the capability. This kind of person is the one who is mentally mature

(Overstreet, 1949:24).

According to Santino in her article “Level of Maturity”

(November 14, 2007),

one can be a fully grown person but immature or, on the contrary, they can be a

person in young age but very mature in their mental and emotional. As human

beings grow from infant to adult, they have more experiences helping them to

develop and to understand events that occur in life.

C. Theoretical Framework

This part aims to solve the problem formulations stated before. The writer

applies some theories in this study. The theory of character and characterization is

used to solve the first problem. Those theories are necessary to apply in order to

know his characteristics. The theory of conflict and theory of maturity are used to

solve the second and the third problems stated in the problem formulation. The

theory of conflict is needed by the writer because it helps the writer to understand

more about the conflicts experienced by Tom. The theory of maturity is applied in

this study to show Tom’s maturity as the result of the conflicts he experienced in

19

the story. In this analysis, the concept of maturity is going to be used to explain

Tom’s changes in his maturity as the contribution of conflicts with other

characters in the story.

The writer believes that those theories will support one another and help

the writer to answer the formulated problems. In the end, the analysis of Tom’s

maturity as the result of his conflicts can be proven.

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CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

The object of the study is a novel entitled The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

which is written by one of America’s most popular authors, Samuel Langhorne

Clemens. Mark Twain is the pen name for Samuel Langhorne Clemens. The

Adventures of Tom Sawyer was first published in 1876. The writer uses the novel

which was published by P. F. Collier and Son Company, New York in 1920. It

consists of 291 pages. The story is divided into 35 chapters. The novel itself has

been translated into many languages and became very popular all around the

world.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is the story of a child named Tom Sawyer.

The novel tells about his childhood experiences in St. Petersburg, Missouri. He is

described as a mischievous boy with his imagination who is always causing

trouble and goes through a series of adventures involving his peers. All of his

experiences require conflicts which then will help him change in his behavior as

well in his age. As the story progresses, Tom realizes that he is growing up and

starts to act more maturely. The study focuses closely on the self-maturity of Tom

sawyer under the influences of his conflict with other characters which then help

him to reach his maturity.

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B. Approach of the Study

The study focuses on Tom Sawyer’s maturity development, which is

closely, related to psychological aspects especially his attitude and behavior,

therefore, the writer considers that the psychological approach is the appropriate

one to use in analyzing the novel. This approach is used to analyze Tom’s

maturity when he encounters with conflicts in his life.

Based on Rohrberger and Woods, psychological approach is an approach

to literature which involves the effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent

pattern, and which refers to a different body of knowledge, that is psychology. It

is applied when the attention is focused on psychological interpretation for

enhancing the understanding and appreciation of literature. In applying this

approach, psychology is a study of man’s life together with his mind and behavior

(Reading and Writing about Literature, 1971: 13-15).

C. Method of the Study

The writer used library research in analyzing Mark Twain’s The

Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It means that the data and other sources, both primary

and secondary were collected and found from library. In this study, the writer

used Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as the primary data. The

secondary data are the theories, references and other important information from

articles or internet related to this study.

There were several steps that the writer used in analyzing this novel. The

first step was reading the primary source, the novel itself. Then still in this step,

22

reread it again in order to get better understanding about the novel. It was very

useful for the writer to read the story as a whole in order to get some details and

ideas presented in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The second step was searching

and collecting data from some books reference and important information related

to its topic of the analysis. The writer read some books on the theories of character

and characterization, theories of conflict, theories of maturity and also about how

conflict leads into maturity which all of them supported in the work’s analysis.

The writer took notes the information from its book and put it in the right order to

support the analysis. In addition, the writer also looked for some information and

criticism about the novel on internet.

The third step was analyzing the novel by answering the questions stated

in problem formulations. The writer would try to answer by applying some

theories about character and characterization, theories of conflict, theories of

maturity. The analysis was based on the psychological approach since this story

deals with characteristic and maturity. The dialogues and events from Mark

Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer would be used as proofs in doing the

analysis. The last step was making the conclusion based on the result of the

analysis. After answering the question in the problem formulations, the conclusion

would be presented at the end of the analysis.

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CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

This part contains the analysis on the Tom’s maturity process as the result

of conflicts, which is divided into three parts of discussion based on the problem

formulations. The first discussion is the analysis on Tom’s characteristics. The

writer tries to observe the characteristic of the main character. The second one is

the analysis on the conflicts between Tom and other characters. This part is

important to analyze because it will be the basis of the discussion of maturity

process. The last discussion will show how those conflicts lead Tom into his

maturity.

A. The Characteristics of Tom Sawyer

Before analyzing his maturity process, the writer needs to find his general

characteristics. The writer uses the theory of character and characterization to

answer the first problem formulation. It will be done according to Murphy’s

theory about character.

According to Murphy, (1972: 162-173), a character can be understood

from nine ways. They are personal description, character as seen by another,

speech, conversation of other characters, past life, reactions toward various events

or situations, direct comment, thoughts and mannerism. Some of those ways will

be used by the writer to analyze the characteristic of the main character.

24

Here, in the novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Thomas Sawyer is the

main character. He is often called as Tom Sawyer. His speech, action, point of

view, attitudes and the way he thinks are explored in the story. The following

paragraphs are the analysis of Tom’s characteristics.

In the novel, Tom Sawyer is clearly described as a boy who lives in St.

Petersburg, the town of the Mississippi River. He lives in a house with his Aunt

named Aunt Polly, his half-brother named Sidney Sawyer and his cousin, Mary.

The first description of Tom Sawyer as the main character in this novel is

that he is described by the author as a mischievous boy. It can be observed

through his manner and action. He likes to play tricks on people around him

including his aunt and his friends. He is described as an escape master, and a

professional trickster. By some tricks, many times he could escape from

punishments.

“Well, I know. It’s jam, that’s what it is. Forty times I’ve said if you didn’tlet that jam alone I’d skin you. Hand me that switch.” The switch hoveredin the air. The peril was desperate. “My! Look behind you, Aunt!” (p. 2)

The quotation above shows that he often makes himself in trouble. His

mischievousness is proven through his action that he often deceives his Aunt to

get free from his mistakes. Aunt Polly always fails to predict on Tom’s tricks. For

instance, when she finds him in the closet, discovering that his hands are covered

with jam, she prepares to give him a whipping. In this situation, Tom plays his

trick to avoid the punishment because of his mischief. He disobeys Aunt Polly

order to put the jam and prefers to deceive Aunt Polly to look behind her. When

she turns, Tom escapes over the fence.

25

Tom’s mischievousness makes him considered as a troublemaker. It seems

that Tom really likes into and out of trouble. This bad behavior is proven when

there is a newcomer in the village.

“Well why don’t you do it then? What do you keep saying you will for?Why don’t you do it?...Another pause, and more eyeing and sidling aroundeach other. Presently they were shoulder to shoulder. Tom said: “Get awayfrom here!” “Get away yourself!” “I won’t.”“I won’t, either” (p. 8-9).

Based on the quotation above, it can be seen clearly that he seems too much

arrogant to show his ability to fight and his capability as the leader of the boys in

the village. Tom challenges the boy to fight at that moment.

Because of his mischievousness and his disobedience, Aunt Polly

sometimes gives him punishment in order to keep him under control and get him

learn from his faults.

He got home pretty late that night, and when he climbed cautiously in atthe window he uncovered an ambuscade in the person of his aunt; andwhen she saw the state his clothes were in, her resolution to turn hisSaturday holiday into captivity at hard labour became adamantine inits firmness (p. 11).

When Tom returns home late in the evening, Tom finds Aunt Polly waiting for

him. He comes home with his dirty clothes. Aunt Polly sends him out to

whitewash the fence on Saturday morning.

Tom uses his tricks not only to deceive his aunt but also to deceive his

friends and get advantages for himself. He persuades every boy who passes to end

up staying to whitewash the fence and offers them to barter their things. He

convinces his friends to do the tedious job of whitewashing the fence by

pretending that he is enjoying himself and does not want to let them do it. As can

26

be seen when Jim, one of Tom’s friend passes him by, Tom convinces him that

whitewashing is a great interesting work to do. Tom offers Jim a white alley to

replace his job.

“Say, Jim, I'll fetch the water if you'll whitewash some.” Jim shook hishead, and said: “Can't ,Mar's Tom. Ole missis, she tole me I got to go an'git dis water and not stop foolin' roun'wid anybody...” “Oh, never youmind what she said, Jim. That's the way she always talks... Gimme thebucket...” “Oh, I dasn't, Ma'rs Tom...” “She! she never licks anybody -whacks 'em over the head with her thimble... Jim, I'll give you a marvel.I'll give you a white alley!” (p. 13)

From the quotation, it can be seen that Tom tries to convince Jim to whitewash the

fence. At the first time, Jim refuses it because he has an important task, that is to

get water. Then, Tom tries to convince him once more by giving a white alley and

finally, Jim wants to replace him to wash the fence.

“Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little.” Tom considered; was about toconsent; but he altered his mind: “No, no; I reckon it wouldn’t hardly do,Ben. You see, Aunt Polly’s awful particular about this fence–right here onthe street…that can do it the way it’s got to be done. “No – is that so? Oh,come now; lemme just try, only just a little (p. 17).

Furthermore, Tom also tries to convince other boys like Ben Rogers. Tom

really wants the apple which Ben eats. Because of that reason, Tom starts to play

trick again. He pretends to keep on whitewashing the fence. He says to Ben that it

is a hard thing to do and it becomes an honor to get the duty. Tom’s trick seems

work easily because a couple times after that Ben is interesting in Tom’s

whitewashing the fence and really wants to try it. Finally, Ben offers to barter his

apple with Tom’s whitewashing job, as he says, “Now, lemme try. Say – I’ll give

you the core of my apple” (p. 17).

27

After Ben Rogers, Tom seems still have some tricks to deceive other boys

who pass him by like Billy Fisher and Johnny Miller, who also get finally get

tricked. As can be seen from the quotation, “By the time Ben was fagged out,

Tom had traded the next chance to Billy Fisher for a kite in good repair; and when

he played out, Johnny Miller bought in for a dead rat, and a string to swing it

with; and so on, and so on, hour after hour” (p. 18).

There is also a description of Tom as mischievous boy which is said by

another character, Aunt Polly. It can be considered in Murphy’s second theory

about character seen by another (1972:162). “But as I was saying.” said Aunt

Polly, “He wasn’t bad, so to say – only mischievous…” (p. 130).

Tom likes to discover a new thing and then learn it in order to make him

proud of himself. In this case, his action can be taken as the example that actually

Tom is a curious boy. Because of willingness to learn, he can master new things

quickly. His curiosity makes him able to find a new thing that he never learns

before. In this intended quotation, he is able of mastering the way of whistling

quickly.

This new interest was a valued novelty in whistling, which he had justacquired from a Negro, and he was suffering to practice it undisturbed. Itconsisted in a peculiar bird-like turn, a sort of liquid warble, produced bytouching the tongue to the roof of the mouth at short intervals in the midstof the music. The reader probably remembers how to do it if he hasever been a boy. Diligence and attention soon gave him the knack of it,and he strode down the street with his mouth full of harmony and his soulfull of gratitude (p. 6).

When there is a girl, he likes to show off. This habit is proven when he meets a

new girl named Becky Thatcher in his village He tries to impress the girl by

28

showing the fights or stunts in the schoolyard. Sometimes, he gets to do silly

things in order to get her attention.

The boy ran around and stopped within a foot or two of the flower, andthen shaded his eyes with his hand, and began to look down the street as ifhe had discovered something of interest going on in that direction.Presently he picked up a straw …and he hopped away with his treasure,and disappeared around the corner (p. 23).

Tom is described as a lazy boy. He always tries to avoid school. As can be

seen from the quotation:

Suddenly he was discovered something. One of his upper teeth was loose.This was lucky; he was about to begin to groan, as a ‘starter’, as he calledit, when it occurred to him… and threatened to make him lose a finger. Sothe boy eagerly drew hi sore toe from under the sheet and held it up forinspection. But, it seemed well worth while to chance it, so he fell togroaning with considerable spirit (p. 50).

On that Monday morning, Tom finds that it is so miserable for having time to

study in school after holiday. He tries to find some ways to stay at home. Tom

feigns sick with the hope of staying home from school. He pretends that he has a

sore toe, but Aunt Polly does not believe him. Seeing that his ploy fails, he

complains of a toothache. Unfortunately, his aunt knows his tricks. She pulls the

loose tooth and sends Tom to school.

Another attitude showing laziness is when he must go to the church every

Sunday. It is quite difficult for him to have that activity. Children have to

memorize the verses from the Holy Bible. Tom finds it as a miserable thing to do.

He chooses part of the Sermon of the Mount which is the shorter one.

Unfortunately, he is not able to say it fluently. He looses his concentration and can

not able to memorize all the verses. Mary helps him to tell the rest (p. 30).

29

He is also described as an imaginative boy. It is proven when he is in his

adventures. Some imaginative ideas come to his mind when he plays with his

friends, for example, in the game of Robin Hood, he acts as Robin Hood, or in

Jackson’s Island, imagine himself becomes a pirate.

“I, indeed! I am Robin Hood, as thy caitiff carcass soon shall know.”“Then art thou indeed that famous outlaw? Right gladly will I disputewith thee the passes of the merry wood. Have at thee!” (p. 78).

He pretends to be Robin Hood. He and Joe, one of his bosom friends, play this

game as have read the story. They try also to use the real British English dialect

that Robin Hood used in his time.

“Hold! Who comes here into Sherwood Forest without my pass?” “Guy ofGuisborne wants no man's pass. Who art thou that – that –” “Dares to holdsuch language,” said Tom, prompting - for they talked “by the book,”from memory. “Who art thou that dares to hold such language?” (p. 78).

It seems that their imagination is inspired by the book they have read.

They try to imitate and bring it into reality. In another time, they manage to have

their adventure in Jackson’s Island. Once, they plan to have an adventure to live

like real pirates.

Three miles below St. Petersburg, at a point where the Mississippi Riverwas a trifle over a mile wide, there was a long, narrow, wooded island,with a shallow bar at the head of it, and this offered well as a rendezvous.It was not inhabited; it lay far over toward the further shore, abreast adense and almost wholly unpeopled forest. So Jackson's Island waschosen (p. 112).

Tom and his friend named Huck believe firmly in superstition. It can be

seen in their discussion of how to rid a person of warts.

“Why, you take your cat and go and get in the graveyard, long aboutmidnight, where somebody that was wicked has been buried; and when it’smidnight a devil will come, or maybe two or three, but you can’t see ‘em,you can only hear something like the wind, or maybe hear ‘em talk; and

30

when they’re taking that feller away, you heave your cat after ‘em and say,‘Devil follow corpse, cat follow devil, warts follow cat, I’m done with ye!’That’ll fetch any wart” (p. 58).

It is described that Huck carries a dead cat. He intends to take the dead cat to the

graveyard that night for the ritual of curing warts. Tom agrees to go with Huck.

According to superstition, when the devil comes to take the corpse of a wicked

person, the dead cat will follow the corpse, and the warts will follow the cat.

At the same time, they witness a murder in the graveyard. They know the

murderer of Dr. Robinson. They swear to keep mum about the incident because

they feel scared of what they have seen that time. They feel scared facing this

situation. They prefer to keep silent rather than tell others about it. It is proved

with their oath: “Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer swear they will keep mum about

this and they wish they may drop down dead in their tracks if they ever tell and

Rot” (p. 92).

From this fact, it can be concluded that Tom is such a cowardly boy. He

does not dare enough to tell the truth about the murder of Dr. Robinson. Both of

them fear to tell the truth, because they fear that the murderer will kill them. Tom

always refuses his conscience to tell the truth. They keep it as a secret, and avoid

people’s talking about the incident.

B. The Conflicts Experienced by Tom Sawyer

This part of the analysis will discuss the second question stated in the

problem formulations.

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In a literary work, conflicts that appear make readers more interested to

read. That is why conflict becomes an important aspect of an author’s imagination

when creating a literary work. An author presents conflicts in his/her story as

natural as possible through the characteristics of the characters.

According to Redman (Second Book of Plays, 1964:363), there are two

kinds of conflicts. Firstly, it is inner or internal conflict, it means that the conflict

occurs within one’s character. For example, in a certain situation the character

feels that she should take an action which is good according to her, but her belief

prevented her to take it. In that situation, the clash occurs between her desire and

her belief. Secondly, it is external conflict. This kind of conflict occurs between a

character and his/her outside aspects. It can be the other characters, the setting, or

society. Those outside forces are different from the character’s belief, desire or

way of thinking which then create clash between them.

Redman’s description on conflicts is parallel to Perrine’s statement in his book

Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense, that “Conflict itself is a clash of action,

ideas, desires, or will between two individuals, or among people in the story”

(1974:44).

It is difficult to be mature for every human being, especially in their young

age. There are some aspects that influence people’s maturity. One of them is

human experience which can be in the form of conflict. Every single conflict in

human life has impact in his or her maturity. Tom Sawyer as the main character

experiences some conflicts which help him reach maturity in his very young age.

The writer finds that those conflicts have important role in shaping his maturity.

32

In the analysis, the writer tries to show those conflicts that occur within Tom, and

between him and other characters in the story.

The following discussion is mainly focused on Tom’s conflict with others.

Nonetheless, Tom’s internal conflicts are also presented within the discussion.

The part is divided into some subtopics in order to give clear explanation.

1. Tom’s Conflict with Aunt Polly

The first conflict is between Tom Sawyer and Aunt Polly. Aunt Polly is

Tom’s Aunt. She is a kind-hearted woman who loves and cares about him. From

the beginning of the story, there is no exact information of Tom’s parents. He is

already taken in by Aunt Polly during the story. It is stated that Tom is an orphan

boy. As can be seen in his Aunt’s statement, “ He’s my own dead sister’s boy ” (p.

3).

Aunt Polly is described as a woman with strict discipline. Discipline is

Aunt Polly’s way of teaching her nephew the moral behavior by giving certain

punishments. The goal of this way is to mold her child for having a good attitude.

Aunt Polly needs playing her role as a disciplinarian in order to make Tom be a

good boy and not violate the rules and regulations set down by Aunt Polly or his

surroundings. Since Tom is considered as mischief and trouble maker, many times

she tries to punish him for his misbehavior. On page 2, Tom’s delinquency is seen

when he steals the jam and eat it.

“…Look at your hands, and look at your mouth. What is that truck? ‘Idon’t know, Aunt.’ Well I know. It’s jam, that’s what it is. Forty timesI’ve said if you didn’t let that jam alone I’d skin you. Hand me that switch(p. 2).

33

The quotation above shows that Tom is found by Aunt Polly for stealing the jam.

Aunt Polly gives him admonition because of his bad attitude. Tom gets into Aunt

Polly’s punishment again when he has gone swimming and playing hockey

instead of going to school. He gets punishment to whitewash the fence on

Saturday (p.12).

Those certain punishments are given only for the sake of Tom’s future.

Tom never realizes his own mistakes: he thinks that Aunt Polly always regards

that all the blames belong to him.

The contradiction between Tom and Aunt Polly becomes sharper because

Tom’s egoism. He does not care about Aunt Polly’s good intention, but he only

thinks for his pleasure without considering his duty for his own future. Aunt Polly

has a purpose to teach and change him to be an obedient boy. Unfortunately, Tom

never knows and does not want to know her purpose. He thinks that Aunt Polly is

too diabolical. He also thinks that her Aunt never loves him. Aunt Polly’s anger

makes him assume that she does not care with him anymore. He feels

disappointed facing this situation.

Tom’s jealousy also becomes the cause of his conflict with Aunt Polly. In

their family, there is Sidney Sawyer. Sid is the only brother that Tom has. They

live with Aunt Polly since his mother died. Murphy’s seventh theory (1972: 170)

states that the author can give direct description or comment on a person’s

character. It can be seen in the first chapter. Sid Sawyer is described as “Tom's

younger brother (or rather half-brother) Sid was already through with his part of

the work (picking up chips), for he was a quiet boy, and had no adventurous,

34

troublesome ways” (p. 4). Sid is presented as an obedient boy, diligent, and never

has bad attitude like Tom. He is known as the Model Boy of the village (p. 6).

Sidney likes to make Tom into trouble. He always tries to show Tom’s

mistakes to Aunt Polly. They are described as often having quarrels and different

ideas.

She was half sorry her sagacity had miscarried, and half glad that Tom hadstumbled into obedient conduct for once. But Sidney said: ‘Well, now, if Ididn’t think you sewed his collar with white thread, but it’s black.’‘Why, Idid sew it white! Tom!’ But Tom did not wait for the rest. As he went outof the door, he said: ‘Siddy, I’ll lick you for that’ (p. 5).

One of the situations is seen by the quotation above. Sid tries to tell Aunt Polly

about Tom’s mischievousness. During supper, Aunt Polly asks Tom leading

questions in attempt to confirm her suspicion that he skipped school and went

swimming (p. 4). Tom deceives his Aunt by saying that his wet hair is because he

pumped water on his head and shows her that his collar still sewn from morning

which means that he could not have taken his shirt off to swim. Aunt Polly is glad

to hear his answer. But, unfortunately, his brother, Sid, points out that shirt thread,

which was white in the morning, now has turned into black. It shows that Tom has

re-sewn the shirt himself to disguise his delinquency. Aunt Polly knows that Tom

is telling a lie in order to avoid her punishment (p. 5).

After Aunt Polly knows his trick, Tom goes outside to avoid Aunt Polly’s

anger. When he feels secure, he continues to release his anger. After Sid told Aunt

Polly about his trick, Tom states:

“She’d never noticed if it hadn’t been for Sid. Confound it! sometimes shesews it with white, and sometimes she sews it with black. I wish togeeminy she'd stick to one or t’other - I can’t keep the run of ‘em. But Ibet you I'll lam Sid for that. I’ll learn him!” (p. 6)

35

Tom’s anger to Sid can be seen as the response to jealousy. In Aunt

Polly’s view, Sid is regarded as a good and obedient boy. On the other hand, Tom

is considered as the bad one. Sometimes, Tom feels that it is unfair for him,

because Aunt Polly has different way in treating them, for instance, when Sid

stole sugar and broke the bowl. Tom tries to tell Aunt Polly about the truth. Below

is the quotation about it.

All through supper his spirits were so high that his aunt wondered "whathad got into the child." He took a good scolding about clodding Sid,and did not seem to mind it in the least. He tried to steal sugar under hisaunt's very nose, and got his knuckles rapped for it. He said: “Aunt,you don’t whack Sid when he takes it.” “Well, Sid don’t torment a bodythe way you do. You’d be always into that sugar if I warn’t watchingyou” (p. 24).

Based on the quotation above, it is clearly seen that Aunt Polly does not believe in

Tom’s statement. In this case, Tom tells the truth about Sid’s stealing sugar to

Aunt Polly, but her reaction disappoints him. Aunt Polly does not blame or angry

to Sid, but on the contrary, Tom gets the whack because that act is considered as

Tom’s fault. Being unjustly accused, Tom thinks how sorry his aunt would be if

he were dead and imagines Aunt Polly begging for his forgiveness as he is dying.

It can be seen from the quotation below.

He pictured himself lying sick unto death and his aunt bending over himbeseeching one little forgiving word, but he would turn his face to thewall, and die with that word unsaid. Ah, how would she feel then? (p.25)

Therefore, Aunt Polly’s attitude at that time makes Tom feels jealous. He

feels that Sid takes much of the time and attention from Aunt Polly. Tom regards

that all of Sid’s intention to tell his mistakes to Aunt Polly is done only because

Sid wants to get Aunt Polly’s attention and affection. This situation affects his

36

behavior. Therefore, he becomes angry and resentful because of the matter. As the

result of his jealousy, Tom always attempts to take revenge to his brother.

Another proof that shows Tom’s conflict with Aunt Polly is seen in

chapter VI. Tom really hates to go to school, because Monday is regarded as the

day of misery for him. It can be said so because according to him, it begins

another week’s slow suffering in school (p.50).

Freedom seems to be an interesting lifestyle that Tom wants to have. Huck

is known as a boy who has freedom in his life. He is free to play, to not go to

school, or not go to church every Sunday. Moreover, no body forbids him and

gives him punishment as Aunt Polly does to Tom. Therefore, Tom really admires

him. That is why Tom becomes extremely lazy when Aunt Polly orders him to go

to school. Tom’s laziness leads the conflict between Tom and his aunt. They have

different point of view in this problem. According to Elgin F. Hunt in his book,

Social Science: An Introduction to The Study of Society, conflict does not always

mean hate, hatred, or distrust. It also can happen through the limit of differences

of opinion, judgment, perspective and opposing arguments (1955: 31-32). Being

such a lazy boy, Tom finds that school is not a good thing for him to have. He

prefers to have free life but his aunt has different opinion. It is an obligatory for

him to go to school instead of playing. Aunt Polly really wants to give a good

education for his bright future by sending him to school. Tom insists on keeping

his opinion and tries to find some ways to stay at home. Therefore, it leads him

and Aunt Polly into conflict.

“What’s the matter with you – what is the matter with you, child?” “Oh,Auntie, my sore toe’s mortified!” Then old lady sank down into a chair

37

and laughed a little, then cried a little, then did both together. Thisrestored her and she said: “Tom, what a turn you did give me. Nowyou shut up that nonsense and climb out of this” (p. 52-53).

It seems that his trick does not work in this situation. He pretends for having a

mortified toe. Unfortunately, Aunt Polly knows his trick, and keeps sending him

to school. As a professional trickster, he tries to find another sly motive. He

complains for having a toothache. The same as the previous one, the ploy also

fails. It makes Aunt Polly angry and rather feel disappointed facing his bad

attitude.

“Oh, you don’t, don’t you? So all this row was because you thought you’dget to stay home from school and go a-fishing? Tom, Tom, I love youso, and you seem to try every way you can to break my old heart withyour outrageousness” (p. 53).

As disciplinarian, Aunt Polly seems too vicious to Tom. She always gives

some punishments to Tom for his mischievousness. Actually, she really loves his

nephew. One day, she feels remorse after she has a conflict with Tom. On page

108, it is stated that Tom gets ill, and Aunt Polly takes care of him by giving a

medicine that is called ‘Pain-killer’. Tom gives the medicine to Peter, Aunt

Polly’s cat. When his aunt knows Tom’s deed, he defends himself with a strong

argument. They begin to argue about this matter.

“Now, sir, what did you want to treat that poor dumb beast so, for?” “Idone it out of pity for him - because he hadn’t any aunt.” “Hadn’t anyaunt!–you numskull. What has that got to do with it?” “Heaps.Because if he’d had one she’d a burnt him out herself! She’d a roasted hisbowels out of him ‘thout any more feeling than if he was a human!”(p. 108)

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After hearing Tom’s argument, she feels a sudden pang of remorse.

Knowing the effect of pain-killer which is seen from Peter’s reaction, she feels

sorry to Tom. Her eyes start to drop tears. She puts her hand on Tom’s head and

says her apology (p. 108).

From those several situations, it seems that there is different understanding

between Tom and Aunt Polly. Their different opinion, perspective, judgment and

their opposing arguments lead them into conflicts.

2. Tom’s Conflict with Huckleberry Finn

Huckleberry or Huck is described as the son of the town drunk, and he is a

pretty much an orphan. Huck is Tom’s bosom friend and frequent playmate. Like

Tom, Huck believes highly in superstition (p.58). Both are always ready for some

adventures. As states in Murphy’s theory, in fiction the characteristics of a

person’s character can be observed through direct description or comment from

the author (1972:170). There is description which is given by the author.

Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village, HuckleberryFinn, son of the town drunkard. Huckleberry was cordially hated anddreaded by all the mothers of the town, because he was idle and lawlessand vulgar and bad – and because of all their children admired him so, anddelighted in his forbidden society, and wished they dared to be like him (p.54).

From the description above, it is clearly stated that Huck is not the ideal figure of

the boy in their village. People in the village hate him, especially the mothers.

They are scared that their sons will follow Huck’s life style. He is considered as a

pariah; he has no rules and never goes to school (p.55).

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Huck is really admired by Tom. He wants to have a free life like Huck.

He plays with Huck every time he has a chance (p.54). Both of them like to have

some adventurous journeys and believe firmly in superstition. They believe that a

dead cat can cure the warts. They go to the graveyard to do the rituals. Tom

accompanies Huck go to the graveyard to bury the dead cat. In the graveyard, they

witness the murder of Dr. Robinson by Injun Joe. They see Injun Joe killed Dr.

Robinson and then place the knife he used in the hand of Muff Potter who passed

out. When Muff Potter wakes up, Injun Joe tells him that he was the murderer.

Injun Joe blames Muff Potter for the action of killing Dr. Robinson (p. 87). Tom

and Huck get so depressed and scared because of this incident. They have

different opinions in this case. In this situation, it can be seen that they are in

conflict as Perrine states in his book Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense that

conflict is a clash of actions, ideas, desires and will between two individuals or

among people in the story (1974:44).

Tom’s conscience and anxiety begin to grow. It is very difficult for letting

the wrong man take the blame for Dr. Robinson’s murder. Tom wants to reveal

the truth, but Huck forbids him to tell anybody about the incident.

Tom thought awhile, then he said: “Who’ll tell? We?” “What are youtalking about? S’pose something happened and Injun Joe didn’t hang?Why he’d kill us some time or other, just as dead sure as we’re a –laying here” (p. 90).

Here, Tom wants them to reveal the murder, Huck tells Tom the worst risks if

they tell it. Injun Joe will kill them if they tell the truth. They are still debating

about the incident.

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‘If anybody tells, let Muff Potter do it, if he’s fool enough. He’s generallydrunk.’ Tom said nothing - went on thinking. Presently he whispered:‘Huck, Muff Potter don’t know it. How can he tell?’ ‘What’s the reason hedon’t know it?’ ‘Because he’d just got that whack when Injun Joe done it.D’you reckon he knowed anything.’ By hokey, that’s so, Tom!’ (p. 90)

There is a sharp disagreement between them. They have different idea

about the revelation of the murder. Tom becomes uncomfortable and feels coward

because he does not dare to tell the truth. Finally they decide to keep mum about

the incident. They swear each other to keep it as a secret (p. 90-91).

Another evidence of his conflict with Huck is seen before the day of Muff

Potter’s trial. Several days before the trial, they definitely see that Dr. Robinson’s

murder is a serious matter for them. Injun Joe’s action of killing Dr. Robinson

becomes a significant topic to talk in their village (p. 190). People still accuse

Muff Potter as the murderer at that time. This situation makes Huck and Tom feel

pity to Muff Potter as the innocent victim for this incident. People abuse him for

the action of killing which is done by Injun Joe.

“Yes – so they would. But I hate hear ‘em abuse him so like the dickenswhen he never done – that.” “I do too, Tom. Lord, I hear ‘em say he’s thebloodiest-looking villain in this country, and they wonder he wasn’tever hung before.” “Yes, they talk like that, all the time. I’ve heard ‘emsay that if he was to get free they’d lynch him” (p. 191).

According to them, Muff Potter is such a good man. They remember all of

his kindness to them. Dealing with this situation, they are in conflict again. At that

time, one of them wants to tell that Muff Potter is only an innocent victim, but the

other wants to keep the secret because he is afraid of being chased by Injun Joe.

Most always - most always. He ain’t no account; but then he hain’t everdone anything to hurt anybody. Just fishes a little, to get money to getdrunk on - and loafs around considerable; but lord, we all do that --leastways most of us - preachers and such like. But he’s kind of good - he

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give me half a fish, once, when there warn’t enough for two; and lots oftimes he’s kind of stood by me when I was out of luck.” “Well, he’smended kites for me, Huck, and knitted hooks on to my line. I wish wecould get him out of there.” “My! we couldn’t get him out, Tom. Andbesides, ‘twouldn’t do any good; they’d ketch him again” (p. 190-191).

Tom tries to remember Potter’s kindness, so does Huck. Although Potter is

described having bad attitudes in their village, he never does anything to hurt

anybody. Reacting to the fact that Muff Potter is a good man, Tom wants to help

Potter get out from this wrong accusation. He wants to set him free by revealing

the real murderer. On the contrary, Huck tells his disagreement. He still forbids

Tom to do it. At that time, they are still doubtful and debating about Muff

Potter’s trial. They are waiting for the day of Muff Potter’s trial desperately.

Tom looks gloomy and desperate after experiences those conflicts. It

really distracts his mind for weeks. Tom wants to forget about the incident in the

graveyard for awhile by deciding to leave the village. He decides to have a plan to

go to Jackson’s Island, an uninhabited island in the middle of Mississippi River,

pretending to be a pirate. He invites Joe Harper and Huck to accompany him in

this escapade.

The boys feel happy at that time. Tom and his friend’s imagination are

clearly seen in this situation. They pretend to be the real pirates. Tom gives

himself a name the Black Avenger of Spanish Main. Joe Harper names himself

the Terror of the Seas, and Huck names himself the Red-Handed.

“Who goes there?” “Tom Sawyer, the Black Avenger of the Spanish Main.Name your names.” “Huck Finn the Red-Handed, and Joe Harper theTerror of the Seas.” Tom had furnished these titles, from his favoriteliterature (p. 113).

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In Jackson’s island, they live in the camp and spend their time with jokes

and games. They pretend to be pirates by stealing the food and stuff. Day by day

passes, the boys spend their togetherness. Finally they come to the top of

boredom. They get bored and want to go home. Here, the conflict begins to

happen. One situation is seen in the quotation below.

“I want to go, too, Tom. It was getting so lonesome anyway, and now it’llbe worse. Let’s us go, too, Tom.” “I won’t! You can all go, if you want to.I mean to stay.” “Tom, I better go.” “Well, go 'long – who’s henderingyou. “Huck began to pick up his scattered clothes. He said: “Tom, I wishtyou’d come, too. Now you think it over. We'll wait for you when we get toshore.” “Well, you'll wait a blame long time, that’s all” (p. 139).

In this case, Huck disagrees with Tom’s idea. The conflict appears after Joe

Harper tells his intention to go home. Meanwhile, Tom insists on staying in the

Jackson’s Island. Huck has different opinion from him. They are in conflict

because of their different will. Huck agrees with Joe’s statement that they want to

go back to their village. Because he is known as a trickster, he succeeds to

persuade his friends not to leave him lonely.

Meanwhile, people in the village assume that the boys have been drowned

in the river. Thus people plan to hold funeral for the boys on Sunday morning.

Knowing about the news, they decide to turn home.

3. Tom’s Conflict with Becky Thatcher

The last conflict is presented between Tom and Becky Thatcher. Becky

Thatcher is a new girl in town who makes Tom falling in love with at the first

sight. Tom meets her when he is on his way home for dinner. He catches sight of

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a beautiful girl, “a lovely little blue-eyed creature with yellow hair plaited into

two long-tails, white summer frock and embroidered pantalettes” (p. 22). Quickly

he forgets his last love, a girl named Amy Lawrence. Unfortunately, their

romance does not work smoothly. There are some difficulties that occur in Tom’s

relationship with Becky.

One situation which shows their conflict can be seen in Chapter VII when

Tom and Becky had their lunch in the schoolroom. During their lunch, Tom

begins to persuade Becky to get engaged to him. Tom loves Becky and really

wants her to be his girlfriend. Tom shows his deepest feeling to Becky by saying

“I love you” and kissing.

By and by she gave up, and let her hands drop; her face, all glowing withthe struggle, came up and submitted. Tom kissed the red lips and said:“Now it's all done, Becky. And always after this, you know, you ain’tever to love anybody but me, and you ain’t ever to marry anybody butme, ever never and forever. Will you?” “No, I'll never love anybody butyou, Tom, and I'll never marry anybody but you - and you ain't to evermarry anybody but me, either” (p. 70).

After committing the promise, Tom begins to show his gayness and

unconsciously says that previously he was engaged to Amy Lawrence. Here their

conflict finally occurs.

“…you choose me and I choose you at parties, because that’s the way youdo when you're engaged.” “It's so nice. I never heard of it before.” “Oh,it's ever so gay! Why, me and Amy Lawrence –” The big eyes told Tomhis blunder and he stopped, confused. “Oh, Tom! Then I ain’t the firstyou’ve ever been engaged to!” The child began to cry. Tom said: “Oh,don't cry, Becky, I don’t care for her any more.” “Yes, you do, Tom --you know you do” (p. 71).

The quotation above shows that Becky gets angry after Tom accidentally talks

about his ex-lover, Amy Lawrence. Becky cries and accuses him that he and Amy

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Lawrence must still in love. Tom convinces her by saying that he does not care

about Amy Lawrence anymore. It seems that his explanation is useless, Becky

does not believe in it. She keeps crying and refuses to accept Tom’s apology. To

get Becky’s pardon, Tom tries to put his arm about her neck, but she pushes him

away and turns her face to the wall. He tries it again many times, but Becky keeps

silent and cries. He walks outside to make himself calm. He begins to feel fear

and restless facing this situation. He enters the room, trying to convince Becky by

swearing that he loves only Becky (p. 71). He offers Becky a brass andiron knob

as a token of his affection but unfortunately his action does not change Becky’s

conviction. She cries harder and refuses to accept Tom’s gift (p. 72).

Becky’s anger makes Tom feel frustrated. For several days, he finds that

Becky is sick. The fact about Becky’s condition distracts his mind. When she has

recovered and starts back to school again, he starts to act some silly things to

attract her attention again. Unfortunately, his action does not work smoothly. His

trying is useless. At that time, she turns with her nose in the air and says, “Mf!

some people think they’re mighty smart – always showing off!”(p.110). Tom’s

feeling is hurt after hearing Becky’s utterance.He begins to think about his plan to

leave his village to be a pirate in Jackson’s Island in order to make her feel sorry.

Finally Tom gets back from his escape in Jackson’s Island. He becomes

full of spirit because he feels sure that Becky wants to come back to him. His

feeling is true. Tom approaches Amy Lawrence in order to make her jealous.

Tom’s action is successful. Finally, Tom and Becky release their anger by

deciding to have a plan to go picnic on Sunday with his friends. They trip along

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with his friends, visiting the familiar wonders of the cave, such as ‘The Drawing-

Room’, ‘The Cathedral’, ‘Aladdin’s Palace’, and so on. Unconsciously, Tom and

Becky go far away from his friends. It seems that they are lost. They are in

different opinion about their position at that time. Becky feels apprehensive

because she does not hear their friends’ voice.

Tom found a subterranean lake, shortly, which stretched its dim lengthaway until its shape was lost in the shadows. He wanted to explore itsborders, but concluded that it would be best to sit down and rest awhile,first. Now, for the first time, the deep stillness of the place laid a clammyhand upon the spirits of the children. Becky said: “Why, I didn't notice, butit seems ever so long since I heard any of the others.” “Come to think,Becky, we are away down below them -- and I don't know how far awaynorth, or south, or east, or whichever it is. We couldn't hear them here.”Becky grew apprehensive (p. 253).

Knowing this tragedy, Tom and Becky are in conflict. Becky asks Tom to

find the way out. Here, Tom insists on telling Becky that he will find the way out

of that cave. On the other hand, Becky says that it is difficult for them to find it.

She feels scared in this situation. She feels doubtful whether Tom can find the

way out of the cave or not.

“Can you find the way, Tom? It’s all a mixed up crookedness to me.” “Ireckon I could find it – but then the bats. If they put both our candles out itwill be an awful fix. Let’s try some other way, so as not to go throughthere.” “Well. But I hope we won’t get lost. It would be so awful!”(p.253)

They keep searching for the way out. It takes a long time for them to find

it. Unfortunately, they do not find it. The contradictory opinions happen in this

situation. They start to get involved into conflict again.

“Oh, Tom, you didn’t make any marks!” “Becky, I was such a fool! Sucha fool! I never thought we might want to come back! No – I can’t find the

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way. It’s all mixed up.” “Tom, Tom, we’re lost! We’re lost! We nevercan get out of this awful place! Oh, why did we ever leave the others!”(p. 255)

From the quotation above, it is clearly seen t