LETTER

Dear Mark Twain,

I just recently reread Tom Sawyer and I realized how much it influenced me when I was a child. My mom used to read this book to me and it gave me crazy ideas and a sense of adventure. Now every time I think about this book, I remember my childhood. I remember running around the woods near my house setting up forts and exploring everywhere. My siblings and I used to pretend to be characters from Tom Sawyer, I was always Huck. We used to run along the river and call to each other. This book brought out the adventurous side of me and I would like to thank you for that.

This book is so inspirational it makes me want to let lose and do whatever I want. And that is what life is about: having freedom and doing what you want. From The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, I am inspired to stop wasting time wandering around and doing random things. I have changed my life to incorporate more exploring and adventurous things. I love exploring the woods and I have come to appreciate nature. This change was recent and when I reread your book, the inspiration came at full force and now I am doing everything I can to live while having fun.

My favorite part of the book is when Tom and Huck saw Injun Joe burying the gold. The boys were so excited to get there hands on it and become rich. Finally the boys come upon this reward for there sneakiness and stealth. This was when I wanted to be exactly like Huck and go find something amazing. I think I always connected to Huck, not because I had a similar life, but because I felt sorry for him. I felt bad that he had to be the son of the crazy drunk but at the same time I admired how all of the kids looked up to him. The main reason I admired Huck was because he lived independently from society. He did things the way he liked not the way society would like children to do. He developed his own personality from the person he became himself not the person he was forced into by his parents. I always longed for that type of freedom and wondered what I would be like if I didn’t have parents.

Reading it again, I understood many new things. Beyond the theme of adventure and childish things, there is a plot of growing up and maturity among the young adventurers. I love how this book is an interesting and exciting story for people of all ages. I hope many readers like me, have understood spirit of the book and have been stimulated towards venturing just like me. This book is still one of my favorite adventures and I can always count on it to captivate the exploratory and juvenile side of me.

Sincerely,
Ellen Buckley