Status Updates From Mark Twain 1st edit/1 print...

They follow a ritual between boys before they fight. He reminds me of the triple-dog dare in the Christmas Story movie. Neither want to back down so they fight and Tom wins. For all we know, they’ll become good friends after this since the pecking order has been established. Tom and Curdie are both excellent fighters. The difference is that Curdie uses it to protect others. He does have as much fun as tom though.

Tom threatens to lick Sid. I know we’re supposed to sympathize with Tom .Having gone to college with an honor code, I feel for Sid However, he was not asked about Tom. He volunteered information without being asked. He stops caring because he becomes obsessed with whistling in a certain way and once he does he’s happy as a lark. He runs into an elaborately dressed new kid on the block.

Aunt Polly has a soft-spot for him which makes her inconsistent and that means he gets away with even more. Sid is Tom’s half-brother (I did not realize it and, in my mind, he was a cousin). She caught him stealing jam earlier in the day. During supper, he’s sneaking sugar. Then she asks carefully worded questions to get him to admit that he played hooky. He fools her until Sid points out the flaw in Tom’s answers.

Ch. 1 Tom and Curdie are both poor boys who do not have much. Tom is a lazy, lovable rogue while Curdie is hard-working, lovable lad. Even though Curdie tries to do what is right, he’s no Sid. However, if you asked Lootie about her first impression, she wouldn’t see much of a difference between Tom and Curdie. Tom is an orphan and his relationship with his aunt is trained while Curdie gets on well with his parents.

I am looking for influences of The Princess and the Goblin. In the preface, Twain briefly explains that Tom is a composite of three boys. The superstitions reflect what people believed in the 1830s along the Mississippi. The experiences are like what Twain and his compatriots experienced growing up. I love Twain's humor. It is delicious.