St. Petersburg typifies small-town America in the nineteenth century. Tom reaches maturity over the course of the novel in realizing that he must act as a responsible member of this community rather than rebelling against its conventions. While Twain depicts the village as an ultimately benevolent support system for its members, he also uses satire to point out the hypocrisies and weaknesses of its attitudes and institutions.
The Village Quotes in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The The Adventures of Tom Sawyer quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Village. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 24
Quotes
As usual, the fickle, unreasoning world took Muff Potter to its bosom and fondled him as lavishly as it had abused him before. But that sort of conduct is to the world's credit; therefore it is not well to find fault with it.
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Chapter 35
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Wherever Tom and Huck appeared they were courted, admired, stared at. The boys were not able to remember that their remarks had possessed weight before; but now their sayings were treasured and repeated; everything they did seemed somehow to be regarded as remarkable; they had evidently lost the power of doing and saying commonplace things; moreover, their past history was raked up and discovered to bear marks of conspicuous originality.
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The Village Symbol Timeline in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Village appears in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 8
...exploits as various heroes, from an Indian to a pirate, after he runs away from St. Petersburg .
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Chapter 14
...island. Pangs of homesickness set in as the day wears on. Even Huck misses the village.
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Chapter 17
In St. Petersburg , the townspeople prepare for the funeral to mourn Tom, Joe, and Huck. Their schoolmates...
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Chapter 23
The village begins to stir with excitement as Muff Potters' trial approaches. However, Tom's conscience nags at...
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Chapter 29
The ferry carries the children three miles south of St. Petersburg , where they go ashore to play. After lunch, they decide to explore MacDougal's Cave,...
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Chapter 33
At the widow's, much of the village is assembled, in their Sunday best. The widow tells Tom and Joe to and put...
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