The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Chapters 23-24
Chapter 23 starts off when Tom tries to join a club with a cool uniform. But he has to make a promise not to do certain bad things (like smoking and drinking) while he's a member. But the temptation and want of doing those things becomes next to unbearable. Only the hope of wearing his uniform keeps him from resigning. However, the Fourth of the July is too far away.
Tom's only hope is a super-sick justice of the peace, who may die soon. When he does, Tom can wear his uniform at the funeral. But the judge gets better, and Tom resigns. And then the judge dies on the night of Tom's resignation! The club makes Tom envious, and Tom is upset at the judge. He promises not to trust any male so much again.
Chapter 23 then describes the vacation as one big failure. There are a few fun things, mainly parties, but the stretches in-between are boring and painful! Even Fourth of July is a failure, since it rains very hard, and the visiting Senator is not what everyone thinks he is.
Tom gets the measles. He is very sick for two weeks, and does notice the happenings of the world around him. When he's finally ready to get up and walk about, he discovers that everyone but him has had a religious re-awakening, even the kids! Everyone is doing religious stuff, even Huckleberry!
There's a terrible storm that night. Tom is sure that he made someone up high so frustrated and tired that he's sent a storm to take care of him. Tom is terrified. Luckily, the storm passes, and Tom's still safe. He thinks about repenting and reforming, but then decides to wait.
When Tom is given the okay by the doctors, he goes out. But he is scared and miserable, thinking he has no friends. He soon finds Joe and Huckleberry eating stolen melons, however. Turns out that the reform didn't last too long for them!
Chapter 24 returns to the murder plot. There is finally going to be a court. It's the talk of the town, and everyone is set and sure that the murderer is Muff Potter. They are also saying that he has been a villain for a long time, and that he should be hanged.
Tom can't bear to hear the talk, since it causes major guilt attacks. But it's everywhere, and he can't escape it. He eventually goes to talk to Huckleberry Finn, and finds out that he's been going through the same problem.
Both of them want to help Muff Potter, but they know they can't. If they tell, they're sure Injun Joe would kill them. And helping Muff Potter escape is out of the question... he'll only get caught again, and Tom heard that he'll be lynched if that happens!
The two make a visit to the jail, and slip Muff Potter some tobacco and matches. Usually, this helps this consciences. But not this time... Muff Potter talks to them, and it makes them only feel guilty.
The duo stick around the courthouse. Neither of them want to be there, but they are drawn to it. They avoid each other, and fight the impulse to go inside.
The day of the trail comes. The witnesses are called to the stand, but none are questioned by Muff Potter's lawyer. Things look hopeless for Muff Potter.
And then Tom Sawyer is called to the stand. He needs a little encouragement, but he tells what really happened out at the graveyard. The only detail ommitted (sp?) is that Huckleberry Finn was with him, but the lawyer says that he will be revealed at the right time.
Injun Joe has been at that trial, and he sticks around for Tom's story. He gives a start when Tom reveals that he and his then-unnamed companion were very close, but it's a very slight jump, and barely noticeable. He gives no major signs that prove he did it for a lot of the story. However, when Tom reaches the part about Muff Potter being knocked out and Injun Joe jumping while holding the knife, Injun Joe jumps through the window and escapes.
I'm glad that Tom finally spoke up. But there are quite a few unanswered questions that could have been cleared up in this part of the book. For example, why did Tom pick now to tell everyone? I'm guessing that guilt, and the fact that Muff Potter's blood would be on his hands if he didn't were major players, but Mark Twain doesn't make it very clear yet.
And then there's the question of the lawyer. Was he just being heartless when he denied the chance to ask any witnesses any questions? Or was Tom's story his plan pretty much the whole time? That much wasn't made clear either.
And then there's the question of when Tom came saying he knew the story. It wasn't at the very beginning, because the lawyer mentions that he had told the judge that he had told him that he was going to do a different plan. But we never know that Tom even tells the lawyer or whoever he told until near the end of the chapter, when the lawyer calls him up to the stand. So the question of when he came up is a big one.
The religious revival scenes did not make great sense in one part. It's the fact that Huckleberry, local thief and all-around trouble-maker, was being religious. The rest of the town made sense, because that's what happens in a religious revival. But the rest of the book makes pretty clear that Huckleberry is a thief and a bad boy, so why was he being religious?
Wild West Central
Childbirth--Both Wonderful and Terrible
In the Wild West, there were a lot of children born. Women sometimes started giving birth as early as being 15 years old, and they kept on going. So many children were born in so short a time, that there were groups of uncles, aunts, nieces, and nephews that would be playmates, and a women might take care of both her own child and a grandchild at the same time!!!
Childbirth was always a moment of great joy. There was often so much joy at a childbirth that all other troubles seemed to just disappear. Even the already-born kids caught the joy, and were very happy to have a new member of the family to come along.
However, childbirth was also dangerous in those days... as well as pregnancy. Illnesses were the culprit. Germs ran rampant in the Wild West in general, but they caused a lot of deaths of both children and mothers. In fact, there were so many deaths due to pregnancy and childbirth, that women were actually afraid when they were pregnant!
"What about the doctors?", you might ask. There were not many official doctors back in those days. Most of the help came from different small-time people that weren't official doctors. In fact, a lot of their help were silly superstitious "cures".
People were very superstitious in those days in many ways, including during pregnancy and childbirth. They feared defects, and there were supposedly many ways that a mother could "make sure" that her child had a defect or mark of some kind, or even lead to their deaths! A lot were silly things things, like looking at a beggar who can't walk, or riding a wagon or automobile. But these silly beliefs were believed in readily in those days, and many women panicked and were afraid.
There were some beliefs that weren't so panicky. For example, there were supposedly ways that one could change the incoming baby's gender. But this belief wasn't acted on very much. Children were an asset back in those days, no matter the gender, so no one truly cared if the baby was a boy or girl.
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