1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,080
This is MJ. I'm an author, I'm an artist, I'm an analyzer. You can find all my work

2
00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:08,400
at MJMunoz.com. Welcome to Fortress Fiction Episode 6 where I'll be talking

3
00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:12,680
about the adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. According to my synopsis that

4
00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:17,120
I got from my AI assistant, it says it's the classic story of a mischievous Tom

5
00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:20,880
or yeah the classic story of a mischievous Tom growing up in a

6
00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:27,760
Mississippi River town and the book is published or was published in 1876. So I

7
00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:32,640
want to start with a brief word on the adventures of Tom Sawyer. Basically I'm

8
00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:36,920
going to be asking the question does Tom Sawyer or the adventures of Tom Sawyer

9
00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:41,280
belong in? Does it have a place in a place of glory in the Fortress Fiction?

10
00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:45,520
And I'm going to say, despite the fact that I like the book, not really. It's a

11
00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:48,960
little bit too bad boy like Tom Sawyer is definitely the bad boy or a bad boy of

12
00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:53,880
literature and it has its pluses and minuses. It's very entertaining, it's very

13
00:00:53,880 --> 00:01:00,280
interesting but is it you know is it you know wonderful, good, heroic? No not really.

14
00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:05,800
It's a little, it's very real so it's an honest book and that does it credit but

15
00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:10,020
it may encourage more vice than it encourages virtue even though there is

16
00:01:10,020 --> 00:01:13,640
some virtue within Tom and Huck and some of the other characters featured here.

17
00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:17,760
It's just a kind of interesting combination of things I'm not sure I

18
00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,320
would say definitely should be reading this kids. Actually I wouldn't say it so

19
00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:24,560
even though it was an entertaining book but entertainment isn't always the best

20
00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:29,400
thing. It's at least not the most important and that's all I have to say on

21
00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:32,600
that matter for now. So I'm gonna go ahead and give some information from the

22
00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:37,520
wiki about the book and maybe about Twain I don't remember. So here it goes and

23
00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:42,080
then I'll launch into my own independent free thoughts on the book itself. So the

24
00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:46,300
Adventures of Tom Sawyer also simply known as Tom Sawyer is an 1876 novel by

25
00:01:46,300 --> 00:01:50,180
Mark Twain about a boy Tom Sawyer growing up along the Mississippi River.

26
00:01:50,180 --> 00:01:55,100
It is set in the 1840s I wasn't sure about that in the town of St. Petersburg

27
00:01:55,100 --> 00:02:01,280
which is based on Hannibal Missouri where Twain lived as a boy. In the novel

28
00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:05,060
Sawyer has several adventures often with his friend Huckleberry Finn but there

29
00:02:05,060 --> 00:02:08,640
are other is at least one other boy who's with them a lot as well. Originally a

30
00:02:08,640 --> 00:02:11,840
commercial failure the book ended up being the best selling of Twain's works

31
00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:18,680
during his lifetime. That's nice though overshadowed by its sequel 18 from 1884

32
00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:26,680
which was 1876 to 1884 so that's like eight years later Adventures of

33
00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,780
Huckleberry Finn the book is considered by many to be a masterpiece of American

34
00:02:30,780 --> 00:02:35,360
literature. It is alleged by Mark Twain to be one of the first novels to be

35
00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:40,680
written on a typewriter which that's kind of a cool detail. So that's

36
00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:44,960
about it and now I'm just gonna go ahead and share with you my thoughts on the

37
00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:50,680
book because I have some. So like I said it is a good book it is very entertaining

38
00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:58,560
it feels very honest it feels very much feels very much like well it feels a

39
00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:02,560
little bit autobiographical which I can understand as it you know is said to be

40
00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:08,520
based on Mark Twain's life and the fact that he's such a witty guy and you know

41
00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:15,200
makes so many observations about the world and society that are kind of

42
00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:18,800
contrarian and would maybe would make people comfortable it makes sense that

43
00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:22,720
Tom Sawyer definitely could have been based on him because that kind of kid

44
00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:28,520
and I don't know it just he's a you know he's like a he's a trickster he's a

45
00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:33,680
lovable scamp I thought about Bugs Bunny I thought about Ferris Bueller from

46
00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:39,320
Ferris Bueller's day off and there's even a line in the book where yeah

47
00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,640
there's a line that where it was observed by people in the town that Tom

48
00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:46,920
Sawyer might just be president if you escaped being hanged and I think that's

49
00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:51,160
funny and I think they can apply to a lot of different characters and I think

50
00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:58,800
it's it's kind of interesting because it poses the qualities of a great criminal

51
00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:04,560
and a great politician has been fairly similar to each other and fairly

52
00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:09,960
analogous and there is something to be said of great men there is an ability

53
00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:12,840
for them to do great evil and is an ability for them to do great good but

54
00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:15,680
the point is that what they're doing them the magnitude of what they're doing

55
00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,080
is great and that's what makes them great men not so much the quality of the

56
00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:23,160
men which is I guess a little bit of my problem with the book which is that I

57
00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:27,160
guess that it doesn't really instill virtue it doesn't really teach virtue

58
00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:32,560
Tom and Huck do some virtuous things and there's a lot of sweetness and

59
00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:37,840
gentleness in the book and in the character and he's obviously a very

60
00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:42,240
flawed character especially being based on train himself and that has its good

61
00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,680
qualities and its bad qualities here there's negative effects of that that I

62
00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:50,280
don't like and that I guess I would have liked to be cleaned up in the book as

63
00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:54,840
far as you know representing the character or I mean let me put it this

64
00:04:54,840 --> 00:05:00,720
way I don't mind the book being the way it is however I find it insufficient for

65
00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:05,280
being something that is both quality entertainment which it is or I should

66
00:05:05,280 --> 00:05:11,680
say it's very entertaining in and of itself but independently of how

67
00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:18,160
entertaining the book is anyway my point is that the quality of something and the

68
00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:23,600
virtue of it can be independent of each other and mutually exclusive so you can

69
00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,040
have something that is very high quality that is very well done that is very

70
00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:31,720
entertaining but is not good morally and you can have something that's very moral

71
00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:35,000
and that it is not entertaining at all which is a large fault and it's something

72
00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,520
that I think people should not encourage and I think it's something people should

73
00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:45,960
not basically a lot of paths because it's important that our stories are high

74
00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:52,320
quality and it's important that they really matter both of those things are

75
00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:57,480
important and my preference and the reason I'm doing this fortune

76
00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:03,280
fortress fiction project is so that I can highlight the books that have both

77
00:06:03,280 --> 00:06:08,320
the virtue and the quality that are both very entertaining and also elucidating

78
00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:12,400
and edifying I guess you could say and if I spotty more appropriate words to use

79
00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:17,440
in this case so yeah while I had a lot of fun with the book I as an adult

80
00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:20,560
married man had a lot of fun with the book and it reminded me of some things

81
00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:24,640
and childhood other stories that I heard kids telling or well whether they were

82
00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:27,440
true things or not or whether they were things I witnessed or they were just

83
00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:32,960
hearsay from other kids it felt very true like there's all these like arcane

84
00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:36,800
incantations that Huck and Tom and the other boys make and like if you want to

85
00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:41,360
you know get rid of a like a war you got to you know go to a you know graveyard

86
00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:44,760
at midnight and take a potato and you get you you know hold the potato on

87
00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:49,280
there and you say such and then you bury it and like a devil comes out and he

88
00:06:49,280 --> 00:06:54,880
takes away half of the war it's just like ridiculous stuff that like you know

89
00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:59,040
definitely kid lore that kids make up and I found that very interesting and

90
00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:01,440
fascinating and I also find it fun because I remember hearing so many

91
00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:06,560
things from when I was a kid that just weren't true and there's some stuff

92
00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:12,960
going on in there where like the kids are playing and it's not 100% clear to me

93
00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:16,160
where the line is between we're just imagining this and we really believe

94
00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:20,640
this which is something magical about childhood and I see it with my kids and

95
00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:26,360
I remember those sorts of circumstances those sorts of instances happening where

96
00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:33,960
we're playing but the play is very real but then again it's fake and it's just

97
00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:36,720
interesting how humans can do that and it's especially interesting how

98
00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:42,800
children are so adept at doing that and I think the way I understand things hold

99
00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,680
on son is that that's a very important thing for people to be able to do and

100
00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:51,000
especially children helps them to grow and thrive and prosper in the world and

101
00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:55,720
it's a good thing and yeah so I might be a little too serious by saying this

102
00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,520
doesn't really deserve a place in the fortress fiction because it's a little

103
00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:03,920
too raw too real and too inappropriate or edgy I don't think so but that's my

104
00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:06,720
decision and if you disagree with that I'm happy to hear your comments about

105
00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:11,240
that why you disagree why you think it's okay and I don't think there's anything wrong

106
00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:18,320
with me again as an adult enjoying it and enjoying it in spite of the or you

107
00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:22,680
know in part because of the you know the young immorality or the young like the

108
00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:27,920
youthful ignorant I don't know badness or scampishness like those things are

109
00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:31,200
okay to me in this fictional character or even with a you know a real kid to

110
00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:33,840
some extent although you would want those things to be corrected but you know

111
00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:37,440
Tom's living with his aunt he's got no mom and no dad and it makes him a little

112
00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:42,240
bit of a different person thank you and Huck's also in a bad situation where his

113
00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:47,080
dad's like an alcoholic and I think his mom's gone and gosh I don't know it's

114
00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:51,240
interesting it really is interesting as far as the the controversial stuff in

115
00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:55,000
the book I thought I was the audible the free version of it that I had an audible

116
00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,880
was censored it wasn't they went ahead they used you know they talked about

117
00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:06,080
slaves they used Negro and they also used the larger N word which anyway

118
00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,720
Mildred D Taylor talked about the fact that she won't censor her books and she

119
00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:14,680
won't remove the word from her books and I commend her stance on that and I don't

120
00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:18,800
think Twain's book should be censored to have those things removed because it's

121
00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:22,040
of the times and it's an it's a encapsulation and evidence of how things

122
00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:30,760
were at the time and where it's used in the book the boys it's interesting Huck

123
00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:35,880
is is slightly you gotta understand the context of these people Huck is like he

124
00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:41,000
uses it in more of a derogatory way and Joe definitely uses it in a derogatory way

125
00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:48,920
because he was treated as if he was a you know and that led to him causing that

126
00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:51,960
led him doing something in the book that caused a lot of the or that was kind of

127
00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:55,080
like the inciting incident or the trigger for the story which is pretty

128
00:09:55,080 --> 00:10:00,040
interesting and definitely we had a you know you've got a Native American who's

129
00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:05,880
racist against black you know slaves and I don't know necessarily why the white

130
00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:09,760
man who he was so angry at and wanted vengeance against why he was harsh on

131
00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:12,840
him maybe that was racism at play too but it's just interesting because it

132
00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:17,240
like it shows the ugliness of racism and it shows the broadness of racism and how

133
00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:22,920
even you know an Indian man or can be racist against black people and a white

134
00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,560
guy can be racist against Indians and just like it's a whole circle of you know

135
00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:31,480
hate and stupidity that we don't need and I believe Huck Berry Finn features

136
00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:36,880
Huck befriending a growing away slave which is interesting because then that's

137
00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:41,120
taking something that was touched on in this book and contextualizing and I'd be

138
00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:43,840
curious to see what that relationship was like between Huck and the slave

139
00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:48,680
because he used the N word in a more derogatory fashion although again I'm

140
00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:53,240
saying for the people of that time that wouldn't have been a problem really it's

141
00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:56,920
just that's just how things were but I think it's important that we have

142
00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:00,520
multiple books that we read and we don't take them away because they all have

143
00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:05,560
important parts of the conversation to add and yeah I think it's a good thing

144
00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:07,920
I think it's a good thing I don't think the books should be controversial I don't

145
00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:13,160
think they should be banned or censored or anything like that because I like the

146
00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:17,280
free flow of information ideas anyway that's all I have to say so I like the

147
00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:20,040
book for myself I'm not gonna suggest it to my kids because there's some stuff I

148
00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:22,800
don't like like there's like weird you know child romance stuff but I mean I

149
00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:26,160
proposed to a girl in kindergarten but I wasn't kissing anybody in kindergarten

150
00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:30,960
and that kind of thing happens in this book so I know again I'm definitely

151
00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,180
open to have a conversation on this so if you have something you want to say

152
00:11:33,180 --> 00:11:37,520
about the book and its virtues or my you know problem with his lack of virtues

153
00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:42,080
or virtue in it I guess you could say because I think the book can definitely

154
00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:46,280
have virtues without having virtue or having a failed personal virtue for the

155
00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,920
characters so anyway that's about all I want to say about it other notable works

156
00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:53,560
from Mark Twain include but are not limited to the Gilded Age a tale of today

157
00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:58,480
the Prince and the Popper I'd really eat a Connecticut Yankee I didn't know

158
00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:03,280
about that the American claimant pudding head of Wilson personal recollections of

159
00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:10,720
art a horses tail from 1907 and then the mysterious stranger which was published

160
00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:15,480
in 1916 posthumously so that's pretty interesting the next fortress fiction

161
00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:20,120
will cover the Westing game by Alan Raskin from 1978 it's a quirky mystery

162
00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:24,240
in which 16 heirs compete to uncover secrets behind tycoon Sam Westing's

163
00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:29,160
death that is an audible and it should be free we available on cloud library

164
00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,920
and I'll link to other places where it's freely available as well that's all I

165
00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:38,440
have to say until next time farewell and remember to go ahead and drop your

166
00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:42,320
comments on your thoughts about this book or any of the others that I've

167
00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:47,520
talked about in fortress fiction so far and until next time keep readings I hope

168
00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:51,640
you enjoyed that subscribe to keep up with me like and share to help me reach

169
00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:55,480
more people like you and go to MJMunoz.com to find your next favorite thing

170
00:12:55,480 --> 00:13:00,080
and don't forget to let your voice be heard stories are always better when

171
00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:05,520
you're part of the conversation until next time be well this is MJ signing out

172
00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:12,520
this has been a story over everything production