“Tom swept his brush daintily back and forth- stepped back to note the effect- added a touch here and there- criticized the effect again- Ben watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed.” This excerpt from “The Glorious Whitewasher” by Mark Twain tells the story of a sneaky, young boy who fooled his peers into doing his work and giving him their treasures while he relaxed like a mom at the beach. I will now describe Tom’s inspiration or strategy and explain how this inspiration is central to the theme and plot regarding work vs. play.
Tom Sawyer is one clever, young man. He didn’t want to do his job, so he didn’t. But, he still got paid? Tom used his wits to fool his peers into doing the job for him. He first gets the idea when his friend, Ben, …show more content…
Tom, having been working all day without food, becomes interested in this apple as seen in paragraph seven, “Ben ranged up alongside of him. Tom’s mouth watered for the apple, but he stuck to his work.” So he devises a plan to get the apple and make Ben do his work. The whole idea behind his scheme is that when someone wants something, you just have to make it hard to get. But, who would really want to whitewash a fence? No one that I know, that’s for sure. In order to make Ben long for the opportunity to whitewash the fence, Tom needed to make it seem like it was enjoyable. When Ben questions if Tom actually likes the work he is doing, he responds by saying, “Like it? Well, I don’t see why I oughtn’t to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?” By stating this, Tom is making it seem like this a huge opportunity that only few people get therefore you should be honored to receive it. Now, Tom only has Ben thinking, but not exactly craving for this chance. To make him completely absorbed by this possibility, Tom needs to make him think that he can’t have it. Like I said before, his whole idea is that making something hard to get will
Tom Sawyer is one clever, young man. He didn’t want to do his job, so he didn’t. But, he still got paid? Tom used his wits to fool his peers into doing the job for him. He first gets the idea when his friend, Ben, …show more content…
Tom, having been working all day without food, becomes interested in this apple as seen in paragraph seven, “Ben ranged up alongside of him. Tom’s mouth watered for the apple, but he stuck to his work.” So he devises a plan to get the apple and make Ben do his work. The whole idea behind his scheme is that when someone wants something, you just have to make it hard to get. But, who would really want to whitewash a fence? No one that I know, that’s for sure. In order to make Ben long for the opportunity to whitewash the fence, Tom needed to make it seem like it was enjoyable. When Ben questions if Tom actually likes the work he is doing, he responds by saying, “Like it? Well, I don’t see why I oughtn’t to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?” By stating this, Tom is making it seem like this a huge opportunity that only few people get therefore you should be honored to receive it. Now, Tom only has Ben thinking, but not exactly craving for this chance. To make him completely absorbed by this possibility, Tom needs to make him think that he can’t have it. Like I said before, his whole idea is that making something hard to get will