Tom pretends to be sick to avoid going to school, but his aunt pulls out his loose tooth. At school, he is late after talking to his friend Huck about using a dead cat for curing warts or summoning the devil. As punishment, he has to sit by the girls and tries to befriend Becky by offering her a peach. He draws a house for her and writes "I Love You" on his slate, though the teacher moves him when he notices Tom's distraction over Becky. The chapter depicts Tom and Huck's childhood adventures and the superstitions in their village.

1. Tom meets Becky
Samuel Longhorn Clemens, alias Mark Twain, is an American author and
humorist. He is most noted for his novel “The Adventure of Tom Sawyer and its sequel,
“Adventure of Huckleberry Finn”, Latter often called “The Great American Novel”.
“Tom meets Becky” is the sixth chapter taken from the book “The Adventure of Tom
sawyer”. It is an 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River.
The story is set in the town of “St. Petersburg” inspired by Hannibal, Missouri, where
Twain lived.
The chapter “Tom meets Becky” opens with Tom, who seems to be miserable on
Monday. Monday morning always finds him so, because he does not want to go back to
school. He decides to pretend sickness inorder to stay home. He investigates his body and
discovers that he has two ailments, a loose tooth and a sore toe. Tom acts like he is on his
deathbed, his moaning and groaning fool sid, but not his Aunt Polly. She has no
sympathy for Tom, and quickly pulls his front tooth. On his way to school, his friends
make fun of his missing tooth. He becomes their hero, and Tom enjoys every moment of
it.
Before arriving at school, tom sees Huckleberry Finn, the village vagabond and
son of the town drunk. He is disliked by every mother in town because he is a homeless
boy and “lawless, vulgar and bad”. The children, however, admire him because he is
totally free and irresponsible, he represents all that they cannot be. He dresses in rags,
smokes, curses and does not attend school or church. He lives by his own rules, does not
answer to anyone, and spends much of his time fishing or swimming. Tom has been
forbidden by Aunt Polly to play with Huckleberry, but Tom ignores his aunt’s warnings
and joins Huckleberry at every opportunity.
On the way to school this Monday morning, Tom greets Huck and asks him what
he is holding in his hands. Huck replies that it is a dead cat, useful in curing warts. Tom
says that spunk water is a better cure for warts, but Huck does not agree. He tells Tom

2. that if they take the dead cat and go to the graveyard at midnight, the devil will come.
The cat will follow the cat. Tom engrossed by this prospect, agrees to meet Huck this
very night and go to the graveyard. Thus Tom is so involved with his conversation with
Huck that he loses track of time.
Tom arrives at school very late. The schoolmaster asks for an explanation for his
late arrival and Tom eyeing an empty seat next to Becky, confesses that he has stopped to
speak with Huck. His punishment is to undergo a whipping and to sit next to the girls,
exactly as he has hoped. He goes and sits next to Becky, whom he tries to befriend by
offering her a peach, which she refuses. To draw her attention, he starts writing on his
slate and hides it from Becky. Her curiosity gets the best of her, and she begs to see what
Tom has written. Tom acts reluctant, but soon shows her the drawing of a house. Becky
admires it and says wistfully that she wishes she could draw. Tom chivalrously offers to
teach her. He then scrawls something else on his slate. Becky promptly wants to know
what tom has written. Tom again acts reluctant at first, but gradually relents. He has
written “I Love You”. Becky pretends to be horrified but is inwardly pleased at being so
admired.
The teacher, noticing Tom’s distraction, comes down the aisle, lifts Tom up by his
ear, and puts him back in his regular seat. Tom tries very hard to concentrate on school
work, but he can only think of Becky. All day long, he makes errors in every area of his
studies.
Thus in this chapter, “Tom meets Becky”, Mark Twain portrays the childhood
mischief of the boy Tom and also Huckleberry Finn. He also highlights the superstitions
that exists in the village through the discussion of the boys.