How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Boys, I know who's drownded -- it's us!"
They felt like heroes in an instant. Here was a gorgeous triumph; they were missed; they were mourned; hearts were breaking on their account; tears were being shed; accusing memories of unkindness to these poor lost lads were rising up, and unavailing regrets and remorse were being indulged; and best of all, the departed were the talk of the whole town, and the envy of all the boys, as far as this dazzling notoriety was concerned. (14.25-6)
Children, and only children, could exalt in such a situation – in being thought dead by friends and loved ones – without being touched by the stranger, eerier implications of it.
Quote #8
There comes a time in every rightly-constructed boy's life when he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure. This desire suddenly came upon Tom one day. […] Presently he stumbled upon Huck Finn the Red-Handed. Huck would answer. Tom took him to a private place and opened the matter to him confidentially. Huck was willing. (1.1)
Searching for treasure, Twain suggests, is as much a part of being a boy as, well, going through puberty. Both involve raging desires; the objects of those desires are simply different.
Quote #9
"The eats by a bell, she goes to bed by a bell; she gits up by a bell—everything's so awful reglar a body can't stand it.
"Well, everybody does it that way, Huck." (35.7-8)
Tom seems to be coming to terms with the adult way of life. He certainly hasn't become one, yet, but he might just be starting to see the light at the end of childhood's long tunnel.