The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete, Chapter 14 summary

What happens

1. Tom watches the woods awaken before joining Joe and Huck for swimming, fishing, and breakfast.
2. The boys explore the island, but their cheerful independence gives way to homesickness that none admits.
3. Cannon fire draws them to the shore, where they watch a crowded ferry and smaller boats searching the river.
4. Tom realizes the search concerns them, and the boys delight in imagining the village mourning their deaths.
5. After supper, Tom mocks Joe’s tentative suggestion of returning home, and Huck supports him.
6. Once his companions sleep, Tom writes on two pieces of bark, leaves one with treasures in Joe’s hat, and runs toward the sandbar.

In this chapter

What to notice

Tom connects the search to their own disappearance. The discovery transforms the boys’ loneliness into pride at their imagined importance.

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