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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Complete, Chapter 8 summary

Chapter 8 of 35 · 8 min to read the chapter

In Chapter 8, Tom retreats into the woods, broods over a girl's treatment, and decides to escape home for a pirate's life. A failed marble charm briefly troubles him, but playing Robin Hood with Joe Harper turns his attention toward imaginary adventures governed by the stories they know.

What happens

  1. Tom avoids the returning scholars and sits alone in the woods, imagining death and the girl's regret.
  2. He considers several adventurous lives, chooses piracy, and decides to leave home the next morning.
  3. His buried marble fails to attract lost marbles, and he blames a witch after consulting a doodlebug.
  4. Tom retrieves his discarded marble by throwing another along the same course.
  5. Joe Harper arrives, and the boys act out Robin Hood adventures, arguing over the rules supplied by their book.
  6. After staging Robin Hood's death, they hide their equipment and prefer imaginary outlaw life to the presidency.

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In this chapter

Tom

What to notice

Tom treats the story as a binding rule for their game. His refusal exposes the conflict between following a script and giving Joe a fair turn.

Quick check

Why does Tom think his marble charm fails?

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