Popular Culture Review Vol. 1, December 1989 | Page 39

day at school.. . the boys are again at play, but no
longer at simply play of boys among themselves,
for their own ends: it is directed now against adults,
as if in revolt against what the world holds for boys
who grow, as Tom has grown, beyond simple inno
cence to know ledge... in the last thirteen chapters
the boys begin to act tentatively as adults a c t . .
(Leary 134)
In Swami and Friends also, not only does Swami convert
everything into play but he displays a great love for games. The
most important event in Swami and Friends is the cricket match
where the boys are brought together under the banner o f the MCC
with Rajam as their captain and Swami as the Tate. But the very
source o f unity becomes a source of friction, and the play becomes
“reality” itself, and child becomes the father o f the man. The
incident with the coachman’s son also shows the child’s encounter
with evil in its very search for freedom.
In Tom Sawyer, when Tom and Huck go off to the local
graveyard to perform a magic ritual, they see Dr. Robinson robbing
a grave. In the fight that follows the doctor is stabbed, and with this
knowledge o f evil and being snubbed by Becky, Tom goes to
Jackson’s Island with Joe Harper and Huck. But he soon feels
homesick and goes home secretly only to overhear Aunt Polly and
Mrs. Harper lamenting the supposed deaths o f their boys. When he
returns to the island, he describes this scene, pretending that he saw
it in a dream. Soon Tom is reconciled with Becky and also decides
to tell the truth about Injun Joe. He becomes a hero, but still lives
in fear of Joe’s return. Then he goes off with Becky on an excursion
into a cave—and here again there is shooting when Injun Joe plots
to slit the widow Douglas’ nostril. Tom again runs for life, and
when he and Becky make their way out o f the cave, Judge Thatcher

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