“...that’s what they do… so of course that’s what we’ve got to do.”

In chapter two, Huckleberry Finn meets with Tom Sawyer and the other boys who are interested in joining a band of robbers known as Tom Sawyer’s Gang. While discussing the business of this gang, Tom mentions that as robbers, they would rob, murder and “keep people until they are ransomed”. It is then that a boy asks what “ransom” means. Tom admits he doesn’t know what the word means but assures the boys by saying: “I’ve seen it in [pirate and robbery] books; and so of course that’s what we’ve got to do.” (pg 16). Reading this part of the book not only made me laugh but also made me realize that Tom wanting to copy what he has read in pirate books is like children wanting to mimic what they watch on television. It seems that when it comes to children having fun, imitating what you read in books and watch on television has not changed in the last 150 years.

Television and the media are an important part of today’s society. We as Americans look to television not only as a source of information but as a form of entertainment as well. With so much dependence on television, it is no surprise that children take what they see in cartoons and movies to heart. Because there were no televisions during the mid nineteenth century, people turned to literature as a source of information. Tom based the oath and rules of his gang of robbers on the different pirate books and robbery books he had read. I believe that Tom’s reading of these fictional books is identical to children watching cartoons on television. Kids cannot help but impersonate what they read or watch.

Two summers ago, I worked as a camp counselor with five and six year-olds at the Riverdale Neighborhood House. Watching the children play outside during free time was like watching many different television programs at once. Three girls ran around the courtyard pretending to fight crime in the city of Townsville as the Powerpuff Girls while five boys played basketball, mimicking moves of different famous basketball stars. One other boy walked around scrutinizing and identifying the different bugs on some plants that grew near by while two other girls pulled on my staff uniform insisting that I listen to them sing the song “One, Two Step” by recording artist, Ciara. As a counselor I had to watch Cartoon Network, ESPN, Animal Planet and MTV Hits all at once. Who needs Cable when you’ve got kids? I find it funny that although the times have changed since the 1800’s, children and what they find amusing have not.
posted by Kandace C.