Genre of the work "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". Multi-genre as a sign of high classics

If Mark Twain were told that he would write imperishable creations, not only for children, but also for adults and become the favorite author of many and many subsequent classics of American literature, he would probably be very surprised and said: "But this is not may be". "We ask you to excuse us, but this is exactly so," grateful readers would answer.

Mark Twain loved everything: women and men, old people and teenagers, rich and poor. His prose is extremely democratic, because it is beautiful. What genre is Tom Sawyer's Adventures, the most famous work of M. Twain? Very difficult question. To answer it, you need to see what genres are present in this work.

Genres

The genre of the work "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" is difficult to define, because in this epic narrative several literary currents are mixed at once:

• Adventure (the first thing that catches your eye);
• Comedy (also clearly discernible);
• Tragedy (it is less obvious);
• Biography (unbelievable).

And now about everything in order.

Adventure

It is well known both to specialists and ordinary bibliophiles that each work can be read many times and to find new meanings is a sign of good literature.

As for the adventures of Tom Sawyer, they immediately appear before the reader in all splendor: Tom together with his friend Huck had time to visit the uninhabited island, find treasure, see how mercilessly, but not coolly kill a person, help to expose the murderer, experience fear Death, roaming in a cave, and even find love in Becky Thatcher's face. All this is extremely exciting to read. This is a superficial cut of Mark Twain's text - this semantic layer of the work is easily recognized by both adolescents and adults.

So, the first answer to the question about what genre works is "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" is ready.

Comedy

With this, too, everything is clear. Yes, someone may not like the tricks of Tom and Huck, but no one will deny that they are funny. It's especially funny how Tom easily painted the fence, adding a little ingenuity to the solution of the problem and not even getting soiled hands. Everyone who has read his favorite places in this ageless book. There is no point here to list everything. And those who did not read, postpone everything: work, study, children, wife, husbands, lovers - and read with all possible agility. All the prose of Mark Twain (not only "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer") is imbued with a unique authorial humor, admired by Ernest Hemingway, and Kurt Vonnegut, and many other writers.

This is the second answer to the question, what kind of genre is the work of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer".

Tragedy. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn as two childhood images

And now about the sad. The tragedy "hid" in the image of Huck Finn. It would seem, well, what's so unusual about a vagabond boy whose father drinks? The hopelessness of Huck Finn's position is emphasized by Tom Sawyer's good fortune.

The loneliness of Huck and the "family" of Tom. Note that although Tom is always trying to poke his aunt somehow, he still loves her dearly, and she loves him. Near Huck there are no such dear and close people.

Tom lives only in the world of his (childhood) fantasies, Huck, on the contrary, is present in the world of children, and in the world of adults. When he wants entertainment, he goes and plays with Tom, but he has to solve only adult problems: what to do with a drunkard-father and how does he even have to be in a world where he does not have any native soul?

This is a triviality and allows Huck to sometimes look at Tom's pranks with a poorly concealed skepticism, in other words, the eyes of an adult. Tom still does not know life, and Huck, unfortunately, knows. And she does not remind him of the taste of watermelon sugar.

There is a third answer to the question, what is the genre of the work "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer".

"Biography" of childhood

Mark Twain succeeded in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" not only tell the story of an ordinary boy, but also capture a special "biography" of childhood, his archetype. Indeed, no one came so close to the secret of a tender youth as Mark Twain.

Of course, lovers of the works of Ray Bradbury will exclaim: "What about" Dandelion Wine "?" The work of Bradbury, unlike Tom Sawyer's Adventures, is not just about childhood. It's about everything. It can be interpreted as an existential parable. In "Wine ..." there are motives of life, death, human loneliness, aging. There is a childhood there, but it is not in the first roles. In Bradbury, childhood participates in the carnival of life on a par with all the states of human existence.

And this is the fourth and final, philosophical answer to the question, what is the genre of the work about Tom Sawyer.

Why are the works about Tom Sawyer still so popular?

This question is partially answered by the fact that the "Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by genres are extremely diverse, as shown above. But it is impossible not to mention the skill of the translator Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky, who brilliantly conveyed not only the style of Mark Twain, but also the unique authorial imagery series.

The language of Mark Twain is fascinating: it is simple and at the same time deep. Under the guise of a cynic, a great humanist hides. After all, you can love a person in different ways: blindly, when you do not see any shortcomings, and he is subjectively woven from some solid virtues - this is immature love. But some are lucky, and they love a person even though he has flaws, and they are quite obvious - this is a mature love. That's how Mark Twain loved man, but he saw with every distinctness every flaw in his nature.

At parting, only one remark: do not deny yourself the pleasure and read more along with the "Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". From the biographies of two adolescent tomboy books "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn".