A Study of Language Features in the Adventures of Tom Sawyer

【Abstract】The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is one of Mark Twains most famous novels. It is also an excellent childrens literature that reflects the American childrens pursuit of freedom， bold and lively yearning for fantasy life. This novel has become one of the most popular books of childrens literature all over the world.The most important is its lively and positive language features， which are full of childrens humor. This paper tries to explore the language characteristics in the Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

【Key words】Language style; Mark Twain; Tom Sawyer

【作者簡介】魏峥筝，衡水市冀州区信都学校。

I. The Whole Content of this Novel

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer reveals the radiance of critical realism everywhere. It is not only a novel， but also a successful lyric prose.In addition， the language of the novel is concise and very concise in detail. The natural combination of psychological description and scene description is also the moving part of the novel.

II. The Language Features

2.1 Sense of humor and irony

Mark Twain， as a literary magnate， had three main characteristics in his works.Language style is one of them， and looking at Mark Twains work， we can easily see that the language of his works is always satirical in humor， and in humor satire about lifestyle， political system， Social reality and other in-depth thinking and ruthless disclosure.First of all， the use of rhetoric： “the Adventures of Tom Sawyer” the formation of humorous satirical language style can not be separated from the use of rhetoric.Mark Twain used a large number of rhetorical devices in the novel， including exaggeration， contrast， irony， pun， metaphor， etc. On the one hand， the use of rhetorical devices strengthened the humorous irony of language. On the other hand， it can also highlight the ideological connotation of the worksThe author exaggerates the way people go to church to pray， as well as the chaplain.The novel reads： “And now the minister prayed.A good generous prayer it was and went into details.” The pastor ended his prayer after a series of names， institutions and events， and the length of the prayer time and the complexity of the contents revealed the hypocrisy and absurdity of prayer itself， a description that we find ridiculous at the same time.

2.2 Description of local scenery

In the aspect of language use， Mark Twains use of native language is also a distinctive feature of his language style.In essence， the language style with native color mainly refers to Mark Twains use of vocabulary， which forms the basis of language and is also an essential element of language style. First of all， the premise of the use of the local color language： looking at the Adventures of Tom Sawyer， we find that there are a lot of native color languages in it.The use of local color language not only appeared in this work， but also appeared in a large number of other works of Mark Twain， Mark Twain language style was not formed overnight， there are its profound reasons. The author thinks that this is related to the authors own experience and literary tradition.The novel is based on the Mississippi River， where the writer worked as a sailor when he was young. He met with local fishermen， miners， loggers， and so on， so he was very familiar with the local language forms and characteristics. This language with a strong local color and its humorous irony of the language has something in common.Mark Twains use of local color language can be said to be a subversion of American traditional literature.

III. Conclusion

Tom Sawyers Adventure combines the natural scenery and folk life along the Mississippi River in the United States.Using the simple and rich humorous language mechanism， the author depicts a beautiful and virginity life picture of American children and their real desire and state of mind for the readers.

References：

[1]Wayne Fields.When the Fences Are Down;Language and Order in “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and“Huckleberry Finn”[J].Journal of America，1990.

[2]Xin Tian.Simple Language， Profound Significance——Comparison Between The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn[J].American and Chinese foreign languages，2005.

[3]Brian Collins.Critical Essays on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ed. by Gary Scharnhorst （review）[J].Western American Journal，1994.