Tom Sawyer, his best friend Huck Finn, his would-be girlfriend Becky Thatcher, and his aunt Polly teach and learn about life, death, race and painting fences in a "typical" 19th century Midwestern town that bears a striking resemblance to Twains hometown of Hannibal, Missouri. On one level, this is the prototypical tale of one boys innocence and how he lost it, but its also a profound evocation of the national character that Twain, an odd combination of independent thinker and moralist, clearly thought needed some analyzing.