Grade 7 - The Glorious Whitewasher

He thinks of ways to make himself enjoy the task of painting the fence.

He focuses on the exciting things around him to distract himself from his work.

He decides to bribe the boys with his “worldly wealth” in order to get the boys to paint the fence.

He develops a plan for tricking the other boys into doing most of his work.

help establish the rural nature of the setting.

help characterize Tom and Ben as ignorant.

build suspense about what will happen next.

establish a conflict between Tom and Ben.

Tom resents his aunt for making him work.

Tom highly values time spent having fun.

Tom believes he should not be made to do chores.

Tom is tired from working so hard on the fence.

They highlight the friendship between Tom and Ben.

They hint at Tom’s plan for getting his work done.

They characterize Ben as someone who likes to show off.

They foreshadow the fact Ben will soon be working.

Tom gets many boys to paint the fence.

Tom tells his friend why he likes whitewashing.

Tom focuses on painting the fence instead of choosing to play.

Tom tricks Ben into choosing to whitewash the fence instead of playing.

Tom is popular with others and a natural leader.

Tom dislikes thinking people will make fun of him.

Tom has the ability to keep his true feelings hidden.

Tom accepts that some situations are beyond his control.

Soon the free boys would come tripping along on all sorts of delicious expeditions, and they would make a world of fun of him for having to work—the very thought of it burnt him like fire.

“Like it? Well, I don’t see why I oughtn’t to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?” That put the thing in a new light.

He got out his worldly wealth and examined it—bits of toys, marbles, and trash; enough to buy an exchange of WORK, maybe, but not half enough to buy so much as half an hour of pure freedom.

And when the middle of the afternoon came, from being a poor poverty-stricken boy in the morning, Tom was literally rolling in wealth.

Paragraph 6 ("Tom went on whitewashing—paid no attention to the steamboat...etc.")

Paragraph 16 (“Like it? Well, I don’t see why I oughtn’t to like it...etc.)

Paragraph 14 (“Oh come, now, you don’t mean to let on that you LIKE it?”)

Paragraph 17 (“Say, Tom, let ME whitewash a little.”)

Paragraph 19 (“No— No—I reckon it wouldn’t hardly do, Ben...etc.)

Paragraph 13 ("Tom resumed his whitewashing, and answered carelessly: “Well, maybe it is, and maybe it ain’t...etc.")

Paragraph 18 ("Tom considered, was about to consent; but he altered his mind"

Paragraph 20 (“No—is that so? Oh come now—lemme just try...etc.")

Work can be enjoyable if one has the right attitude.

Time is more precious than money or material goods.

People often value things that seem hard to get.

Friends make sacrifices to help each other.

“Say—I’m going in a-swimming, I am. Don’t you wish you could? But of course you’d druther WORK—wouldn’t you? Course you would!”

He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it—namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.

Tom surveyed his last touch with the eye of an artist, then he gave his brush another gentle sweep and surveyed the result, as before.

He had besides the things before mentioned, twelve marbles, part of a jew’s-harp, a piece of blue bottle-glass to look through, a spool cannon, a key that wouldn’t unlock anything, a fragment of chalk, a glass stopper of a decanter, a tin soldier, a couple of tadpoles, six fire-crackers, a kitten with only one eye, a brass doorknob, a dog-collar—but no dog—the handle of a knife, four pieces of orange-peel, and a dilapidated old window sash.