The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Chapter 22 Summary

Summary

Tom joins a new temperance society chiefly because he likes the look of its red sash and vows to abstain from smoking, chewing, and profanity. The vow immediately creates a fierce temptation to do the forbidden things, and after less than two days Tom resigns when a hoped-for public funeral (that of Judge Frazer) fails to occur promptly; the judge dies the same night and the Cadets give a grand parade, but Tom finds the ability to sin has removed the thrill of wanting to do so.

The rest of Tom’s vacation proves thin and disappointing: entertainments—a minstrel show, a circus, a mesmerist and phrenologist—briefly amuse the children but leave the town duller, and Becky Thatcher is away. The unresolved anguish of the murder hangs over everything, then Tom contracts measles and spends two miserable weeks bedridden. When he finally goes out he discovers the town in the grip of a religious revival: boys and girls who were companions are now practicing piety, quoting Scripture, and performing good works. Tom feels uniquely isolated and guilty; a violent thunderstorm convinces him he is being singled out for divine punishment, and he vows reform while secretly hoping there will be no more storms. He relapses, is sick again for weeks, and on recovery sees that some of his friends (Joe Harper, Huck Finn, Jim Hollis) have also been drawn into the revival’s fervor, leaving Tom to brood over his lonely, changed world.

Key events

1. Tom joins the Cadets of Temperance attracted by their regalia.
2. He quickly breaks his vow and resigns when Judge Frazer’s death is delayed and then occurs.
3. Summer entertainments (minstrel show, circus, phrenologist) amuse briefly but disappoint.
4. Tom contracts measles and is bedridden for two weeks.
5. A townwide revival converts children and friends, leaving Tom alienated.
6. A violent thunderstorm convinces Tom he is being punished, then he relapses into sickness.

Analysis

This chapter emphasizes Tom’s adolescent impulses, the theatricality of social institutions, and the novel’s recurring tension between show and substance. Tom’s initial attraction to the Cadets is aesthetic—regalia and parade—rather than moral, and his quick resignation satirizes performative virtue. The public funeral and cadet parade underscore the town’s fondness for ceremony, which Twain treats with gentle irony. The sequence of ephemeral amusements (minstrel show, circus, phrenologist) reinforces a theme of fleeting pleasures that leave a deeper emptiness; these diversions parallel Tom’s short-lived enthusiasms and the vacuity of spectacle without meaningful attachment.

The measles and ensuing revival shift the tone to moral and psychological pressure: conversion spreads even among boys, isolating Tom and highlighting his self-conscious sense of guilt and exile. The storm functions as an externalization of Tom’s conscience—he interprets natural phenomena as divine judgment, revealing a child’s propensity to personalize fate. Narrative technique remains third-person, ironic but sympathetic, allowing readers to see both Tom’s folly and his human vulnerability. Small comic touches (the kid-justice trying a cat) balance the darker undertow—moral panic, loneliness, and the unresolved weight of the murder—keeping the chapter thematically linked to the novel’s larger interplay of childhood play, social performance, and the emergence of ethical awareness.

Important quotes

“Tom joined the new order of Cadets of Temperance, being attracted by the showy character of their “regalia.””

NarratorSets up Tom’s superficial motive for joining the Cadets and introduces the theme of appearance versus conviction.

“He believed he had taxed the forbearance of the powers above to the extremity of endurance and that this was the result.”

NarratorReveals Tom’s guilt-ridden imagination as he interprets a thunderstorm as divine punishment, highlighting his youthful moral anxiety.

“Every boy he encountered added another ton to his depression; and when, in desperation, he flew for refuge at last to the bosom of Huckleberry Finn and was received with a Scriptural quotation, his heart broke and he crept home and to bed realizing that he alone of all the town was lost, forever and forever.”

NarratorCaptures Tom’s acute sense of isolation after the revival converts his friends, emphasizing his alienation and the chapter’s emotional climax.

Characters in Chapter 22

• Tom Sawyer
• Cadets of Temperance
• Judge Frazer
• Mr. Benton
• Joe Harper
• Becky Thatcher
• Huckleberry Finn
• Ben Rogers
• Jim Hollis