Tom Sawyer is the story of a young, mischievous boy and his comrades in the antebellum south. Tom (and Huck Finn, who you've also probably heard of before reading the books) gets himself into all sorts of shenanigans before ultimately becoming the most popular boy in town after accidentally witnessing a murder and finding a bunch of stolen money. He has a love interest, gets into some fights and annoys his aunt on nearly every page.In the end, Tom and Huck trap Injun Joe inside of a cave and recover his stolen gold, making themselves rich. Tom is a fairly good example of the average youngster. While his adventures may be grander than most, his selfishness and lack of compassion is not.