Chapter 2 Analysis:
The use of omniscient narrative is very important in establishing Twain's character portraits. A first-person narrative (used in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) allows only the viewpoint of one character. With a first-person narrative, the reader must question his source of information and can only "see" what the narrator "sees." However, omniscient narration divulges all: the reader can take all his facts as truth. In turn, we are allowed not only to see all the activity within the novel but we are allowed within the thoughts of each character. In chapter two, this narrative plays an especially important role in portraying Tom Sawyer's true intellect and understanding of the world around him
Tom, who is initially portrayed as an incorrigible youth, is able to make commentary on relative nature of "work" and "play." Tom not only loves to fight and play in the dirt, but also has a profound knowledge of human nature that is astounding for his young age. Using his "smarts," he is able to fool his peers as well as outsmart Aunt Polly and other authority figures. Tom may behave like a little boy, but he is able to think greater than perhaps any adult.