Tag Archives: Tom Sawyer

The Novels that Shaped John McCain

By Robin Bates | Published: August 28, 2018

McCain’s favorite novels included “Great Gatsby,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Huckleberry Finn,” and works by Somerset Maugham. One can understand why.

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Lost in a Cave

By Robin Bates | Published: July 3, 2018

The scouts rescued from in a flooded cave bring to mind the Tom-Becky story in “Tom Sawyer.”

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Studying for Exams, Risks & Rewards

By Robin Bates | Published: December 8, 2017

For all those cramming madly for exams, this “Tom Sawyer” episode is for you.

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Walmart Practices a Tom Sawyer Economy

By Robin Bates | Published: August 25, 2016

Walmart relies on American taxpayers to subsidize its work force. This is being called “a Tom Sawyer economy,” an allusion to the fence whitewashing episode.

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Queasy about Bodies Used for Medicine

By Robin Bates | Published: August 4, 2015

The sting videos by anti-abortion activists are designed to shock. But being shocked by the use of dead bodies for medical research is nothing new, as seen in the grave robbing scene in “Tom Sawyer.”

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Kid Fight in Congress

By Robin Bates | Published: September 25, 2013

At times, Congress looks like two kids squabbling in “Tom Sawyer”–only in this case, the stakes are much higher and one side refuses to act like an adult.

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Barcelona-Madrid Is Like Goneril-Regan

By Robin Bates | Published: May 28, 2011

Think of the elder Lear sisters as Barcelona and Madrid and Edmund as a spot in the Champions League final. This would make Goneril Barcelona since she’s the one that emerges (temporarily) triumphant.

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Why Does Everyone Hate Duke?

By Robin Bates | Published: February 26, 2011

Sports Saturday Once again, one of the most hated teams in the country resides atop the NCAA basketball rankings: Duke University.  In today’s post I find literary equivalents for the general animus against the Blue Devils. For the life of me I can’t understand why Duke is so disliked. Granted, I myself dislike Duke, but […]

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Tom Sawyer’s “Behavioral Disorders”

By Robin Bates | Published: August 12, 2010

Educational experts have long been concerned about the large numbers of underachieving boys in our school systems. My wife, once a public school teacher and now a member of our Education Department, provided me with some of the explanations. She notes that, of the three learning styles—aural, visual, and kinesthetic—the first two tend to get […]

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