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characters in the story. The third, the author expresses through what other character says about the other character. In this method, the information about a
character can be gained through other characters’ opinion. The fourth, the author describes the characters directly. In this case the author can speak as a storyteller
or an observer.
1. Tom Canty’s Life
In the 16
th
century, the poor lived in a very hard life that it was very rare for them to appear with contentment and satisfaction in their face. Their houses
generally were made of wood. Their wooden houses were very simple and only had a main room or two main rooms Microsoft ® Encarta ® Reference Library
2005. The way of life common people depended on the social class that divided them and lived separately with the rich or the nobles Poor in Elizabethan
England. Therefore, Greenberg’s Mens and Womens Work Clothing: A Portfolio of Image states that there were no special clothes that the common people
had except for those who work for the parish.
a. In the Offal Court
In London, the rich lived in one part of the city while the poor lived towards the east where modern-day Fleet Street is and towards the City. They had
to separate each other. If a poor person was found in the west of the city, it would be assumed by those that made the law the rich that the poor was against the law
and could be punished. The poor kept themselves living with their own tribe in London and even they had developed their own form of language. This was known
38
as canting. This kind of language-form occurred behind the idea that no-one else could or would know what they were talking about. They meant it as a kind of
self-protection against the law Poor in Elizabethan England.
Tom Canty lives in a poor neighbourhood in Offal Court, out off Pudding Lane. Offal Court, a place where Tom Canty was born, is a typical common
people’s neighbourhood in London. “The streets were very narrow, and crooked, and dirty, especially in the part where Tom Canty lived, which was not far from
London Bridge” 3. There are a lot of poor family in Offal Court, so that the neighbourhood is very crowded. “It was small, decayed, and rickety, but it was
packed full of wretchedly poor families” 3. Generally, the common people in 16
th
century lived in wooden houses. A little stone chimney or funnel stood in the center of the house, providing cooking
facilities and heat during the long winters Microsoft ® Encarta ® Reference Library 2005. The houses in Offal Court, generally, are very simple made of
wood and so is the house where the Canty’s family live 3. There were no special clothes for common people. They only had some
pieces of cloth, or even the poor commonly only had a piece of cloth. The clothes of the common people in England, especially for the poor who were categorized
who could work, depended on what the field they work on and the season at that time Mens and Womens Work Clothing: A Portfolio of Image.
As the common people in general, they also live in poverty. Tom Canty’s family have limited food and clothes 15, as well as having limited rights.
Chrimes 63-64 states that the rights of the common people were not guaranteed, not even was mentioned in English constitutional law. Even the common people
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did not owing the guarantees for freedom, they were just free doing what they liked, and saying what they liked as long as they did not break the law which were
exists at any time. In the novel, in the Offal Court where Tom Canty lives, the safety is not guaranteed in there. There are a lot of riots every night.
“Drunkenness, riot, and brawling were the order there, every night and nearly all night long. Broken heads were as common as hunger in that place” 4. Just like
as other common people, they live under the King’s laws. Often, they have to have experiences the cruelty of the English laws, hunt down by the law, and of
many types of injustices. There were three social classes of common people. The first is the
‘Impotent’ Poor who depended on Government support. The second is the Able Bodied Poor who made clothes or anything that might benefit for the parish. The
third is Rogues and Vagabonds classes who could work but they preferred to beg or steal Lockyer 138.
Tom Canty is the only son of a beggar and thief, John Canty. He lives with his parents, his grandmother and his twin sisters, Nan and Bet. The life of Tom’s
family is very simple. In the 16
th
century, the common people house only had one room for all activities. One side of the room was used for general-purpose room
where the family worked and ate. On the other side was the room where all the member of the family slept Microsoft ® Encarta ® Reference Library 2005. The
same condition happens to the Tom Canty’s family. They only can rent a room for all the family and only have a little number of furniture. “The mother and father
had a sort of bedstead in the corner; but Tom, his grandmother, and his two sisters, Bet and Nan, were not restricted-they had all the floor to themselves, and might
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sleep where they chose” 3. “There were the remains of blanket or two, and some bundles of ancient and dirty straw, but these could not rightly be called beds, for
they were not organized…. “4. They only have no more than a pair of cloth. They work with that clothes and also sleep with the same clothes.
Halsall’s Of The Food And Diet Of The English describes the life of the common people was very hard. Most of them worked from rising dawn until
sunset and they only ate bread and potatoes with an occasional piece of bacon and an apple dumpling. While it was very usual for them to go to bed hungry. Hunger
is also very common in offal court, and so the Tom’s family. Tom’s family have no special things in their food and they have limited food in their daily life. They
only eat what they just can afford from begging, and eat whenever they have it. The limited amount of the food makes them treat it as a crucial matter. Sometimes
Tom goes to bed hungry when he is being punished by his father because he does not get the food as his punishment. Therefore, in the night, his mother who is also
starving will give him a little piece of bread that she keeps from her own. “….in the night his starving mother would slip to him stealthily with any miserable scrap
or crust she had been able to save for him by going hungry herself…. ” 5. In the novel, Mark twain describes Tom as a boy who is full of spirit,
especially when he is interested in something. There is a good priest, Father Andrew, who likes to teach Tom and the other children in the Tom’s
neighbourhood. He is the one who teaches Tom a little Latin, how to read and write, and tells charming old tales and legends about Kings and Princes and others.
He likes to listen to Father Andrew so much, and then when other children are afraid of the jeers of their friends if they study with Father Andrew, he does not
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care of it. “….but they were afraid of the jeers of their friends…” 4. He does not take that mocking as an obstacle to fulfil his desires in studying.
Moreover, he dares to take the risk to fulfil his desires and with his smartness, he will try to get what he wants and to avoid the punishment. “He only
begged just enough to save himself, for the laws against mendicancy were stringent, and the penalties heavy…“5. The second chapter describes that Tom
has to beg, and he will get punishment from his father and grand mother if he can not get some money. “When he came home empty-handed at night, he knew his
father would curse him and thrash him first, and that when he was done the awful grandmother would do it all over again and improve on it… “ 5. Tom knows if
he does not make his father satisfied with his begging-result, his father will punish him with beatings and even his grandmother will do more than his father. That is
why when Tom wants to have other activities, for example listening to Father Andrew; he has to be as clever as he can to fulfil his desire safely. Unconsciously,
Tom grows to be a smart boy who can adapt with the condition in his neighbourhood.
In this novel Mark Twain implicitly describes Tom as a special boy growing in the poor neighbourhood who has great ability to adapt in the situation
surrounds him, even when he has a new neighbourhood, in the palace, which is very different with his origin neighbourhood, in the Offal Court, a poor
neighbourhood. His imagination becomes full of princely life, after he learns from Father
Andrew. By and by, his imagination brings such a strong effect upon him. Unconsciously, he begins to act like a prince. “His speech and manners became
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curiously ceremonies and courtly, to the vast admiration and amusement of his intimates “ 6.
Tom Canty is also described as a person who has a great influence to other people surrounds him. His good-manner leads him to be regarded by other people.
In his society among his friends he becomes a person who is esteemed. “….Tom’s influence among these young people began to grow now, day by day; and in time
he came to be looked up to by them with assort of wondering awe, as a superior being” 6. In some cases he becomes the leader, as when he organises a royal
court. “Privately, after a while, Tom organized a royal court He was the prince; his special comrades were guards, chamberlains, equerries, lords and ladies in
waiting, and the royal family” 7. Mark twain also describes Tom Canty as a deep and wise person. He can
do and say wonderful things. Those ‘ability’ leads Tom Canty to be a problem- solver-boy in his society. “He seemed to know so much and he could do and say
such marvellous things and withal, he was so deep and wise” 7. Tom Canty becomes well-known as a problem solver not only among his friends, but also
among the adults and the olds. “Full-grown people brought their perplexities to Tom for solution, and were often astonished at the wit and wisdom of his
decisions. In fact, he was become a hero to all who knew him…” 7. Tom Canty is regarded as a most gifted and extraordinary creature as a result of his charisma
7. Later, when he becomes a King after Tom exchanged his position with Prince Edward Tudor, his ability as a problem solver becomes evidence and brings
verification for him as a great person from a slum. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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Mark Twain describes Tom Canty as a person who has a high-curiosity and willpower. This is the character trait that leads him to fulfil his desires that is to
meet the real prince. “….still his desires to look just once upon a real prince, in flesh, grew upon him, day by day, and week by week, until at last it absorbed all
other desires, and became the one passion of his life” 7. That is why he dares to go far to find the real prince.
b. In the Palace
