From Mischief to Heroism: A Transcultural Reappraisal of Tom Sawyer in Western and Asian Children’s Narratives

This article re-examines Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer through a transcultural lens. It focuses on the dual characterization of its protagonist as both mischievous and heroic. While Tom’s truancy, trickery, and playful defiance initially cast him as a rebellious figure, his moral growth and courage reposition him as a prototype for later child heroes. Using qualitative close reading and drawing on classical and contemporary theories of characterization, the study situates Tom Sawyer within a broader archetype of mischievous child figures across cultures. Western texts such as J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson, and Roald Dahl’s Matilda demonstrate how youthful rebellion can be reframed as empathy, resilience, and civic responsibility. Vietnamese narratives of Trạng Quỳnh (Scholar Quynh) and Trạng Tí (Scholar Ti) valorize mischief as social critique and communal pride, while Chinese myths of 哪吒 (Nezha) and 红孩儿 (Red Boy) transform unruly defiance into cosmic justice and spiritual devotion. Findings suggest that the “mischief-to-heroism” paradigm constitutes a transcultural archetype that negotiates between entertainment and moral formation. By bridging nineteenth-century American fiction with Asian traditions, the study highlights children’s literature as a global medium through which rebellion is narratively reshaped into justice, responsibility, and identity.