Aunt Polly

Character Analysis

Tom's Aunt Polly doesn't make her grand entrance until the very end of the novel, but that woman has awesome timing (check out Chapter 42; we can't do it justice). Although she's around a lot more in the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Aunt Polly shows us that she's one sharp lady in her one Huckleberry Finn scene. She's "slow and severe" (42), but she's definitely a strong character. There's no fooling her, probably because she's had to deal with Tom's shenanigans for years. As she says, "I reckon I hain't raised such a scamp as my Tom all these years not to know him when I see him" (42).