Answer: Tom pretends that whitewashing is fun, which makes Ben interested in doing it himself.
Explanation:
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is an 1876 novel written by Mark Twain. The story is about a boy called Tom, who grows up by the Mississippi River.
On one occasion, Tom was punished by his aunt and had to whitewash the garden fence. Tom, of course, did not want to do it, but pretended that this is a rather interesting activity. When Ben passed by the fence and mocked him for having to paint the fence, Tom convinced him that this job is a unique opportunity:
"Like it? Well, I don't see why I oughtn't to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?"
Tom pretended that whitewashing is fun, which increased Ben's interest for it:
"Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little."
Tom even made Ben give him an apple as a reward for letting him accompany him in this interesting activity.
Answer:
The theme of Tom Sawyer is reflected in the dialogue by Tom tryingto convince Ben that whitewashing is important and its better than playing. In the text it says"Say—I'm going in a-swimming, I am. Don't you wish you could? But of course you'd druther WORK—wouldn't you? Course you would!". This supports my answer because it is the first and last time whitewashing is considered work and it also sets the stage for Tom to change ben’s perceptions of whitewashing. It also says “Yes, she's awful particular about this fence; it's got to be done very careful; I reckon there ain't one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, that can do it the way it's got to be done." Tom encourages Ben to want to do the whitewashing although he wasn’t obligated to by making him feel like he would be special if he could whitewash it the “particular” way that the aunt wants it. "Ben, I'd like to, honest injun; but Aunt Polly—well, Jim wanted to do it, but she wouldn't let him; Sid wanted to do it, and she wouldn't let Sid. Now don't you see how I'm fixed? If you was to tackle this fence and anything was to happen to it—" Tom is trying to get Ben to do his work for him by making whitewashing seem really important and you have to be really good at it to do it.
