The main content of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is: Tom lost his mother at a young age and was adopted by his aunt. Mischievous, he did not want to go to school, and often skipped school to get into trouble. Late one night, he and his best friend Huckleberry went to the cemetery to play, inadvertently witnessed a murder. Afraid of being discovered by the murderer, they fled to a deserted island and became "pirates".

Tom's family thought he had drowned, but he showed up at his own funeral. After a fierce struggle, Tom finally came forward and testified against the murderer. Soon after, during a picnic, Tom and Becky get lost in a cavern, but finally escape. In the end, Tom and Huck returned to the cave together and found the treasure buried by the murderer.