Johnny Tremain

Carl Bielunis 12/15/05

Johnny Tremain was a boy from the country. His mother had sent him to Boston because she could not take care of him any more. She had sent him to apprentice with Mr. Laphan who was a great silversmith. He lived there with Ms. Laphan and their three daughters. He was supposed to marry one of the three girls, but all didn’t go as well as planned.

One late afternoon Mr. Revere wanted a replica of a sugar mason that Mr. Laphan had made for him many years back. Johnny was very anxious and said they could have it done for him by Monday. Johnny worked hard on the handles trying to match them but it was hard work.

Johnny was so caught up in his work and he wanted it done so bad that he worked through Sunday after Mr. Laphan said not to. Mr. Laphan said it was God’s day and if he worked, it would be considered a sin. That was the biggest mistake of his life. Johnny was heating up silver when he tripped and knocked the kettle of silver off the stove. The melted silver covered his hand and fused his fingers together. Johnny was no longer any use to the Laphan family.

Johnny was forced to go out on his own. He looked for many jobs, but people told him there is no use for a boy with a crippled hand. It is easy to see that in the 1700’s it was more difficult for an ordinary person to find work and their lives were a lot harder. This is just a brief summary of the book which leads to a very good story about the Revolutionary times. It is very interesting to read how everything worked two hundred years ago. I enjoyed this book very much and if you read it, I am sure you will enjoy it as much as I did.