It's all about the Benjamins for Tom in The Great Brain, and he puts his great brain to work only on profitable enterprises, determined to become a millionaire by the time he's grown. He never makes a friend unless he can also make a buck, but instead of hating him, everyone seems to love him for it. Go Tom?
Setting Tom aside, there's not a lot of money to be had in Adenville. Calvin Whitlock, the banker, is the richest man in town, but the Fitzgeralds are only middle class, and many others are not as well off as they are. In this book, we look at two sides of the wealth coin: the pennies and dimes games of children and the higher stakes that money takes on in adulthood.
Questions About Wealth
- Where do you think Tom's drive to make money comes from? Give evidence from the book, please and thank you.
- Is Tom fair and honest in his business dealings, or could he stand to take a course in business ethics?
- What does it mean to be wealthy and poor in Adenville?
- Will Tom be a millionaire by the time he can vote? Why or why not?
Chew on This
The humorous tone of the book belies the seriousness of wealth or the lack of it felt by the adults in the novel.
The amount of money he makes is the unit by which Tom measures the strength of his great brain.