These two chapters involve difficult questions appropriate to all humorists. That is, can a superb joke be a good one when it involves such intense suffering as Aunt Polly and Mrs. Harper endure? At what point does the comic element or the joke become one of bad taste. As a vibrant youth, Tom does not understand the true suffering he has caused: As is often true, he is more concerned with his own pleasures at the expense of adult feelings.
The great scene with the appearance of the boys alive at their own funeral is heightened by the many regrets of various characters: Becky is sorry she kept no memento of Tom and wishes she had retained the brass knob he had given her. The townspeople regret that they had not seen the potential of each boy. All Tom's playmates recall the last time that they had seen Tom. The funeral orations are undercut by the mourners' hypocrisy--that is, after the supposed death of the young boys, the boys are praised for the very things in life for which they were condemned. All of these feelings are placed in the background in contrast to the dramatic and theatrical gesture of the boys walking down the aisle alive and healthy at their own funeral. It is not until the next day that Aunt Polly, while admitting that it was "a fine joke," also expresses her suffering and grief and wonders if Tom really cares for her at all.
These chapters continue to develop the idea that "the course of true love never did run smooth." While Becky had mourned for Tom, now Tom, basking in his own fame and many attentions, pretends to ignore her, and Becky performs all the silly antics to get Tom's attention that Tom had earlier performed to get her attention. Her desire for revenge is seen when she decides to let Tom take the blame for the spilled ink on his spelling book. Later, however, Becky will fully redeem herself when she and Tom are lost in the cave.
