The Water-Babies · Character

Tom

A soot-caked chimney sweep who drowns, wakes as a water-baby, and must swim the long river toward whatever he is meant to become.

major

Also known as Thomas Grimes, little Tom, poor Tom, naughty Tom

First appearance: The Water-Babies

As a major figure in The Water-Babies, Tom is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

The protagonist, a chimney-sweep who becomes a water-baby after drowning.

In the storyThe Water-BabiesOpen this moment free

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Tom begins as Grimes's abused apprentice, sent up flues too narrow for anyone larger, until a wrong turn through a rich house's chimney sets him running for his life. Reborn in the water, he is fearless, curious, and quick to meddle — rescuing a trapped lobster, tormenting the otter — but he carries a nagging fear of Grimes and a longing for the lost green world of Vendale. His restless journey downstream, past mills and barges and sewer-mouths, is the book's moral spine: a small soul learning that going to see the world is a weary business, and that only those who refuse to stop halfway become anything at all.

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Character Web

17 connections

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Relationship types

Psychological
Professional
Other

Character groups

Protagonist
Moral guides and allegories
Satirical and moral exemplars
Mythological and allegorical enforcers

+12 more in the full Character Web

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book.

Setup
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

This is the story's dramatic climax because it marks the emotional and psychological peak of Tom’s moral crisi…

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Relationships

Mother Carey
psychological · ambivalent
Mother Carey is a powerful, mysterious creator figure who tests and transforms Tom… How this plays out →
Sir John Harthover
professional · negative
Professor Owen
rivalry · negative
Cousin Cramchild
rivalry · negative
The Doasyoulikes
social · negative
Epimetheus
social · ambivalent
Mother Carey
psychological · ambivalent
Mother Carey is a powerful, mysterious creator figure who tests and transforms Tom… How this plays out →
Sir John Harthover
professional · negative
The Doasyoulikes
social · negative
Epimetheus
social · ambivalent
Professor Owen
rivalry · negative
Mother Carey
psychological · ambivalent
Mother Carey is a powerful, mysterious creator figure who tests and transforms Tom… How this plays out →

Mother Carey
Mother Carey is a powerful, mysterious creator figure who tests and transforms Tom through her cosmic authority.
Sir John Harthover
Sir John Harthover is Tom's former employer as a chimney sweep, representing the harsh class system Tom escapes.
Professor Owen
Professor Owen is a skeptical scientist who dismisses Tom's water-baby existence, embodying narrow rationalism.
Cousin Cramchild
Cousin Cramchild is a smug, pedantic child who mocks Tom's ignorance, representing narrow-mindedness.
The Doasyoulikes
Tom encounters the Doasyoulikes as a degenerate tribe, serving as a moral warning against idleness.
Epimetheus
Epimetheus appears as a mythological figure in Tom's journey, representing the folly of acting without thought.
Mother Carey
Mother Carey is a powerful, mysterious creator figure who tests and transforms Tom through her cosmic authority.
Sir John Harthover
Sir John Harthover is Tom's former employer as a chimney sweep, representing the harsh class system Tom escapes.
The Doasyoulikes
Tom encounters the Doasyoulikes as a degenerate tribe, serving as a moral warning against idleness.
Epimetheus
Epimetheus appears as a mythological figure in Tom's journey, representing the folly of acting without thought.
Professor Owen
Professor Owen is a skeptical scientist who dismisses Tom's water-baby existence, embodying narrow rationalism.
Mother Carey
Mother Carey is a powerful, mysterious creator figure who tests and transforms Tom through her cosmic authority.

Relationship notes

How these ties play out is in the reading companion — open the free preview.

See Tom in The Water-Babies

In the story

Tom appears across 8 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

The Water-Babies
The protagonist, a chimney-sweep who becomes a water-baby after drowning.
I
Tom is the young chimney-sweep who gets lost at Harthover Place, accidentally enters a lady's bedroom, and flees across the moor.
Chapter II
Tom is found by an old dame, exhausted and ill; he tells his story, is given milk and bread, and later, in a feverish state, wanders to a brook where he becomes a water-baby.
III
Tom is now a water-baby, clean and amphibious, but still prone to naughty behavior like tormenting water creatures. He forgets his past life and bad language, and becomes curious about the wider world after hearing the otter's tales.
IV
Tom journeys through the sea, searching for water-babies and interacting with sea creatures.
V
Tom rescues a lobster from a trap, is punished by Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid for stealing candy, and is cared for by Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby.
Chapter VI
Tom is taught by Ellie and the fairies, struggles with the requirement to help Mr. Grimes, becomes prickly due to naughty tempers, confesses his faults, and begins lessons with a new teacher.
The Other-end-of-Nowhere
Tom travels to the Other-end-of-Nowhere, encounters a bogey, and attempts to help Mr. Grimes escape his punishment.

Chapter companion notes

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