The sentence from Mark Twain's "The Adventures from Tom Sawyer" (1876) that shows the storm as a symbol of Tom's conscience in chapter 22 is "He believed he had taxed the forbearance of the powers above to the extremity of endurance and that this was the result."
Tom Sawyer has a guilty conscience because he had witnessed the murder of Dr. Robinson, he was tempted by chewing tobacco and profanitythough he had tried to give them up; and a revival had come to won, so religion was everywhere. All these factors contribute to accentuate his guilty conscience and when the storm strikes, he thinks that it is a divine punishment for his deeds.
The part where it talks about Tom believing the storm hit to insinuate that God’s wrath was directed at him, is where we see that the storm represents Tom’s conscience. Hope this helps.
Gorman describes herself as skinny, black, a daughter of a single mother, and a descendant of slaves. She identifies herself this way to show the progress that has been made, but also that more can still be made and improved upon.