Mark Twain Essay, Research Paper
Mark Twain
Mark Twain was a man who showed no fear in his writing.
He wrote about many controversial things including racism
and slavery. Twain was a man who was not afraid of doing
what he wanted to do in his writings. He was a man that
wrote about anything that he wanted and his books came away
as best sellers. He wrote about slavery in a couple of his
books and he especially wrote on the issues of racism.
Twain was not afraid of doing things his way and was not
afraid of what people thought about it.
Twain?s most well known books are The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. These two
books portray people that are suffering through hardships
and are trying to get through them. In The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn it is about a child named Huckleberry Finn
and his adventures with an ex-slave. This is suffered with
many hardships because everyone thinks that Huck is not a
good person anymore because this is the time of slavery and
african-americans are out down to a lower class during this
period of time.
Twain was born on November 30, 1885 in Florida, MO. He
moved in 1839 to Hannibal, MO. with his family. That is
where he got his first taste of writing and was able to
enjoy his life. He got a job working at a newspaper and
printing firm. He also started to produce the Hannibal
Journal in place of his brother Orion.
Twain traveled across the country and across the world.
He went to South America and to other places throughout the
world. He joined the confederate army in the beginning of
the American Civil War, but he decided after two weeks as an
officer that the was not right for him and he went to Carson
City in Nevada with his brother to work on his writing. He
wrote in various newspapers. After this he returned to the
east and started to work on writing novels. He wrote
numerous books that had to do with controversial issues.
These issues included racism, slavery, and other various
things of importance at this time in history. He wrote six
novels while he was in Hartford, CT. Twain wrote more than
six books in his time in Hartford. However, this was not
his most productive years.
During Twain?s later years he established his own
publishing firm. This business failed when Twain invested
his money in a new typewriting machine. He had lost over
$200,000 on this machine. He was seriously in debt and
could not recover from them. He wrote a few more books
after his failed business.
The modern interpretation of Twain is a very good one.
Twain is said to have written in realistic dialect so it
seems like he is writing real people instead of made up
characters. Twain has received much praise as one of the
best writers in American history. Ernest Hemmingway, an
American author, said ?all modern literature came
from…Huckleberry Finn.? (Worlds Book Encyclopedia pg. 6)
Twain had some of his books even banned in some school
districts. These books were banned because of the use of
the word nigger. He used this word was satirizing society.
This was what society used during this tine so he didn?t
know better in not using it.
His books showed what it was like to be black and live
in this time period. The people who read them now do not
understand what exactly the word nigger meant back then.
Now it is terribly wrong to call somebody
Twain just wrote it because it was the way society was back
in those days.
His books were banned due to racial terms like the word
nigger. People should of understood that it was a common
word back then and its meaning was very different than it is
now. Twain shows people how times were in the 1800?s so
people know what went on back then. Twain also had no idea
what effects his writings would have on people today. Twain
was not able to tell the future so he could not determine
the effects that his writings would have on future
generations.
The use of race in Twain?s books is negative to peoples
eyes today. People think his books are no good but they are
good to read and very easy to follow. Twain?s books use the
word nigger quite a few times, but it is only the way he
thought how do it. He is one of the most influential
writers in American history.
Twain?s books have a positive and a negative influence
on people. The positive influence is that of great moral
and honor. Twain shows this by having the boys Tom Sawyer
and Huckleberry Finn help free a slave. They have a good
sense of character and surely know what is right and what is
wrong.
The negative aspect on this was the way Twain uses
race. Twain uses it in his own way, but the American public
thinks that it is bad the way he is using this concept. The
people of America even got his books banned from many
schools and districts. This was because Twain wrote in all
reality he wrote about what was really going on at the time
and what was happening.
Twain?s books have mixed reactions. They are mostly
positive but some people have negative views on his books.
I think people might not like his books because the way that
his books were written were very real to the way of life was
like back then. People say that his books are racist
because of the way black people were treated back in the
1800?s.
Another thing that perplexes many people is why people
would think his books are racist. Twain wrote them back in
the days were things like the word nigger didn?t mean what
they mean today. This was done in The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn. Huckleberry Finn, the main character in
the book, saved a slave from his master. If Twain was
racist he would have never put this into his book. This is
why many people don?t understand why Twain?s books were
meant to be racist. The man was obviously not racist, so
why would people not want to grant their children the
ability to read one of the greatest writers in American
history.
Twain wrote his books the way he did because he felt
passionate about the ideas he wrote about. Twain knew
exactly what he should write about and knew how to write a
good book. His books were written to his personal style.
This is why he wrote them the way he did. His personal
style was a good and controversial one.
Twain used the views he thought were right while
writing his books. He could tell the future so he would not
be able to know what was going to become of his books and
himself. He did not really become famous until after his
death and until later in the 20th century. Twain did not
know what was going to become of the world so in his defense
Twain was definitely not racist he just did not know what
would become of the world and the way that people of his
worlds would think.