Biography of Mark Twain - Research Paper Example

MARK TWAIN The literature of Southern United s has been enriched by the contributions of several distinguished personalities such as Poets Henry Timrod and Paul Hamilton Hayne, Essayist Hugh Swinton Legare and Novelists William Gilmore Simms, and John Pendleton Kennedy (Library of Southern Literature). However, one name stands head and shoulders above all – Mark Twain, who is widely called the ‘Father of American literature’ (Pelham). I)Early Life Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri to a white American couple John and Jane Lampton Clemens (Lombardi). John Clemens died when his son was 12 years old. Young Samuel initially worked as a printer’s apprentice before going on to serve as a licensed Mississippi steamboat pilot. When the American Civil War erupted, causing steamboat traffic to come to an end, Samuel relocated to Virginia City where he worked as editor of the Territorial Enterprise. He moved on to California in 1864, serving as a reporter in San Francisco. The famous penname ‘Mark Twain’ first shot into the limelight on 18 November 1865, when Samuel used it in his work Jim Smiley and his Jumping Frog which was printed in The Saturday Press (Liukkonen, Petri & Pesonen, Ari). II)Career as a Writer Jim Smiley and his Jumping Frog proved to be so immensely popular that it was rapidly reprinted all over the nation [eventually becoming the foundation stone of the Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County & Other Sketches (1867)], firmly signaling the start of Mark Twain’s literary career. His next work [The Innocents Abroad (1869)] which mocked the unreasonable opinions and views of the people of America and Europe also proved to be hugely successful, giving the writer sufficient financial security to get married to Olivia Langdon a year later. The couple settled in Hartford (Liukkonen & Pesonen). Mark Twain’s literary career blossomed after his marriage. Tom Sawyer, a book detailing the enthralling adventures of a young white boy growing up in a small city along River Mississippi, was published in 1876. It was followed in 1881 by The Prince & The Pauper, a novel about Edward VI of England and a young pauper boy who switch places. Next came Life On The Mississippi [1883] which was a strong criticism of Sir Walter Scott’s romanticism which Twain perceived as provoking ‘immeasurable damage to progressive opinions’ (Liukkonen & Pesonen). The year 1884 witnessed a peak in Mark Twain’s writing career as it exposed his strong implied condemnation of American society that permitted the practice of slavery, and spawned the publication of his most famous and controversial work titled The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This peak was followed by a period of decline in the 1890s (Liukkonen & Pesonen). III)Mark Twain’s Unique Prose Style During Mark Twain’s time, literature in America was facing an unusual problem: Americans tended to believe that the features of an exemplary literary work consisted of magnificence and conciseness not witnessed in common speech. This fostered a greater divide between its spoken and literary language, leading to frequent hollow rings even in the writings of several famous American writers in the first part of the 19th century. Shrewdly perceiving that American readers craved for actual daily speech, Mark Twain created a unique prose. While overlooking the misspellings and grammatical mistakes, the prose flowed with the utmost lack of complexity, directness, rationality and elegance. His novels are in the simplest form, known as picaresque which not only links its events on the path of the hero’s travels, but also displays a distinct and striking arrangement; there is a start, a middle, and an end, with a rising, enjoyable tension of interest (Nordquist). Mark Twain’s unique prose style is best exemplified in his work The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The novel’s prose set the parameters for writer prose enhanced by the good quality of American colloquial speech. Overlooking the pronunciation and grammar, it not only concentrates on the comfort, affluence and liberty in the usage of language, but most importantly, it concentrates on the composition of the sentence, which is undeviating, smooth flowing and not elaborate, maintaining the characteristic pattern of word-groups of speech and the pitch of the voice. It is no wonder therefore that noted American writer Earnest Hemingway declared: “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn” (Nordquist). In fact, Hemingway’s own prose originates from Twain’s prose style. It can be said with certainty that nearly every contemporary American writer is directly or indirectly influenced by Mark Twain’s unique prose style (Nordquist). IV)Mark Twain’s Anti-Slavery Views Mark Twain established his own publishing firm named ‘C.L. Webster’ in 1884, through which he published two masterpieces during that same year. The novel The Tragedy of Pudd’Head Wilson was not only a murder mystery and an instance of reverse order of things, but it also contained a strong implied disapproval of slavery. This was followed by what is indisputably Twain’s most famous work – The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Liukkonen & Pesonen). There are several similarities between Huck Finn in the story and Mark Twain in the form of their backgrounds, their perception of slavery and their reactions to it. The first concerns their background. While Huck is a 15-year old white boy who comes from an impoverished background and is forced to largely fend for himself, Twain, a white himself, is forced by circumstances [his father dies in 1847 and leaves the family in great financial difficulties] to leave school at a young age and begin working for several newspapers and magazines (Merriman). The second similarity concerns the way slavery and its practices are perceived. Huck is so sickened by what he sees around him that he forces the slave to escape with him although he is well aware of the punishment he could receive by giving such help. Similarly, as Missouri was one of the states that condoned slavery and fought on the side of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, Twain’s childhood was full of many first-hand observations of the many ways African Americans were oppressed, especially by lynch mobs preying on runaway slaves. Twain developed a total opposition to slavery as well as any type of purposeless violence. Besides being an eloquent public speaker, he made his feeling and perceptions known through a large number of witticisms and quips mingled with biting criticism contained in his articles and letters written in unpretentious language (Merriman). The third similarity between Huck and Twain is the sympathy that both persons feel for African Americans. The camaraderie that develops between Huck and Jim [exemplifying African Americans in general] that begins during the first stage of their relationship [when they both go into hiding, but for different reasons], gains in strength in the second stage, and by time the third stage comes around, they are firm friends with Huck firmly believing that there is nothing different between blacks and whites (Merriman). The fourth similarity between Huck and Twain is the great love they exhibit for River Mississippi. Twain then spent a memorable and enjoyable time piloting steamboats on River Mississippi between St. Louis and New Orleans when he developed a great affection for the second largest river in the world. This is evident from his writing in Life on the Mississippi [1883]: “The face of the water, in time, became a wonderful book delivering its most cherished secrets as clearly as if it uttered them with a voice” (Merriman). In the story, Huck forces Jim to escape the searching posse by sailing in a raft on River Mississippi. In fact, the raft in the story has assumed great significance as it symbolizes an idealistic liberation from harsh domination, shattered family lives, unfair treatment based on race and social injustice (Merriman). The last similarity between Huck and Twain is that in the end, their experience with slavery ends on a happy note for them both. Huck is tremendously pleased and relieved when Jim is declared a free man on the strength of the will written by his owner Miss Watson before she died two months ago [“She set him free in her will” (Twain, page 365)]. Twain was happy to see end of slavery with its accompanying evil of racial discrimination that came about when Abraham Lincoln’s Union army defeated the Confederates in 1865. This satisfaction is reflected in the sage words of Twain’s last written statement: “Death is the only immortal who treats us all alike, whose pity and whose peace and whose refuge are for all” (Merriman). V)Societal Perception of Mark Twain’s Writings Mark Twain’s views as expressed in his works were not accepted by many Americans. For example, his best work, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was first dubbed as ‘vulgar’ in the 19th century, and then labeled as ‘racist’ a century later. A large segment of the African American public, instigated by the ‘National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’ [NAACP], expressed shock and horror at The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn depiction of the slave Jim, the book’s frequent use of the word ‘nigger,’ and the ungrammatical and ‘vulgar’ stories narrated by Huck. A large segment of the American public perceived that an already racially hostile and nervous environment was worsened by the mandatory required reading of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The public outcry led to the book being banned in several New York City schools and libraries. Debates about whether the ability of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to exacerbate a tense racial situation continue to rage even today (Pbs.org). However, there is also a large number of Americans who approve of Twain’s anti-slavery views and consider his works [particularly The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn] rich in literary merit, valuable perceptiveness into American society and a strong attack against racism. Prominent among this approving section are reputed American writers and poets such as T.S. Eliot and Earnest Hemingway. This wave of sustained approval has been instrumental in making The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn required reading in high schools and colleges in most parts of the United States (Pbs.org). VI)Final Years The 1890s proved to be a period of contrasting fortunes for Mark Twain. On the positive side, the period witnessed the publication of the novel Following the Equator, as well as several notable essays which were published in several magazines and newspapers such as To the Person Sitting in Darkness [perhaps his best satire on imperialism], and Queen Victoria’s Jubilee [that described the magnificent ceremonial splendor and display of a British royal procession]. On the negative side, the period marked the start of the writer’s downslide in life. He not only lost most of his wealth in dubious financial speculative deals, but his publishing firm C.L. Webster began to incur heavy losses. In addition, there were two deaths in his family in the year 1904 – his daughter Susie and his beloved wife Olivia. The financial and personal losses clearly dampened Twain’s penchant for writing. He managed to publish just one essay, King Leopold’s Soliloquy in 1905 [about the political harm provoked by cruel arbitrary use of power] (Liukkonen & Pesonen). While the writer’s general perception of human nature had never been very positive, it became even more hostile during the final years of his life. This is exemplified in his writing: “I believe that our Heavenly Father invented man because he was disappointed in the monkey.” He also developed a bitter attitude towards Christianity, as is evident from his Thoughts of God: “If men neglected ‘God’s poor’ and ‘God’s stricken and helpless ones’ as He does, what would become of them? The answer is to be found in those dark lands where man follow His example and turns his indifference back upon them: they get no help at all; they cry, and plead and pray in vain, they linger and suffer, and miserably die” (Liukkonen & Pesonen). Mark Twain passed away on 21 April 1910 in Redding, Connecticut. Perhaps the best tribute to the writer came from U.S. President William Howard Taft who, upon hearing of the writer’s death, declared: “Mark Twain gave pleasure – real intellectual enjoyment – to millions, and his works will continue to give such pleasure to millions yet to come. His humor was American, but he was nearly as much appreciated by Englishmen and people of other countries as by his own countrymen. He has made an enduring part of American literature” (Lombardi). VII)References “Antebellum Era.” Library of Southern Literature. 2004. 15 Dec. 2010. Liukkonen, Petri & Pesonen, Ari. “Mark Twain (1835-1910) – pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens.” Kuusankosken Kaupunginkirjasto. 2008. 12 Dec. 2010. Lombardi, Esther. “Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens).” About.com. 2010. 12 Dec. 2010. “Mark Twain’s ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ 1885.” Pbs.org. 2000. 12 Dec. 2010. Merriman, C.D. “Mark Twain.” Jalic Inc. 2006. 12 Dec. 2010. Nordquist, Richard. “Mark Twain’s Colloquial Prose Style.” About.com. 2010. 12 Dec. 2010. Pelham, Libby. “Mark Twain, the Father of American Literature.” Associatedcontent.com. 2009. 15 Dec. 2010. Twain, Mark. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” U.K: Penguin Books. 2003. Read More