MARK TWAIN

8A=Eight Modern American Authors

C=Critical Survey o !ong "iction
CT#=Critical Tem$er #
CT%=Critical Tem$er %
CT&=Critical Tem$er &
'='ay
M#=Modern American !it( volume #
M%=Modern American !it( v) %
T*EMES
8A+ T th,arted -y -eing o-liged to conorm to culture
8A+ intense $leasure in the variety o the ,orld
8A+ concern ,ith res$onsi-ility or evil
8A+ hostility to $ol.esta- church and to,ard medievalism
8A+ ree.,ill/ determinism/ $essimism/ sym$athy or individs
8A+ o$$osition to $ol( rel( econ tyranny/ o$$ to a-uses o machines
8A+ o$$ to unrighteous customs and la,s o caste
8A+ revulsion against some o the e0cesses o democracy
8A+ o$$osition to im$erialism
8A+ cham$ion o li-erty
8A+ la-or unions sole $resent hel$ or ,ea1 vs) strong
8A+ yet not a socialist
8A+ conlict -et, ree ,ill and determinism
8A+ em$h on American innocence
8A+ shit rom conident o$timism to -itter cynicism
8A+ *"+ all civili2ation a hateul error
8A+ *"+ every ma3or e$isode ends in violence( oten death
8A+ *"+ 4# cor$ses
8A+ *"+ *5s a-ility to see -oth good and evil and acce$t them
8A+ *"+ selishness vs) sellessness/ convene this vs) idealism
8A+ *"+ $resents a com$lete $ortrait o society
8A+
C+ T6* almost as t,o halves o T,5s $syche
C+ T re$s strong desire or security( success
C+ * re$s dee$ly ingrained desire or reedom rom convention
C+ river-oat $iloting oered T, -oth reedom and res$ecta-ility
C+ easy to imagine T gro,ing u$/ im$oss to imagine * doing so
C+ TS im$lies that childhood can only -e savored ater the act
C+ TS relevant to Am5s transition rom youth and rontier days
C+ *"+ youth7age/ secure7reedom/ ,ildnerness7civ/ innoc7corru$t
C+ *"+ * re$s common man( ,7out roots
C+ *"+ moral re3uvenation in Edenic ,ilderness
C+ C8+ am-iguity a-t ,hether modern or eudal is good or evil
CT#+ orthright $etty -ourgeois 9:;
CT#+ *" em$h on amiliar 3ourney moti
CT#+ *" the irst e0istential hero/ acce$ts his terri-le reedom
CT#+ *" relects o-sessive Am theme o loneliness/ man5s ate
CT#+ river as god/ villagers5 $iety/ T5s romantic imag/ <5s su$erstit
CT#+ *"+ ree do,n,ard movement ironically ta1es <im south
CT#+ deals ,ith the everyday and common$lace
CT#+ T,5s reormist im$ulses conlicted ,7 his determinism
CT#+ conlict -et, vulgar and reined( real and ideal
CT%+ ho$ed an indiv cd challenge commun -ut still -e a mem-er
CT%+ in C8( T, cdn5t reconcile indivd and commun/ novel ails
CT%+ T,5s em$h on the 3oys o lie
CT%+ achieved critical distance to,ard the south
CT%+ gradual movement a,ay rom southern -igotry
CT&+ -y the end o *"( T ,as court 3ester o the rich
CT&+ ,ea1 humor o *amlet $arody de$ends on 1no,ledge o Sh
CT&+ such humor latters the educated
CT&+ -ourgeois $rovide standards o measurement at end o *"
CT&+ academically correct s$eech in *" lin1ed to social ills
CT&+ t,ins( dou-les sym-ols o duality o human -eings
CT&+ used dou-les to =uestion $resence o sel to itsel
CT&+ T5s later re-ellion vs uninter$5d truth and individ autonomy
CT&+ re3ection o cult o conormity
CT&+ <im emerges -riely( -ut T shoves him -ac1 into nigger
CT&+ ,illingness to diminish *" rather than let * attac1 racism
CT&+ readers have right to -e angry at T or ,hat he does to <( *
CT&+ >evasion? cha$ters deli-erately $ro-lematic( unsettling
CT&+ >evasion? cha$ters im$ortant or the =uestions they raise
CT&+ >evasion? cha$ters orce readers to decide
'+ rage or social 3ustice and e=uality
'+ aggressive Am nationalism
'+ materialistic Ams lac1 much o Eur relish or living
'+ $ersonal e0$erience oten his $oint o de$arture
'+ insight into child $sychology/ more $ro-lems ,ith adults
'+ in TS( mor-idity( guilt( ears( deceit o childhood
'+ underlying commonness o human nature
'+ *"+ $eace and storm( $retence and reality( desertion( reunion
'+ *"+ cro,d vs) individ/ tendency o evil to destroy itsel
'+ later $essimism inluenced -y 'ar,in and Calvinism
'+ everything is ated/ thus no one can -e -lamed
'+ man1ind and individs are ,7out $ur$ose and $ros$ect
'+ sometimes sentimental in his v, o ,omen( as in < o A
'+ late $essimism
M#+ ca$acity or $roound admiration/ he cd $raise ,ell
M#+ ear o solitude/ tortured conscience/ sel.contem$t/ sel.accus
M#+ -itterness the eect o creative miscarriage( -al1ed $rnslity
M#+ loneliness o childhood relected in his ,or1/ alien rom am
M#+ recurrent nightmare o -eing utterly cut o
M#+ re=uent em$h on lonesome strangers
M#+ stands a$art rom cro,d yet longs to -e its leader
M#+ *"+ ideal o innate gdness leading to -rotherhood
M#+ *"+ rat=reedom/ shore=determinism
M%+ dou-ted $oss o $rsnl reedom ,7in social setting
M%+ dis$arity -et, e0$ectation and reality/ raudulence
ST8!E( STR@CT@RE( TEC*NIA@ES
8A+ $iloting hel$ $romote $recise o-servation and memory
8A+ actually tested his oral style on audiences every night
8A+ s$on lo, o narr/ organicism/ de$arture rom unities
8A+ de$endence on e0$erience and o-servation/ actuality
8A+ authentic characteri2ation/ realistic dialogue/ ,ea1 $lot
8A+ situation and incident shd develo$ organically
8A+ em$h on dialogue Ba-t 8CD in his -est -oo1sE
8A+ structural em$h on scene/ stage directions
8A+ attn to costuming/ em$h on one 1ey trait rathan round
8A+ ,riting the ,ay $eo$le tal1
8A+ gulli-le and s1e$tical -y turns/ realistic and sentimental
8A+ *"+ total a-sence o mor-idness
8A+ *"+ $icares=ue trad( es$ Smollett5s transl o 'A
8A+ *"+ satire on chivalric medievalism
8A+ T a -itter enemy o sentiment
8A+ T sometimes romantic( sometimes realistic
8A+ narrative shd -e ree( ,ith no la,/ little interest in $lot
8A+ *"+ e$ic re$resentation( rom lo,est to highest
8A+ *"+ alternation o land and river
8A+ *"+ organi2ed -y re$etition and variation
C+ Tom assoc5d ,ith rom lit( *uc1 ,ith realistic
C+ $ervasive attac1s on rom lit( yet T, has rom im$ulses
C+ *uc15s voice re=uently com$ared to Whitman5s
C+ em$h on vernacular voice
C+ sometimes $ure un( sometimes $ure gloom
C+ TS un/ *" mid,ay/ 9W gloomy
C+ TS+ novel o sim$licity and com$le0ity
C+ irony( sometimes gentle( sometimes not
C+ oten $airs chars+ Tom7Sid/ Tom7*uc1/ $rince7$au$er
C+ change o $laces -oth in 969 and in 9W
C+ ending o *" has some $ro-s( struc5l( them5ly( rhet5ly
C+ *"+ delicate -alance o lyricism and satire
C+ *"+ attac1s T5s -1ish rom/ endorses *5s rom yearnings
C+ *"+ cha$ #4 resolves the central =uestion too early
C+ C8 lac1s idyllic radiance o earlier -oo1s
C+ allegorical tendencies( es$ in C8/ ideas 3u0ta$osed
CT#+ *"+ com$laints against contrived ending o <im5s esca$e
CT#+ *"+ orm is $icares=ue/ de$artures and returns to river signi
CT#+ *"+ -eneits rom mounting sus$ense
CT#+ *"+ sim$le( direct( luent $rose/ rhythm o s$ea1ing voice
CT#+ *"+ return to inal ocus on Tom gives -1 symmetry
CT#+ *"+ * a vaga-ond/ hence( he can only disa$$ear
CT#+ *"+ last ith diminishes *5s victory/ aint.hearted ending
CT#+ *"+ constructed on the $rin o re$etition and variation
CT#+ *"+ melodrama mi0ture o real 6 unreal( comedy 6 horror
CT#+ *"+ unity de$ends on *5s mind/ sometimes inconsistent
CT#+ TS+ -egins ,ell -ut ends in ta,dry melodrama
CT#+ T, inca$a-le o a sustained eort/ ragmentary success
CT%+ sa, di -et, right ,ord and almost right as immense

CT&+ variety o T5s humor( rom cruel comedy to chilling irony
CT&+ sel.assured( conidential( unhurried tone
CT&+ an a$$reciation o >characters?+ sim$le( natural
'+ honest voca-ulary and cadence o Am s$eech
'+ inde$endent o and irreverent to,ard :ld World heritage
'+ gro,ing im$ro-a-ility as his imagination ela-orates
'+ sometimes coarse and indelicate comedy
'+ re=uent satirical em$h
M#+ sometimes T5s humor antastic( ar-itrary( mechanical
M#+ oten humor irresisti-le( rooted in truth( sincere( melancholy
M#+ strain o earnestness in his ,or1/ ,estern strain
M#+ sets do,n ,hatever comes ne0t to his mind/ li1e thin1ing
M#+ instinct or something chaotic( ironic( em$iric
M#+ could -oth $raise ,ell and curse ,ell
M#+ terse( sim$le( accurate( unorced style
M#+ alternation -et, comic and serious e$isodes
M#+ oten relies on -urles=ue to urnish com/ sometimes a ault
M#+ alive( naFve ,ay o tal1ing that seems un$redicata-le
M#+ this 1ind o style demands a certain 1ind o s$ea1er
M#+ anti.conven style dictated anti.conven s$ea1ers
M#+ reedom o s$eech lin1ed to reedom o action
M#+ genius or the $articular rathan a-stract
M#+ care or the individual detail and right ,ord
M#+ -y end o career( una-le to com-ine his humor and censure
M#+ *"+ humor dee$ened ,ith $athos/ romance -alances realism
M#+ *"+ heroic7hum-le/ loyal( good 7 selish( craven
M%+ ne, chars( e$s( themes oten introduced a-ru$tly