Chapter 1: Puddnhead Wins His Name

By Jocelyn Robles, Christina Karakinian, Elissa Wartoukian, Nazeli Masihi, Mya Boyd
Plot: chapter 1 starts in a small town of Missouri in slave country. The main character of chapter
1 is David Wilson, who is a lawyer. He has just moved into the city.
Character Analysis

York Leicester Driscoll: About forty years old, judge of the county court, proud of his
Virginian ancestry. Well respected and esteemed by the community. Married but has no
children.
Rachel Pratt: Sister of Judge Driscoll whom also does not have any children.
Pembroke Howard: A lawyer about the age of forty. Close friend with Judge Driscoll. He
was another Virginian grandee with proved descent from the First Families. Considered
to be brave, fine, majestic creature, and a gentleman.
Colonel Cecil Burleigh Essex: Another Virginian friend of Judge Driscoll.
Percy Northumberland Driscoll: Judge Driscolls younger brother. Married, had children
around his hearthstone, but were attacked by measles, croup and scarlet fever.
Roxana: twenty years old, slave owned by Percy. She gave birth her son on February 1st
1830. Same day she gave birth she was up and around attending two children one being
her own.

Significant quotes:

Tell the truth or trump--but get the trick. (Calendar)

Dawson's Landing was a slaveholding town, with a rich, slave-worked grain and pork
country back of it.
Why, he must have thought it, unless he IS the downright est fool in the world; because
if he hadn't thought it, he would have wanted to own the whole dog, knowing that if he
killed his half and the other half died, he would be responsible for that half just the same
as if he had killed that half instead of his own.

Significant allusions, visual imagery, setting descriptions, symbols, motifs, and other tropes:

One major illusion that was in this chapter includes is , within a week he had lost his
first name; puddnhead took its place but by the time the nickname had gotten will stop
on I did stayed. The first days Vertie made him a fool disillusion the first two every
time the name puddnhead is you refer back to being the name of a fool.
One visual imagery in this chapter includes, All along the streets, on both sides, at the
outer edge of the brick sidewalks, stood locust trees with trunks protected by wooden
boxing, and these furnished shade for summer and a sweet fragrance in spring, when the
clusters of buds came forth.
One major setting description includes, The scene of this chronicle is the town of
Dawsons Landing, on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River Another setting
include, These latter came out of a dozen rivers --the Illinois, Missouri and upper

Mississippi, The Ohio, the monongahela, The Tennessee the Red River the white river
and so on.
Some major symbols include
o 1. The cat- the symbolism of a cat in ancient times meant A guardian in text the
cat is used as The reason the house is blissful and complete
o 2. The house-symbolism of a house means a protected space like a mother's womb
send a text the house is used as complete content and peaceful.
o 3. The dog- Symbolism of a dog means guardian, loyalty, faithful and honest
however the book describes the dog as cut in half leading me to foreshadow that
do young David Wilson or in this case puddnhead is not only a fool but will
come to see he might break or kill loyalty or faithfulness or honesty.
One major tropes of figurative or metaphorical use of words in this chapter would
include I wish I own half of that dog... Because I would kill my half

Discussion questions:
What does the cat symbolize?
Why did David Wilson say half of the dog? What did he mean by it?
How is David Wilson able to lose his name?
What happened after to his name after 20 years?

Chapter 2: Driscoll Spares His Slaves

By: Antonio Navarro, Ashley Boyer, Damico Moon, and Minh Nguyen
Chapter Summary:
The arrival of David Wilson, also known as Puddnhead Wilson, is described at the beginning of
this chapter. It is revealed that Puddnhead Wilson loved to collect fingerprints in his free time,
and collected them in intervals of days, up to years. The scene then progresses to an
incomprehensible exchange between Roxy and Jasper just outside of Wilsons residence. The
audience then learns that Roxy was in fact only 1/16 Black, but her manner of speech would
have fooled anybody. Then, events took a turn for the worse. Mr. Driscoll is described as a man
who is very reasonable with his slaves, however, a small amount of money has been stolen. He
calls upon all of his servants, automatically assuming that one of them stole the sum. They deny
his accusations, and only admit stealing food such as honey, or cake. Mr. Driscoll could not get
an answer from his slaves, so he casts upon them an ultimatum: snitch on who did the crime, or
all of you are being sold down the river. Roxy was not guilty of stealing Mr. Driscolls money,
however, she would have been sold as well. The other three servants drop down unto their knees,
confessing. Mr. Driscoll spares them, only selling them here, as he says. They praise Mr.
Driscoll like he is their God.

Character Analysis:

Puddnhead Wilson: This guy is the star of the show, but not this chapter. One can infer that he
is not the most productive person, as he spends his free time collecting fingerprints.
Roxy: She is involved in the loud, playful exchange with Jasper at the beginning of the chapter.
Her manner of speech may resemble a slaves, but she is white.

Jasper: Described as a huge, buff laborer. His only activity in this chapter, besides the huge
commotion next to Wilsons house, was resting during work.

Mr. Driscoll: The slave master. In great contrast to the connotation of the term slave master,
Driscoll was humane toward his slaves.

Quotes:
The culprits flung themselves prone, in an ecstasy of gratitude, and kissed his feet, declaring
that they would never forget his goodness and never cease to pray for him as long as they lived.
They were sincere, for like a god he had stretched forth his mighty hand and closed the gates of
hell against them (Twain 40).
Analysis of Quote:
It is ironic how the slaves declare that theyll never forget Mr. Driscolls goodness. Mr.
Driscoll is participating in an institution that enslaves and disbands families. He is making profit
off of another humans hard labor, and their lives are in his hands. Never in a million years would
I call this goodness.

Important Details in the Chapter:

Twain describes Roxy and Jasper in great detail, allowing the audience to form an approximate
image of the characters in their mind.
Puddnhead Wilsons hobby of fingerprint collecting may be foreshadowing of something in the
future.

Discussion Questions:
Can anybody translate the conversation between Roxy and Jasper?
Why do you think Puddnhead Wilson is collecting fingerprints?

Puddnhead Wilson Chapter 3 Study Guide

By Samantha Dang, Liamarie Gaerlan, Cameron LeeWong, Ashley Magana
Summary:
In this chapter, Roxy is struggling to sleep after seeing what can happen to people who steal from
Percy Driscoll. She didnt want her son, Chambers, to suffer the same fate and be sold down the

river. She comes up with the brilliant idea of murdering her son and committing suicide to save
her son from that fate. She believes that Chambers is better off in heaven than here on earth. She
prepares to do the deed by dressing herself up in a nice dress. She then realizes that Chambers is
still in his rags. She fears that God wont let Chambers into heaven if he isnt dressed well. So
Roxy dresses Chambers in Toms fancy clothing. It is here where she gets the idea to swap the
two children. She switches Tom and Chambers clothes and puts them in each others cribs. She is
proud of herself for thinking of this. She knows that no one in town will be able to tell the
difference between the two. Not even Percy Driscoll could tell the difference between his own
son and Chambers. However, she soon realizes that the only person who could stop her is
Pudd'nhead Wilson. She knows that he is really the smartest man in town and that his fingerprint
records could prove that she swapped the children. So she goes to update the fingerprints. She
is afraid that Puddnhead Wilson will notice what she is doing but he doesnt. Roxy is relieved
and happy. She goes home without a care in the world.
Character Analysis
Roxy: In this chapter, we can see that Roxy is trying to fulfill her duties as a loving and caring
mother. She worries about her childs future, and would rather kill herself and her child in order
to prevent him from suffering an unpredictable life. However, as an individual she fails to see
how selfish her actions can be since she is preventing her son from living a beautiful life. In the
end she decides not to kill herself and her child, since she comes up with this brilliant plan to
exchange her child with Percy Driscoll son. Although this causes guilt to build up inside of her,
she somehow finds ways to justify her actions. Roxy is an individual that attends church, and
clearly this act of switching children is not an act that would be accepted by her religion. But her
mother instincts take control over her judgement, and she would rather live her life knowing that
her child is safe and living a privileged life. Her action of switching the babies was irrational and
wrong, however it took a lot of courage and heartache for her to perform such an act. From a
mothers point of view, it must break Roxys heart knowing that her own child would never get
the opportunity to call her mom. Roxy would also never get to experience a mother and son bond
with her legitimate son, and instead she would be forced to create a bond with a child that she
never gave birth to. Another aspect to take into consideration is that she is a slave, and her real
child will have a higher rank than her in society. As her own child grows up, he will treat her and
see her as a servant instead of a human being.

Interesting and Impactful Quotes

1. What has my po baby done, dat he couldnt have yo luck? He haint done nothn. God
was good to you; why warnt he good to him? Dey cant sell you down de river. I hates
yo pappy; he haint got no heart - for niggers he haint, anyways. I hates him, en I could
kill him! (48)
- This scene is after Percy saved his slaves from selling them down the river. This is
significant because this shows Roxys frustration on the safety of her baby. She felt how
unfair it is for her child to, even at a young age, be a candidate of those who will be sold
to the river. This line shows her frustration that her child can be harmed because of his
roots, no matter how innocent and good-mannered he is, while the other baby is safe
because he is white.
2. Come along, honey, come along wid mammy; we gwine to jump in de river, den de
troubles o dis worl is all over- dey dont sell po niggers dow the river over yonder (48)
Again, this shows Roxys frustration that her childs fate is already decided because he
is black. Shed rather just kill her baby than let him live a life of a slave waiting to be
sold.
3. Yous young Marse Tom fum dis out, en I got to practise and git used to memberin to
call you dat, honey, or Is gwine to make a mistake some time en git us bofe into trouble
(49)
This is Roxy practicing to call her child Tom. This just shows that she would do anything
and everything that it takes to keep her child safe.
4. He discovered nothing; and she went home jubilant, and dropped all concern about the
matter permanently out of her mind. (52)
This scene is after Roxy took the babies to Wilson to get their fingerprints. She was so
happy that Wilson didnt notice that she switched the babies because she acknowledged
Wilson as one of the smartest in their town. This is her being confident that she did the
right thing and that no one would notice, meaning her baby is now safe from his thenfate.
Setting, Allusions, Motifs...etc
Visual Imagery: She took off her handkerchief-turban and dressed her glossy wealth of hair
like white folks; she added some odds and ends of rather lurid ribbon and a spray of atrocious
artificial flowers; finally she threw over her shoulders a fluffy thing called a cloud in that day,
which was of a blazing red complexion (Twain 48). This quote represents a motif because it
describes a very strong meaningful scene that the mother is planning to kill herself.
Setting description: This chapter takes place in the baby's room because it mentions Thomas
Becket's cradle and her childs cradle.
Symbolism: The cradles can be considered as a symbol because Thomas Becket was placed in a
extravagant cradle while Chambers was placed in a simple undecorated cradle. These cradles
represent the different social hierarchy that exists. The more elaborate cradle represents the
privileged whites, while the moderate cradle represents the slaves.
Discussion Questions
1. Does Roxy realize that her idea of killing herself and her child is a selfish act?
2. Do you think that Roxys decision to swap the children is justified or is it irrational?

3. Will those fingerprints that Puddnhead Wilson took of the twins effect the development
of the story?