Last Monday, on November 30th, the American writer Mark Twain would complete 180 years old. So this post is a tribute to him. This post is a summary of five articles. The first was published at http://www.cmgww.com/historic/twain/about/bio.htm. The second was published at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/northamerica/usa/12025693/On-the-trail-of-Mark-Twain.html. The third was published at http://theculturetrip.com/north america/usa/missouri/articles /mark-twain-and-the-shaping-of-american-literature-/. The fourth was published at -http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-2661800017/adventures-huckleberry-finn.html. The fifth was published at http://www.penguin.com/static/pdf/teachersguides/AdvHuckFinnTG.pdf
Samuel Langhorne Clemens,(1835-1910) more known as Mark Twain, was the sixth child of John and Jane Clemens. Approximately four years after his birth, the family moved 35 miles east to the town of Hannibal. A growing port city that lay along the bank's of the Mississippi River, Hannibal was a stop for steam boats arriving from St.Louis and New Orleans. Samuel's father was a judge. As a youngster, Samuel was kept indoors because of poor health. However, by age nine, he was recovered. When Samuel was 12, his father died of pneumonia, and at 13, Samuel left school to become a printer's apprentice. After two years, he joined his brother's newspaper as a printer and editorial assistant. It was here that young Samuel found he enjoyed writing. At 17, he left Hannibal for a printer's job in St. Louis. He became a river pilot in 1858, his pseudonym, Mark Twain, comes from his days as a river boat pilot. Because the river trade was brought to a stand still by the Civil War in 1861, Mark Twain began working as a newspaper reporter. in 1870, Mark married Olivia Langdon, and they had four children.
Few figures in the annals of literature can have generated more words than Mark Twain. If it was not the many works that this fabled giant of letters created during his 74-year lifetime, it was the reams of praise that have come afterwards. Whether or not, Mark Twain ranks as the greatest of all American novelist is perhaps an issue that can only be settled by a debate in some celestial bar with the spirits of Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck also in attendance. But there can be no doubt that, over a century on from his death, Twain's reputation in the literary firmament is still lofty indeed, his most important books- "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876) and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1884) still in position as cornerstones of art in the English language.
Although he was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, he will be forever known as the quintessential American writer Mark Twain. Raised in Hannibal, Missouri, Twain began his literary aspirations as a modest young journalist. But it was his quick wit and brilliantly use of a pen that catapult him into literary American royalty. Twain's childhood and adolescence served as the aspirations for his legendary novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (ATS) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (AHF). Published first in 1876 in the wake of the violently turbulent American Civil War, ATS chronicles the mischievous adventures of a clever boy living on the bank of the Mississipi River. Tom Sawyer's streak of harmless trickery leads him to humorous scenarios and shapes this coming of age tale. Alongside his best friend, Huck Finn, Tom's adventurous and playful summer shenanigans of carefree youth takes a dark turn when the boys witness the murder of Dr.Robinson by the town outsider 'Joe' who then accusses a harmless town drunk, 'Muff Potter', of the murder. A summer of treasure hunting quickly unravels during a tense and unlawful trial with a mysterious conclusion. Both Tom Sawyer and its sequel in Huckleberry Finn are landmark texts not only in the canon of Twain's work, but also in that of American literature. His texts have an undeniable sense of place rooted in the speech of his characters. Descriptions of natural sights, smells and sounds of Missouri, display Twain's true craftsmanship as a novelist. His works are not just written texts, but tangible artifacts of both American literary and cultural history. Twain's critical eye, and ear, of social observation and political injustice of an often bigoted America, along with a clever tongue, much like that of his young heroes, has solidified his role as what no less than William Faulkner called 'The father of American Literature'.
Mark Twain's classic The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn is told from the point of view of Huck Finn, a barely literate teen who fakes his own death to escape his abusive, drunken father. He encounters a runaway slave named Jim, and the two embark on a raft journey down the Mississipi River. Through satire, Twain skewers the somewhat unusual definitions of "right" and "wrong" in the pre-Civil War South. The book is a sequel to another of the author's successdul adventure novel, The Adventure of Tom Sawyer. Although the books is much a "boys' novel", humorous, suspenseful and intended as entertainment, also addresses issues such as slavery, prejudice, hypocrisy and morality. Despite Twain's assurances, the book continue to spark controversy over its subject matter even today. Some modern critic argue that the book is inherently racist in its depiction of Jim and its frequent use of the term "nigger." Other critics, speaking in support of the book, point out that the terms used in the book are authentic to the story's setting, they also point out that Jim is the most heroic character in the novel, and is the only major character to demonstrate kindness and self-sacrifice. The book has generated so much critical material that a special edition was published in 1995 under the title of Adventures of Huck Finn: A Case Study in Critical Controversy.
A study of Adventures of Huck Finn, is an adventure in understanding changes in America itself. The book at the center of American geography and consciousness, asks readers to reexamine definitions of "civilization" and freedom, right and wrong, social responsibility and inhumanity. Published at 1885, the novel recounts those pre-civil war days and the center of a shift from Romanticism to Realism in art and literature that would provide for a new way for Americans to express themselves. While the novel is not easy one to teach or to read, it is a important work in American literature, calling for a level of understanding of the Huck's narrative voice. Huck is too inocent and ignorant to understand what is wrong with his society and what is right about his own behavior. Twain, on the other hand, knows the score. Because it brings discussions of race, conformity, slavery, freedom, autonomy and authority, and so much more, students and teachers must be open about these subjects and consider strategies to encourage honest and respectful debate.
