Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Clemens's travels to France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Land eventually become sources of information for "Innocents Abroad", his first book, which was extremely popular. The author points out that slavery influenced Clemens's writings, as seen in "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and the character "Pudd'nhead Wilson". The paper stresses that Clemens proves that one can use one's own history to craft entertaining classics, which speak not only of his immense talent, but also of the time in which he lived.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Biography and Personal Events
Historical Events
Literary Criticism
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Clemens' father died unexpectedly when he was about 13. His mother went from a "fun-loving tenderhearted homemaker" to the head of the household. The family was practically destitute and that fact would forever shape Clemens' career. Because of his father's death, Clemens dropped out of school when he was about 13 years old. His older brother Orion, was a printer and Clemens went to work with him. From there, he would set up various news stories, literary pieces, and humorous works to be reprinted. Clemens contributed some "amateurish bits of humor" to his brother's publication, known as "Orion's Journal." In the following years, to settle his restless nature, he worked as a printer in St. Louis, New York, Philadelphia, and Iowa. On a trip down the Mississippi River, headed toward South America, Clemens arranged to become pilot of the boat, as this was a boyhood dream. He ended up piloting that boat till 1861. He said of those years, "In that brief, sharp schooling, I got personally and familiarly acquainted about all the types of human nature . . . When I find a well-drawn character in fiction or biography I generally take a warm personal interest in him, for the reason that I have known him before--met him on the river." It took the Civil War's effect on river traffic to send Clemens in another direction."

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