Mark Twain's "Puddn'head Wilson"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the themes of Mark Twain's strongly passionate book "Puddn'head Wilson" center on slavery and one woman's effort to relieve her son from slavery and from being sold "down the river". The author points out that, in this novel, Mark Twain includes elements of his life as Samuel Clemens, such as the setting in the small Mississippi valley, the use of different social statuses and the theme of racial segregation during the period in which he was growing up. The paper explains the plot of "Puddn'head Wilson", especially the section about the babies, which the author of this paper believes represents Twain's two identities as white Sam Clemens and anti-slavery Mark Twain.

From the Paper:

"In "Puddn'head Wilson", Twain talks about slaves being "sold down the river." This is where the slaves would get sent further south to the plantations that were known to work the slaves "to death". Nobody wanted to be sold down the river. The thought of this happening was so awful that it caused Roxy to switch her African-American son, who wasn't noticeably black, with the place of a white American to save her son from being sold down the river. This sets the stage for the rest of the book."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ayers, Alex. "The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain." Harper & Row, Publishers. 1987.
• Gair, Christopher. "Whitewashed Exteriors: Mark Twain's Imitation Whites." Journal of American Studies. 2005 Cambridge University Press.
• Glass, Loren. "Trademark Twain." American Literary History Volume 13 Issue 4. 1 December 2001. Oxford University Press.
• Gribben, Alan. "Mark Twain." American Literary Scholarship Journal. 12 August 2003. Duke University Press.
• Krauth, Leland. "Proper Mark Twain." American Literature Journal. 2000. University of Georgia Press.

More papers on Mark Twain's "Puddn'head Wilson":

• Analytical Essay # 7405 : "Criticism on "Puddn'Head Wilson"
• Analytical Essay # 67126 : "Puddn'Head Wilson and Those Extraordinary Twins"
• Book Review # 108474 : "Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn"

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