Mark Twain: America’s Great Humorist Essay

The 19th century United States was rav fester by war, leanness and great expansion. Novels and American literature flourished during this clip leaving many a(prenominal) of this goals great authors to remain infamous. Much of this literature is still considered whatsoever of the roughly influential written works of art the knowledge domain over. Students all(a) over the country still read and learn much from unmatchable of these authors being prepare duet. The writing, of purpose suspender, one of Americas superior humorists and novelists, was the result of his motivates and lifespantime experiences. Mark dyad the father of American Literature was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30th 1835 in Florida, Missouri. He was born the sixth of s charge children extremely premature and sickly, to Jane Lampton Clemens and Marshall Clemens, a clerk, attorney general, and storeowner in Tennessee (The biography That do Mark both). His father passed when at the youn g age of twelve beat his mother lived until he was fifty-five geezerhood old. (Mark orthodontic braces House) Samuels early life was greatly influenced by the Mississippi river after he moved to Hannibal, Missouri at the age of 4.Look muchhuckleberry finn es rateHannibal became the influence for the fictitious town, St. Petersburg in both novels on tom turkey Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Samuel never had any formal education, but was a ready(a) and keen learner, and visited public libraries quite frequently. existence so fascinated by the river, he became a cub train with the ambition of becoming a riverboat polisher, later earning his license in 1858. His experiences as a successful flee played a major role in his writing, and even influenced the compose name he employ for his entire writing career. The river similarly took his buddy, heat contents life being the victim of a steamboat explosion while functional on the river (Hannibel.net). Clemens love for literatur e was apparent early on. He began working as a typesetter or printing apprentice at the age of eleven and continued to do so, through come out most of his young life. He traveled around most of the country even worked as a typesetter in New York City, Philadelphia, St. Louis, San Francisco and more. He wrote for some(prenominal) newspapers and worked as an editor temporarily (Mark coupling House).He even served a short conviction in the confederate army, seeing no execute and later was sent to travel European countries with the assignment of writing travel logs to be printed in the newspapers (The Life That ShapedMark distich). Although he enjoyed working in the printing world he returned to the river that he loved so much and became a steamboat pilot, a side of meat that held great rank and esteem. The pilots were paid well for the time and were essential for knowing the changing depths of the Mississippi River. As the pilots charted along the river they would frequently sto p to check the river depths employ the second line on a pole in the river intend two fathoms or twelve feet deep, which meant the water was deep enough for the boats to pass. To point this depth the boat workers would cry out, mark twain. (The Mississippi River) This is where he would fetch his iconic pen name. He continued to work as a steamboat pilot even though the Mississippi took the life of his younger brother in a tragic steamboat explosion.If it werent for the outbreak of American complaisant War, in 1865 ceasing travel on the Mississippi, he may bedevil worn out(p) the rest of his days on that river (Mark Twain House). With no work as a steamboat pilot, he left the river to follow his older brother Orion, to the west. During this time he traveled the western part of the US, through the Rocky Mountains, visited Mormon towns and stopped in Virginia City, Nevada where it was that he first of all used the pen name, Mark Twain. Upon returning cornerstone from his travel s he settled down and married Olivia Livy Langdon in 1870 and had 4 children in concert. Their marriage was plagued with heartache. Of the three daughters that they had together, Susy, Clara and Jean only Clara lived past her twenties. They also had one son together who died of Diphtheria at nineteen months old. Some historians invoke that many of his works were influenced by the tender elite he came into run into with as a result of his marriage.From his marriage to Olivia, who came from a liberal notwithstanding educated family, this broad man was exposed to much more. He met striverholding supporters, abolitionists, womens rights activists (including Harriett Beecher Stowe) and Frederick Douglas a utopian writer. His views expanded and in the coming years he wrote most of his successful works at his sister-in-laws manse during summer holidays (Mark Twain House). Oliver and Samuel settled down in a home that he built for the couple in Hartford, Connecticut where he felt up t he family would be properly sheltered. The great works of Mark Twain include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi, A Connecticut Yankee in fairy Arthurs Court, and A Tramp Abroad were greatly influenced by his earlylife, experiences on the Mississippi river and his world travels (Mark Twain House). In writing, A Connecticut Yankee, he opened the world to a new musical style of writing, being science fiction.The novel tells the story of Hank a Connecticut blacksmith whom was knocked out in a fight and wakes up back in time in King Arthurs Court (A Connecticut Yankee). This increased cheer in time travel and more and a recent bowel movement picture film entitled, The Black Knight, starring Martin Lawrence was a loose adaption of this 1889 immaculate (The Black Knight). The author include his feelings on many controversial topics into his work. He wrote of political issues, issues between the north and south, thralldom, and pok ed fun at political and social norms. He held a great belief in mystic connections and included this symbology in many of his pieces of writing. Many contribute this to his birth coinciding with Halleys Comet (Mark Twain House). In the Adventures of Tom Sawyer slavery was barely mentioned by Twain, and African Americans were referred as Negros, instead of more colorful terms used at that time.Then in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain portrays Huckleberry Finn as being adamantly against slavery even attempting to prevent Jim, the, negro, from being found. Twain wrote Huckleberry Finn, during a time that ex-slaves were subjected to economic exploitation, disenfranchisement, and unprovoked lynchings. Huckleberry Finn, is a satire not about slavery but of the racism that overtook American society as Twain wrote the discussion in the late 1870s and early 1880s, which continues to stain America today (Mark Twain House). The authors views on slavery in the US, during the 1800s, w as greatly influenced by his early upbringing in the state of Missouri, a slave state. after he related to those experiences in his novels when expressing his own views on the practice of slavery. Being a grayer he was taught to be pro-slavery, and was encouraged to keep slaves, but he truly shared mixed views on the subject that comprised of southern, western and, Yankee beliefs.The author developed this mixed view thru his experiences as a wanderer, nutriment in hundreds of places around the world. This broad experience allowed him the freedom to choose views on slavery that werent innate to southern living. This was a difficult position as anti-slavery beliefs, were against the beliefs of his family. Conversations with abolitionists, his father in law, and former slaves, forced Twain, to re-examine the world and the morals that were ingrained in him as a resultof his southern upbringing (Mark Twain House). One of Samuels earliest memories of slaves came from an old slave couple who worked on his uncles farm. He spent time thither in the summer with his siblings and would often be entertained by the story- carnal knowledge of slave, Danl and Aunt Hannah. They were some of the first slaves that he knew and cared for before he, ever knew it was, wrong. (The Life That Shaped Mark Twain)In one of his many autobiographies, he explained that one of his first memories of seeing slaves haunted him. It was a memory of ten or more slaves chained together waiting to be shipped downriver to the slave market. He remarked on how sad their faces were (Hannibal.net). He later would make his first writing appearance in Atlantic Monthly by telling the true and sad account of a slave named, Mary Ann pile whose husband and seven children were taken from her and sold to other slaveholders. Mark Twain felt this was wrong and decided to share it with the world (The Life That Shaped Mark Twain). In Huckleberry Finn, Samuel writes that after Huck helped slave Jim get to freedom, his aware started to eat at him, causing him to write a letter to Jims owner, explaining where Jim was. He thought to himself about how close, I came to being lost and way out to hell. (Twain, 214)After writing the letter he hesitates while thinking to himself on the rivers edge, about how good Jim was and about their great time together and then he said to himself, All right, then, Ill go to hell, rupture up the letter and changing his mind (Twain, 214). This scene most definitely symbolizes the internal struggle Samuel felt, when dealing with the act of slavery. Samuel met great success with his many works of fiction, but his love for science ate through his pocket. Samuel make more than todays 8 million dollars and spent it all on onerous to help new inventions take off which turned out to be great failures. All of his savings were dumped into science due to the fact that it intrigued him so much that he wanted to be apart of something new. Many say that Twain passed away fr om a broken heart, the summer before the remnant of his last daughter his best friend H.H. Rogers also passed away.It is said that the sorrowfulness from the combination of great losses created his broken heart. He died on April 21, 1910 at the age of 75 along with the reappearance on Haleys comet. He always joked that came into this world with Haley and would also leave with her. In his later life Samuel attempted having a publishing company and continued on writing. (MarkTwain House) His last writing included an autobiography that was written in a jumble chronological order, always sticking to his humorist roots. Many scholars and historians have attempted to reorganize the work as to make it more comprehendible without success. With his jumbled autobiography he left American Literature perpetually changed. The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC even gives the Mark Twain simoleons for American Humor, every year to an artist who displays a great pretend on American society simi lar to the ways that Mark Twain did in the 19th century (Kennedy Center). Samuel left behind a bequest of great humor and satire all of which can be attributed to his life on the Mississippi River his experiences and his world travels.Works Cited2013 Mark Twain estimate Recipient Carol Burnett. The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for Humor. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.The Black Knight. IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court Novel Summary. Novelguide. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.A Life Lived in a Rapidly Changing World Samuel L. Clemens 1835-1910. Welcome to the Mark Twain House & Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. Hannibal.net The Hannibal Courier-Post. Hannibal.net The Hannibal Courier-Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.The Life That Shaped Mark Twains Anti-Slavery Views. AFT. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.The Mississippi River. Mark Twain at broad. University of California, n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.Twain, Mark, and Harriet Elinor. Smith. Autobiography of Mark Twain (vol. 1) Authoritative Edition from the Mark Twain Project. Readers ed. Vol. 1. Berkeley, CA U of California, 2010. Print. Mark Twain Papers.