Samuel Clemens Biography Essay

Huck Finn seemed like a rebel without a cause right from the start. He seemed as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Huckleberry Finn was also greatly influenced by Tom Sawyer. Huck even joined a band of robbers called “Tom Sawyer’s Gang” in which a group of young boys pretend to capture, rob, and murder people. He saw Tom as a role model, someone who he could look up to. Huck’s decisions during the course of the novel are solely based on Tom and whether he would see fit to it. Huck appeared as a naïve troublemaker in the beginning of the novel.

     "Mark Twain, which is a pseudonym for Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was born in 1835, and died in 1910. He was an american writer and humorist. Maybe one of the reasons Twain will be remembered is because his writings contained morals and positive views. Because Twain's writing is so descriptive, people look to his books for realistic interpretations of places, for his memorable characters, and his ability to describe his hatred for hypocrisy and oppression. HE believed he could write. Most authors relied on other people and what they said, but because Twain was so solitary, he made himself so successful. 1"

Mark Twain, one of the most famous and influential American writers, was born in Hannibal, Missouri on November 30, 1835 and died April 21, 1910. Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, he eventually adopted his famous pseudonym in 1863. Shortly after his father's death in 1847, when Clemens was twelve, his father passed away. After his father death, he applied for an apprenticeship at the local-printing shop. While working in the printing shop, Twain learned the skills required to be a printer and developed an aptitude for witty short essays and responses. Mark Twain was enthralled by his opportunity to develop his skills as a printer, and later he realized that he had a unique talent for writing. By working as an apprentice printer, he

The only thing that distinguishes the two characters is that Tom’s motives were based off of the adventure books he’s read, whereas Huck has more common sense because all of his motives are based on experience and not fiction. Tom’s common sense is compared to Huck’s in chapter 3 of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn when Tom claims that (he fought a pack of Spaniards and A-rabs) “[Huck says], But there warn’t no Spaniards and A-rabs, and there warn’t no camels nor no elephants. It warn’t anything but a Sunday- school picnic...” (Twain 13) “So then I judged that all that stuff was one of Tom Sawyer’s lies. I reckoned he believed in the A-rabs and elephants, but for me I think different”(Twain 14).

It can also be considered an “opposites attract” scheme by Twain. As Tom has a stable, loving family and a home to go too. While Huck who is considered an orphan (due to being the town drunks son) sleeps where he wants, eats what he wants (if he can) and is never forced to go to school or do his “duties”. Most Importantly, Huck has fended for himself for years, and because of it has developed common sense beyond his years and grounding him self in his harsh reality. This is a stark contrast to Tom Sawyer, who creates worlds in his mind and has deep imagination. Even with all these differences Tom still envies the free spirited Huck and will go to great lengths to prove himself, even if Huck sees Tom as his closest friend already.

In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a variety of people influence Huck’s ideology. From the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson’s religious rhetoric to Pap’s brutal, uncivilized manner, many contrasting ideas shape Huck’s belief system. However, among these people, Tom Sawyer holds the greatest impact over Huck’s actions and mentality because of Huck’s immense admiration for him. Huck’s initial encounters with Tom Sawyer establish Tom as a major component of the ideology Huck maintains throughout his journey. Despite Huck’s skepticism and confusion about Tom’s imaginative schemes, Huck regards Tom’s judgements as the truth and follows all of Tom’s plans.

The dissection of the immorality of society is further explored in Tom Sawyer’s scheme to free Jim from the Phelpses’ captivity. Tom, seemingly eager to help Jim escape, creates a plan that seems to exist more for his own amusement than for Jim’s emancipation, a plan that eventually ends in Jim’s recapture and Tom’s injury. Thus, Tom’s plan to free Jim takes on a dark irony as Huck says that Tom is “not mean, but kind”; this is subverted when we discover that Tom has used Jim as a plaything in his game of escape (Evans). Tom and Huck, both boys of about the same age and with similar backgrounds, are a good example of the difference that “sivilized” society makes on the development of the individual. As Tom and Huck plan Jim’s escape, the two represent very different places in their development as individuals; Huck having discovered a new morality through his journey down the Mississippi, and Tom having remained more or less the same as his introduction at the beginning of the novel. While Huck has demonstrated his ability to more fully realize individuals, notably Jim, Tom has been conditioned by society to see slaves as subhuman, and thus has no problem with using Jim as a plaything in his game of adventure. This trivialization of human life, presented by the “civilized” and “kind” Tom, demonstrates the immorality and toxicity of Southern society. Twain also comments on the hypocrisy

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the theme of individual identity, especially contrasted against mob mentality and assimilation, is present in almost every chapter of the novel. Throughout the novel, the characters within the story, especially Huck as the protagonist, make decisions regarding which type of mentality they will use, which then affects their relations with other characters, such as Tom Sawyer. In the book, Twain uses both Huck 's idealization of Tom and Tom, the physical being, as secondary characters to help the reader understand how Huck falls into both of these mentalities and how his identity as individual changes throughout the novel. This insight allows the reader to better understand Huck 's character by showing Huck 's response to the pressure to assimilate to mob mentality, mainly through his relationship with Tom, and development in his ability to think for himself by contrasting his behavior in Tom 's presence and absence along with the reasons this development occurs.

He started to use the pen name Mark Twain while he was on the Enterprise. Changing names during this time was common for writers. "When readers saw that name they looked for a unique perspective upon people and events, and usually a comic one. It signified an invented personality, a mask." He mostly signed humorous journalism and other personal writings by Mark Twain. For his political reporting, he signed himself Samuel L. Clemens. Samuel

1. How does Huck appear to be superior to Tom? In what ways is Huck Finn a superior character archetype to the likes of Tom Sawyer?- well in many a ways, yes sir indeedie! ….. Main point--ergo,the imperative difference--is that Huck Finn is a dynamic character, where (completely like its definition), experiences all the major themes, and both sides of them, and comes to the realistic, practical, right, and humanitarian conclusions regarding those themes. Whereas Tom Sawyer remains static, and focuses more on the scheme, the ploy, the convolution of the plan, and the adventure, and disregarding the final effects or possible outcomes of the scheme. Tom does not care if anyone but himself get hurt along the way.

Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are two close friends, but are also very different from each other. While one lives in a well-respected family, the other is abandoned out onto the streets. While one boy is liked by almost everyone in the community, the other is looked down on by society. The only similarities the two companions have together are their bravery and courageousness, their strong belief in superstition, and their love of adventure. Despite their many differences, both boys know when to make the right decision, and both value friendship above all.

Twain, Mark, pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), American writer and humorist, whose best work is characterized by broad, often irreverent humor or biting social satire. Twain's writing is also known for realism of place and language, memorable characters, and hatred of hypocrisy and oppression.

Comparison of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Huck was brought up and raised without any rules, and he has a strong opposition to anything that might "sivilize" him. This is first shown in the first chapter when the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson tried to pressure Huck to wear new clothes, give up smoking, go to school, to study religion and the Bible, and to "sivilize" him. On the other hand, Tom Sawyer, who lives in a completely civilized world, represents civilization and symbolizes the idealism of civilization. Tom is always looking for adventures and ways to escape from the irrational conduct of civilization.

Halley’s Comet crosses the Earth’s skies every 75 years. Samuel Clemens just so happened to be born following Halley’s comet, and in 1909, he predicted that he would go with Halley’s comet the next year. Clemens stated, “I came in with Halley’s Comet in 1835. Halley’s comet will be coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it” (Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) - Historic Missourians, n.d.). On April 21, 1910, one of the world’s most influential writers died. Just as he predicted, he passed the night after the comet lit up the sky at the age of 75. Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens died from a severe heart attack. He changed his name to Mark Twain because he loved to be in the water and on sailboats. On the Mississippi River, ' Clemens ' meant 'two fathoms deep. ' He never thought that his age made a difference in his life. He always mentioned, “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don 't mind, it doesn 't matter” ("Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) - Historic Missourians, n.d.). He was always optimistic about death and old age.