The Private History of a Campaign That Failed: Twain's War Diary

The first paragraph introduces Twain’s decision to run for president and willingness to claim responsibility for all of his wrongful actions throughout his life. For example, Twain uses details to illustrate to the readers various questionable actions, including shooting his grandfather, fleeing the Civil War, and burying his grandmother under his grapevine. “…I emptied shot into his legs. I did this because he snored.” Twain’s interpretation of this event is greatly enhanced by his use of details. In addition, Twain also alludes to

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is a piece of fiction that is so strongly written it can be conceived as the truth. Mark Twain’s ability to paint a clear and realistic picture of the Southern way of life in 1885 is unparalleled in any author. The story of Huckleberry Finn is one that gives ample opportunity for interesting sights into the South at that time. The story consists of Huck and a runaway slave, along with two men and Huck’s faithful friend Tom Sawyer and some points of the novel, floating down the Mississippi’s shores and encountering different feats of Southern culture, tragedy, and adventure. A nice example of Twain’s ability to turn an event on a river into an analysis of Southern culture is a fun bit of the story where Huck

Samuel Langhorne Clemens better known by the name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, and served an apprenticeship with a printer and then worked as a typesetter, contributing articles to the newspaper of his older brother Orion Clemens. He became nothing less than a national treasure. He captured a world audience with stories of boyhood adventure and with commentary on man's faults that is humorous even while it probes the roots of human behavior. One of his most famous essays (satire) that I will analyze is, “A Presidential Candidate”, which was written on June 9th, 1879, in which he evokes a sarcastic tone to mock presidential candidates by using syntax, diction, irony, and examples from his own past.

War has the ability to change many things about the world. While most associate the changes of war with boundaries and governments, people often forgot the influence it has over society and culture. The United States experienced a change similar to this shortly after the Civil war. Citizens were shown the brutality and devastation of war which lead to them having a grim outlook on the world. This viewpoint inspired a new generation of artists and authors who ,with their combined works, created Realism. Writers like Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, Abraham Cahan, Ambrose Bierce, and Henry James pushed the drastic shift from feelings to reality in the hopes of appealing to the more literate working class. Many stories, in order to capture reality, relied on similar techniques and themes such as: simplicity, truth, and criticism.

During the period between the civil war’s end, and about 1914, an American literary movement occurred. This movement is known as realism for its adherence to real life, but should not be confused with naturalism. Mark Twain played a part as one of the Literary minds of this era. In his Poem “the War Prayer”, Twain shows examples of realism about the townspeople, non-believers, and the negative parts of the war.

The first half of Life on the Mississippi was ideally written and reading the extremely detailed and captivating account of Twain's apprenticeship was quite enjoyable. However, the second part of the book was not as fascinating. The short stories were frequently only two pages long and were not very well connected to be a clear read. Though a few of the characters Twain met on his journey were quite interesting, the majority of them merely served as an example of a certain characteristic which he wished to further discuss. This may be due to the fact that Twain was much older by the time he made the trip in the second half of the book, and he had grown aware of the various faults of humanity and thus wrote more analytically and critically than he did in the first half to reflect his change in character and the change of the times he lived in.

Twain describes the time of war as “a glad and gracious time,” and the victorious soldiers as “bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory!” His positive description of imperialism represents the common belief that war is a glorious event and a source of pride for the victors. Twain also describes those against the war, but in a negative light: “the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning...” Twain’s description of anti-imperialists and the treatment they received from others shows how unpopular and seemingly insane their ideas were. Though Twain himself was an anti-imperialist, he describes them in a negative way to gain readers. Most Americans in the early 1900’s were imperialists, and through a positive and prideful description of imperialism at the beginning of his essay, Twain is able to draw in many readers he would have offended if he wrote only of the horrors of imperialism. Twain’s word choice drew in more readers, causing many to now question imperialism. Twain’s word choice describing both pro- and anti-imperialists widens his audience, and his thoughts on the effects of imperialism are seen by more readers. His word choice effectively spreads his message.

Mark Twain was a world renowned novelist and a beloved American Writer. He wrote things about what was happening in the world around him and is also a huge part of American Literature. Although Mark Twain is a famous novelist his home life, background/achievements, and greatest accomplishments are what made him who he is today.

Clemens’ piece is written as a condemnation of the strong religious and nationalistic bellicosity he saw evident in his nation and other alike in his lifetime. This fervor for war was routinely justified by war theology established in the Old Testament. Clemens, having seen the horror rendered by the total war wrought upon the south by Sherman’s march and the Civil War as a whole, it is easy to imagine how strongly opposed he would be to the war theology evident in “The Book of Joshua”. “The War Prayer”, is perhaps Clemens’ attempt to rid the nation of the war theology that in some degree had helped justice the ferocity of the Civil War. The piece begins describing a nation which is at the onset of war. Clemens describes man and woman alike, filled with a fiery desire for war, fueled by their belief in nation and God, not unlike the Israelites in, “The Book of Joshua”. The parallels drawn between the people of the two texts makes Clemens’ writing all the more effective as a criticism of, “The Book of Joshua”. Clemens make very clear that nation’s lust for war is perpetuated by an aggressive war theology. Clemens’ describes the scene, “in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country, and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which moved every listener” (Twain, par. 1). In the following paragraph, Clemens further highlights the relationship between religion and the fervor for war in his description

Mark Twain's Pessimistic Views Exposed in Mark Twain's Pessimistic Views Exposed in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

American author Mark Twain was one of the most influential people of his time. Twain is perhaps best known for his traditional classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a novel about an adventurous boy named Huck Finn as he traverses about on the Mississippi. Under first impressions, Huckleberry Finn would be considered nothing but a children’s tale at heart written by the highly creative Mark Twain. However one interprets it, one can undoubtedly presume that Twain included personal accounts within its pages, humorous and solemn opinions on the aspects of the diverse societies around him during his life. Throughout the entire story, Huck Finn would often come into conflict between choosing what was consciously right and what was morally

The highly lauded novel by Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, entertains the reader with one adventure after another by a young boy (and his runaway slave friend Jim) in the mid-1800s who is on strange but interesting path to adolescence and finally adulthood. What changes did he go through on the way to the end of the novel? And what was his worldview at the end of the novel? These two questions are approached and answered in this paper.

The pioneer and all his train are now arrived safely in the realm of Romance. His prairie schooner drawn by oxen, his log cabin…his prairie of a thousand variable charms…his founding of government… all these, because they are long past and we are proud of the courage and hardihood of our fathers…and a little proud of ourselves for having descended from them – all these transmuted to the very stuff of fable, the very texture of myth. The glory of Lincoln is not unconnected with the pioneer’s proper glory, for Lincoln was subject to hardships of the early settlers.

Twain’s perception of war is inferred to be terrible and destructive because he uses the aged stranger to show his perception of war. When the aged stranger explains to the people, “When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory — must follow it, cannot help but follow it,” and then tells them that wanting to win means wanting to kill, it shows what Twain truly believes about the war. Twain’s perception of religion is negative. We know this because he says “Then came the “long” prayer.” Implying that it was too long and he didn’t like it.

In 1905 in his 70th year of age, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) knew his time was coming close to the end. He had lived an amazing life as a writer, husband, father, and friend to everyone. His writings started to shape the mind of youth in America that would lead to even great or equal authors in years to come. But, with time coming close to the end Clemens knew what truly burned in him and what he need to share before he left this earth behind. It was documented that between the ages of 70 to 75, Clemens writings became more aggressive and his opinion of truth was leaked into the pages of his work. It was during this time that Twain wrote the short story “War Prayer” about