“A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.”
These were the words echoed by a man during the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age brought around a change in the United States. It was a time where the U.S. experienced a rapid growth, both industrially and how Americans lived. Two men coined the term, “Gilded Age,” Charles Warner Dudley and Samuel Langhorne. Most people will not recognize Clemens at first, as they know him by a much more famous name: Mark Twain. Mark Twain, as the majority of the world knows him by, would end up becoming one of America's most famous literary icons. Twain was an excellent writer, and his published works became famous worldwide.
Mark Twain was born under the name Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Missouri in the year of 1835. At the tender age of twelve, his father passed away. One year later, Clemens dropped out of school to start working as a printer's apprentice. A couple years later, he left the apprenticeship job to join his brother's newspaper. It was here that he started to develop a sense for writing, as he worked as a printer and editorial assistant. He would write many poems, and reports. He also begins to draw tons of satirical sketches for the ORION newspaper. He was an uneducated youth with no background in writing at this point. It was more common at the time for someone with no formal schooling to become a well off writer. Clemens was heading in that direction.
Clemens had a desire to travel. He just could not sit idle in one place for too long. When he was seventeen, he left the paper to pursue a career as a printer in St. Louis. During this time, he also wanted to become a riverboat captain. He received his river boating license in 1858. Clemens actually created his pen name due to his time as a riverboat pilot. The phrase, "Mark Twain," literally means "two fathoms," a phrase that meant it was safe to navigate. Before using Mark Twain almost exclusively, Clemens tried to using Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass as his pen name, but it never stuck.
Twain was active during the Civil War as well. He created his own Confederate Militia that he called The Marion Rangers. It disbanded only two weeks after being established. The Civil War brought a decline to the river boating industry, so Twain decided to take his talents and move onto reporting as his new career. He also tried his hand in gold mining but failed. After his gold mining experiment, he started working as a journalist for newspapers across the U.S. His legend would soon begin to grow.
After he wrote, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavaras County," he gained slight notoriety and experienced mild popularity due to his works. In the fiction, Twain uses a narrator to tell a story about the gambling man named Jim Smiley. That story appeared in the New York Saturday Press on November 18, 1865. People enjoyed his writing style. His blend of creating genuine, real-life characters with writing that made these fictitious characters almost jump out from the page started to make his name spread.
Twain loved to travel. He did not seem to be capable of settling down. He would travel to Europe and the Holy Land via steamboat. He wrote about all his travels and what he saw. Newspapers collected his travels notes and created a book with them all called, Innocents Abroad. The book mostly ridiculed what Twain saw in his travels as well as the manner in which some of the foreigners acted. This prompted him to believe there was a prosperous career in literature.
He married the sister of one of his fellow travelers on the Quaker City steamboat. In 1870, Mark Twain married Olivia Langdon. The two had four children, but Langdon, their only boy, died during infancy. Mark Twain and his wife moved to Hartford, Connecticut so Twain could continue to pursue his writing career.
While in Hartford, Twain befriended Charles Dudley Warner. The two were neighbors and their wives actually pushed them to writing a better novel then the ones they were used to reading. Together, they wrote, The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. It was Twain’s only collaborative project. Twain wrote the first eleven chapters and Warner wrote the next twelve. Some of the chapters were jointly written. This caused the book to be rather clunky as the two writers had different styles, but it detailed in satirical fashion how during the Civil War times, men were selfish, with money on their minds at all times. During the time of this book, the separation of the upper class was well apparent.
He wrote Tom Sawyer and eventually, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which would work as the sequel for Tom Sawyer. These are considered Twain’s best works. Tom Sawyer starts the journey and Huck Finn ends it. They are written in the same timeframe and characters from both books are seen in the other installment. St. Petersburg is the setting for Tom Sawyer which is a fictional town, but it was inspired by Twain’s actual childhood hometown of Hannibal, Missouri. Twain claimed that Tom Sawyer would be his bestselling book to date, but it did not reach the same acclaims that his predecessor made. The book received negative reviews at first. At the time, it was a commercial disaster, but it led Twain into creating his publishing company.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn continued the stories of the young Huck in the St. Petersburg area. The book has received harsh criticism from critics over the years, stating it was racist and the language used was not suitable for younger audiences to view. Ernest Hemmingway said of the book that it was one book in which all modern American literature came from. In 1885 it was banished from the Concord Public Library in Boston Massachusetts due to its language and racial tones. To this day, some schools are seen to either banish the book or restore it back into circulation. It still is seen as one of Twain’s best works and it was one of the first American literatures written in the vernacular, meaning it used words that were much more human sounding then what other authors were wring in their books at the time. It is considered a great American novel for its crisp representation of the United States at that time.
Twain’s way of writing captivated his audiences. He had a talent for creating humor with his words in situations where humor was seldom seen. He also was a renowned humorist and sketch artist. His drawings were usually of satirical fashion with much political intrigue. His writing brilliantly captured the 19th century of American history. He wrote about the happenings of his time, he pondered the future in notes, and was well versed in the universal themes that everyone dealt with. He would end up writing over 30 books. Mark Twain rejuvenated America with his writing and words.
Twain would end up writing many popular and ground breaking books. While becoming increasing fascinated with science, he wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. The book follows the story of a modern man who winds up in medieval times. This was one of the first books which references time travel. He also wrote, The Prince and the Pauper. In this book the Prince of Wales gets mistaken for a poor youth and the two inexplicably switch places for the duration of the book. Thomas Edison made some movie reels of Mark Twain at his home that eventually made their way in the film adaptation for The Prince and the Pauper. It was the only film to ever be recorded of the famous writer.
Beyond writing, Mark Twain also traveled around as an entertainer. Much like a modern stand-up comedian, Twain would speak in humorous fashions to large audiences. His publishing company, along with some poor financial choices, would soon lead him into bankruptcy. His adventures around the U.S. were actually a reaction to his critical failures in his business life. Mark Twain made several poor judgment calls when it came to investing his money. His investment in the Paige typesetter, which was an automatic typesetting machine, resulted in financial failure. This and other bad investments brought him into debt. Much of this is what led him towards the traveling performer route. It helped him become financially stable again. One of his largest books, Mark Twain Speaking, is a collection of all his lectures and speeches. After he repaid all of his debts, he returned home and was greeted by his adoring fans. During his travels, his name became legendary. His work was beloved around the U.S. and all around the world. When his travels were finished, he returned home to Missouri and received an honorary degree at Columbia University.
Another one of Mark Twain's passions was astronomy. He was personally fascinated on the subject of Haley's Comet. The comet had actually passed through our skies the same month Twain was born. This was something that seemed to catch his interest greatly. The comet comes around every 75 years and Twain proclaimed that he would "go out" with Halley's Comet, just as he came into existence during its last passing. Sure enough, as Twain passed away, Halley's Comet made its way across our skies again in April of 1910.
He died at the age of 74. He was buried him with his wife and children at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira New York. He has no living relatives around because the last living member of his household died without bearing any children. What he did leave behind was a wonderful legacy that has become a part of American history. The name Mark Twain, the pseudonym he used almost always, has become legendary. His stories are timeless classics. Fans of his works pass his stories down from generation to generations so that new fans can fall in love with him and continue the cycle. You can find numerous novels created by Mark Twain in almost any library in existence. He was a person of simple origins who turned out to be an extraordinary man.
Although he has long passed, Mark Twain’s influence is easily seen in today’s time. A great number of writers use Mark Twain’s literary blueprint as a staple for success. His form of writing has lead many great minds to become the writers they are today. His name and image are constantly used in references and folklore alike. People have turned his house in Hartford into a museum for some of his better known works and sketches. Streets have been named in his honor. He is an American icon, and has helped America grow both as a nation of literary scholars and with contributions to our vast array of enigmatic public speakers. Mark Twain was a brilliant mind who helped shape our country.
Bibliography
“Biography of Mark Twain.” MarkTwainHouse.org. Web. November 9, 2011.
Gribben, Alan. “The American Novel.” PBS.org. Web. November 7, 2011.
Railton, Stephen. “Mark Twain In His Time” The Electronic Text Center. University of Virginia. Web. November 7, 2011.
“Samuel Langhorne CLEMENS.” Mark Twain Bio. People.Brandeis.edu. Web. November 9, 2011.
Trout, Carlynn. “Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910) [Mark Twain]” Famous Missourians. The State Historical Society of Missouri. Web. November 7, 2011.
Twain, Mark. “Mark Twain Quotes.” Brainy Quotes. Web. November 9, 2011.
