MARK TWAIN GREAT AMERICAN NOVELIST

1. MARK TWAIN GREAT AMERICAN NOVELIST

2. Who was Mark Twain? Mark Twain is known to many as one of the most influential American novelists of all time. His legacy includes such well-known works as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Innocents Abroad. Twain is also remembered for his many astute and humorous quotations.

3. Youth Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri. At the age of four, he moved with his family to Hannibal, Missouri, where he was raised. Hannibal would later serve as his inspiration for St. Petersburg, the fictional hometown of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.

4. “One gets large impressions in boyhood, sometimes, which he has to fight against all his life.”- Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad

5. The Institution of Slavery Missouri was a slave state at the time of Twain’s upbringing. He was raised in an environment that condoned and practiced slavery. This exposure would influence his later position as a staunch abolitionist.

6. About Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the definitive statement that freed the slaves and abolished slavery, Twain said, “Lincoln’s Proclamation not only set the black slaves free, but set the white man free also.”

7. Early Employment Twain’s father died in 1847, when Twain was just eleven years old. Twain began work just a year later as a typesetter and printer’s apprentice. He worked in the newspaper trade until the age of 22, when he decided to pursue a lucrative career as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River.

8. Pilot Twain’s work as a pilot on The Mississippi River lasted until 1861, when travel on the river was curtailed by the outbreak of the Civil War. His experiences on the river inspired both his love of the river and the imagery of some of his famous novels.

9. Huck Finn Both Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn lived in fictional St. Petersburg, on the banks of the Mississippi River. Huck especially had a love for the river, and a knowledge of the outdoors. Twain’s intricate knowledge of the Mississippi River, earned in the years he worked as a steamboat pilot, is expressed through Huck’s narration of his adventures on the river.

10. Westward Bound Rather than join the war, Twain traveled west with his brother, visiting Nevada, Hawaii, and California. Twain later developed narratives from his visit to Hawaii into a humorous lecture circuit that became very popular. His public lectures were similar to modern stand-up comedy, drawing large crowds and earning positive reviews.

11. San Francisco Twain’s visit to San Francisco exposed him to a new humanitarian issue. There, he witnessed the mistreatment of Chinese immigrants by the white residents of California. He spoke out against this injustice in public forums and pamphlets.

12. “I have seen Chinamen abused and maltreated in all the mean, cowardly ways possible to the invention of a degraded nature…but I never saw a Chinaman righted in a court of justice for wrongs thus done to him.”—Mark Twain

13. Circle of Friends Twain was acquainted with… Helen Keller Frederick Douglass Ulysses S. Grant Bret Harte Harriet Beecher Stowe Nikola Tesla

14. Popularity Grows Twain continued to travel around the country and the globe, compiling his experiences into humorous lectures and writings. His famous work The Innocents Abroad (1869) details his adventures in Europe. Twain’s popularity in the public eye continued to grow, and he started endorsing products, appearing in advertisements, and promoting his own name.

15. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) Huck Finn is perhaps Twain’s most beloved figure. Through the voice of this uneducated boy, Twain was able to express his views on controversial subjects such as racism and religion. This famous work of satire is held as one of the best works of American literature.

16. Humanitarianism In addition to being opposed to the racism he saw in the United States, Twain spoke out against Imperialism in other countries. Specifically, he targeted Cecil Rhodes of Britain and King Leopold II of Belgium, criticizing the inhumanity of their attempts to expand their empires through “outrageous exploitation and grotesque abuses” in various countries.

17. His Final Days After a long career of writing, speaking and public acclaim, Twain died on April 21, 1910, at the age of 74. His legacy lives on today in a variety of forms. Not only are we able to read the many works he penned, but we are also able to recognize his influence and popularity across the country. Here are some examples:

18. The Mark Twain Museum in Hannibal, Missouri

19. The Mark Twain Memorial Bridge

20. The Mark Twain National Forest

21. Actor Hal Holbrook developed a one-man stage performance based on the lecture series and writings of Mark Twain. His portrayal of the American author has been performed over 2000 times. Stage Performances

22. The Name Lives On In addition to the previous examples, Mark Twain’s name has been given to many schools, awards, natural features like lakes and parks, and even an asteroid. His writing continues to be read in schools and universities across the country, and the issues he addresses are still important to us today.

23. “Mark Twain is the father of American literature.” --William Faulkner