MARK TWAIN A&E Biography notes
ABOUT HUCK FINN • Huck Finn was, and still remains, a controversial book • NOT a “children’s book”—adult themes and ideas
EARLY YEARS • • Prankster, rebel, dreamer The Lincoln of American literature 75 years A man of humble origins Despised wealth but always tried to acquire it Defender of the underdog “The first modern celebrity” – Trademark white suit • Embodied the best and the worst of America
• Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens • Grew up in Hannibal, Missouri • Father died when he was 12; quit school to become a printer’s apprentice • Traveled to New Orleans in 1857 • At age 22 began training as a riverboat pilot (a “steamboatman”) on the Mississippi River – Became a skilled steamboat pilot – “The only unfettered and entirely independent being on the face of the earth” • The people (characters) he met on the river later became models for his characters • Outbreak of Civil War stopped commercial traffic on the Mississippi • Mark Twain served in the Army for a few weeks only
• Sam Clemens’s older brother got a job in the new Nevada Territory, and Clemens tagged along with him to start a new life out west • Virginia City was a wild frontier town • Took up mining, but was not successful • Began storytelling and began his career as a newspaper reporter • Also began writing fiction (short stories) • April 3, 1863 he first used his pen name MARK TWAIN (had used others before) MARK TWAIN-from his riverboat past—water depth measurement – “Mark Twain (two fathoms deep— safe water) (Maybe actually from the saloons? )
• “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calavaras County” first successful short story published • Left Virginia City (to avoid a duel? ) and moved to San Francisco • Began a journalism career in SF • Wrote passionately about the terrible treatment of Chinese in SF at the time • Afraid of police reprisals, he fled to Angel’s Camp, and then took a voyage to ‘the Sandwich islands” (Hawaii) • Wrote and took notes from this fantastic adventure • FIRST BEGAN HIS CAREER AS A LECTURER, STORYTELLER – He performed in dozens of cities to great acclaim – Built a reputation for himself • Perfected his comic alter ego
• 1867 Twain moved east. • Took a voyage to Europe, met Charles Langdon, brother of his future wife, Olivia Langdon. • Twain pursued Olivia (“Livy”) for two years before her father would permit her to marry him. • HE gave HER “zest for life. ” • SHE gave HIM “unconditional love” AND HER FAMILY INTRODUCED HIM TO ABOLITIONIST IDEAS, which he eventually adopted passionately • INNOCENTS ABROAD first successful book (based on his travels with naïve Americans in Europe and the Middle East). – Made fun of Americans who tried to “get cultured” through fast travels in Europe, and also made fun of “European pretentions. ” • SUBSCRIPTION BOOK SALES (“mass audience” literature—books meant for “the masses” as opposed to targeting the elite)
• THE GUILDED AGE was a book that slammed the elite, rich class in America – Spoke for ordinary people • Twains built a huge, fancy home in Hartford, Connecticut • Became “wealthy” and lived the “wealthy” life, even though he despised how the rich behaved • “POPULISM” • Twain loved all the new inventions of the time (1850 s, 1860 s) • Aware that his name and his image could be marketed – Did celebrity endorsements of products (sewing machines, cigars, medicine elixers, etc. ) • Twain’s publishing house “saved” former president U. S. Grant from poverty and economic ruin by publishing the president’s memoirs and making his family $$$
• 1884 PUBLICATION OF THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN • A “vulgar, uneducated” boy tells his own story in his own voice – A FIRST IN AMERICAN LITERATURE • HUCK’S TRANSFORMATION TO ANTI-SLAVERY MIRRORED TWAIN’S OWN • TWAIN AND OLIVIA RAISED THREE DAUGHTERS • Twain was particularly close to his youngest daughter “Susie. ” • Twain’s favorite place was QUARRY FARM (in Olivia’s hometown of Elmira, NY) – Twain had his own writing studio there and he did his best writing there • 1880 s proved financially disastrous for Twains – Forced to declare bankruptcy from a bad investments, but publicly declared he’s pay back all his debts • 1884 (60 years old and not in great health) around-theworld lecture tour to raise money and pay off his debts
• Daughter Susie (left with Olivia’s family in Elmira) died of meningitis while they are gone • Olivia returned to New York to bury her; never returned to the Clemens home in Hartford, CT • Even though Twain was perhaps the most famous man in the world, his later years were marred by personal tragedies. • 1904 Olivia died. • Showered with tributes in his later years, including an honorary degree from Oxford. • Mark Twain, the public institution and figure, (white suits, gregarious) makes a delightful spectacle of himself, but Sam Clemens, the man, was a lonely man. • Died in 1910 – “I came in with Haley’s Comet, and I hope to go out with it, as well. ” – -Haley’s Comet appeared in both the year he was born and the year he died
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