Samuel Langhorne Clemens is Better Known

Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens is better known as Mark Twain, the distinguished novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, and literary critic who ranks among the great figures of American literature. Written to explain who Mark Twain is (Poetry Foundation). Mark was born November 30,1835, in a tiny village of Florida, Missouri. He died April 21, 1910. Clara, Susy, Jean, and Langdon ( died of infancy) were Marks four children. Mark was the sixth child of John and Jane Clemens. When he was 4 years old they moved to a place near Hannibal, a small town of 1,000 people.

John Clemens (Marks dad) worked as a storekeeper, lawyer, judge, and speculation. He dreamed of wealth but never achieved it. According to young Mark he said he never saw him laugh. By contrast his mother was a very fun and loving, tenderhearted homemaker, spending many winter nights telling stories. She was head of the household in 1847 when her husband, John unexpectedly died.

Mark lived in Hannibal from age four to seventeen. Living in a town on the Mississippi river, a splendid place to live. Steamboats tooted, a decent library was available, and a tradesman such as blacksmiths and tanner's worked on their craft. Though he lived in a common place of violence. At the age of nine he saw a local man murder a cattle rancher and when he was ten he saw a slave die when he was struck by s piece of iron by a white man. Hannibal inspired several of Mark Twain's fictional locales, including "St. Petersburg" in Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. This quote explains how Marks life is intertwined in his stories (Biography). The imaginary towns and rivers or vipers nests of cruelty, poverty, drunkenness, loneliness, and boredom were all parts of his boyhood.

Mark kept in school until age 12, once his father died they needed a source of income so he went to work. He worked as an apprentice printer at the Hannibal courier. This job provided him with a ration of food. By 1821, at 15, he was employed as a printer and occasional writer and editor at the Hannibal Western Union. In 1857, 21 years old he fulfilled a dream of learning the art of piloting a steamboat on the Mississippi. By 1859, he was a licensed pilot. It was a exciting career, and he loved it. Sadly by 1861, his service was cut because the Civil war broke out, halting traffic on the river. Mark joined the Confederate Army in June of 1861. He only served for a few weeks until his volunteer unit disbanded.

Mark wondered where his future would go next, his answer was the great American West. In July 1861, he headed for Nevada and California, where he would live for the next five years. At first he was on the search for silver and gold, convinced he could be the savior of his struggling family. Sadly he didn't find any, by the middle of 1862, he was broke and needed a regular job. Mark soon tried to publish a book , made up of his letters from Hawaii. It was called The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Sketches (1867), sadly it did not sell well.

Later on that same year, he decided to moved to New York City, serving as the traveling correspondent for the San Francisco Alta California and for New York newspapers. He wanted to enlarge his reputation and his audience. Thankfully the announcement of a transatlantic excursion to Europe and the Holy Land provided him with that opportunity.

The Alta paid a good amount of money in the exchange for about 50 letters he would write concerning the trip. Soon his account of the voyage was published in 1869, it was called The Innocents Abroad It was a great success! From there Mark began writing more and more books! On February 2, 1870 Mark married Olivia Louise Langdon in Elmira, NY. By 1878, he published a very well known book which was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Following that in 1884 the sequel was published, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark wrote at least 23 books in his lifetime.

I would say Mark had a hard but successful life. He saw unpleasant things and worked hard his entire life, but it paid off. He worked for a very long time but then found success in his writing. I would say his life was adventurous. He became a very well known author, writing fantastic books. Though he seems to be quite rude. He ridiculed and made fun of everybody, indiscriminate in his criticisms. (Los Angeles Times) They wrote, adding on to the idea that he was indeed rude at times. I do understand that he liked to be funny and controversial, like the comedians in our era. Reporting things as he saw them.

Mark was a very smart man as he quoted I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. Even though Mark had the tendency to be rude at times he was still a good man. Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. quoted by Mark, showing that he still likes to spread goodness.

I enjoyed The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I thought it was a very interesting book. I think Mark did a really good job with detail. I will admit there were times when I was lost, but overall it was a good book. I don't think I would have picked the book for myself, but I didn't mind reading it. I thought the story had good humor and Mark wrote in a way that I felt very connected to the book. I would definitely recommend the book to another!

Sources

https://www.marktwainmuseum.org/frequently-asked-questions/
https://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-mark-twain-racism-20140519-story.html
https://marktwainhouse.org/
https://www.biography.com/people/mark-twain-9512564

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