“I am not an American, I am the American” (Duncan and Ward). Quoting his friend Frank Fuller, Twain boldly declares himself the embodiment of American living, and in all honesty, with some right to do so. Twain was born in 1835 to parents John and Jane Clemens under Halley’s Comet in Florida, Missouri and later moved to Hannibal. He would later die under the same comet 75 years later in 1910. He traveled along the American South and Midwest writing as he went, originally moving west with his brother, Orion, in 1861 hoping to strike it rich in Nevada’s silver rush (Ramussen). Twain’s real name was Samuel Longhorne Clemens but took on the name Mark Twain as a reference to a measurement in his job as steamboat captain, a job that would inspire many of his most famous books, including The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Due to his largely popular books that were told from the point of views of a young children, he is frequently referred to as a “chronicler of childhood” meaning he portrayed adolescence in a way that was both relatable to kids and adults, and was almost a record keeper of the American child’s imagination in his time. He was not like the cookie-cutter authors of his time who mimicked the writing style of English writers, and used his own style and flow of writing. Mark Twain catalyzed a change in American literature by finding his voice through his individuality and consequently encouraging other writers to follow suit.
To begin, Twain was a large supporter of a progressive movement long before the Progressive Era. A large sum of Twain’s books were satirical and attacked the feudalist society of the south and the racism still happening in his time twenty years after the civil war. “… [Twain] was very progressive. He…
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…reedom. Mark Twain was an individual beyond all doubt and encouraged other writers to take steps to find their own movement and find their own style.
Works Cited
Bailey, Thomas A., David M. Kennedy, and Lizabeth Cohen. The American Pageant. 12th ed.N.p.: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.Duncan, Dayton, and Geoffrey C. Ward, writ. Mark Twain. Dir. Ken Burns. PBS, 2001. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
Ellison, Ralph. The Collected Essays of Ralph Ellison. N.p.: Modern Library, 2011. 613. Web. 27
Mar. 2014.Gribben, Alan. “Mark Twain.” The American Novel. PBS, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
Greenblatt, Alan. “Why Mark Twain Still Matters.” National Public Radio. NPR, 21 Apr. 2010.
Web. 13 Mar. 2014.Railton, Stephen. Mark Twain in His Times. University of Virginia, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
Ramussen, R. Kent. Mark Twain A to Z. New York: Facts On File, Inc, 1995. x-xivv. Print.
