Summary: A man comes up with a devious plan to ruin a town. He drops off a sack full of gold in Hadleyburg, known for its unfaltering honesty. Mr. and Mrs. Richards are the initial receivers of the sack, which came with instructions to help find its rightful owner. The husband rushed off to the newspaper to print the instructions, but when her came back, he and his wife lamented the fact that they did not keep it to themselves. The nineteen respectable couples of Hadleyburg (the Richards' included) fell into the trap of the stranger, all convincing themselves that the money is theirs.
Commentary: The man that corrupted Hadleyburg did a darn good job, if I do say so myself. THe people of the town had been raised to be honest their entire lives, but, as Mrs. Richards said, once their so-called honesty was tested, they barely lasted two seconds. Many critics call this proof of Mark Twain's pessimism during his later years, because, you know, everyone screws up and stuff. But pessimistic or not, it was true. I'm no longer surprised by stories in which no one wins. Sometimes they make me uncomfortable, but Twain presents it in a way that didn't.
Monday
10. The Esquimau Maiden's Romance (1893)
Summary: In the Arctic Circle, the most beautiful maiden of her tribe relates her life story to Mr. Twain. All she wants out of life is a true romance, but she is the daughter of the richest man in the region, and she is often worried that people only pretend to like her for her money. When Mr. Twain asks how much her father is worth, she excitedly tells him that he is worth twenty-two fish-hooks, "made out of real iron!" She then goes on to relate the story of her last suitor, whom she was sure reciprocated her love. He was accused of stealing one of her father's fish-hooks and was killed. The maiden was devastated and disgusted, until she went to brush her hair with the other girls nine months later and found the missing hook.
Commentary: This short story was my favorite, seeing as how I decided to name the site after it and all. It just goes to show how wealth is completely relative, and how we react to it much the same way around the globe. Our customs might be different, and we might not enjoy soap and candlesticks as a luxurious snack, but we all go through the same trials of doubt and guilt.
Commentary: This short story was my favorite, seeing as how I decided to name the site after it and all. It just goes to show how wealth is completely relative, and how we react to it much the same way around the globe. Our customs might be different, and we might not enjoy soap and candlesticks as a luxurious snack, but we all go through the same trials of doubt and guilt.
9. Eve's Diary (1905)
Summary: The story highlights Eve's experiences in the garden of Eden. She is very observant of everything around her and is talented for coming up with names for all of the animals and strange phenomena around her. She wonders why Adam does not pay as much attention to everything in nature as she does. She states that he is only worried with building shelter and working. After the Fall of Man, Eve reflects on why she loves Adam so much. Forty years later, she passes away.
Commentary: I really liked this short story because of Twain's illustrations of the gender roles. All Eve did was follow Adam around, actually, but it's understandable to not want to be lonely. We are often loneliest when we know there are people around. The story was pretty funny for the most part, but one of the last paragraphs bothered me a bit:
Commentary: I really liked this short story because of Twain's illustrations of the gender roles. All Eve did was follow Adam around, actually, but it's understandable to not want to be lonely. We are often loneliest when we know there are people around. The story was pretty funny for the most part, but one of the last paragraphs bothered me a bit:
Then why is it that I love him? Merely because he is masculine, I think.Oh, Mark Twain. I disagree. I can infer his line of thinking, considering his time period, and I don't really think he was trying to be misogynistic in any way. Regardless, I don't really think that this argument would hold up in today's standards. I'm not a Mark Twain scholar, and I certainly have not attended lengthy debates about the context of this excerpt, but it just leaves me wondering, what about the gay people? I guess because Eve was a heterosexual (as there was no other course to choose from at the time), she did in fact love Adam in that way because of his gender just as a homosexual person would love someone based on their gender. But now that there are more than two people in the world, there is a lot of room for interpretation.
At the bottom, he is good, and I love him for that, but I could love him without it. If he should beat me and abuse me, I should go on loving him. I know it. It is a matter of sex, I think.
8. Ch 1 of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885)
Summary: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ended when Tom and Huck came across $6000 in gold, which the town judge put into a trust that gains a dollar of interest per day. Huck is adopted by the Widow Douglas, who attempts to educate him, which Huck cannot stand so he runs away, but comes back when Tom offers him a spot in his new band of robbers if he is respectful to the widow. later that night, he flicks a spider toward a candle flame, and believes it to be a bad sign. Tom shows up outside his window and he sneaks out.
Commentary: I didn't want to start reading Huckleberry Finn until I finished reading Tom Sawyer, even if Huck did assure me that it "ain't no matter." I read anyway, mostly because his first-person narrative is just so entertaining. I see Huck as a tall, wiry boy, with often-dirty sandy blond hair and equally as sandy freckles. Also, I was curious as to Huck's age, and apparently it's thirteen or fourteen. For some reason, I was under the impression that Huck was older than Tom, but they are the same age. When I first met Huck in Tom Sawyer, he came across as extremely superstitious. I am glad to say that my first impression of him was completely reinforced. In Sawyer, Huck discusses various charms to get rid of warts with Tom, things that should in no way make any difference toward the development or decay of these warts. I wonder if all the boys are as superstitious as Huck, or if he is the only one who takes them seriously.
Commentary: I didn't want to start reading Huckleberry Finn until I finished reading Tom Sawyer, even if Huck did assure me that it "ain't no matter." I read anyway, mostly because his first-person narrative is just so entertaining. I see Huck as a tall, wiry boy, with often-dirty sandy blond hair and equally as sandy freckles. Also, I was curious as to Huck's age, and apparently it's thirteen or fourteen. For some reason, I was under the impression that Huck was older than Tom, but they are the same age. When I first met Huck in Tom Sawyer, he came across as extremely superstitious. I am glad to say that my first impression of him was completely reinforced. In Sawyer, Huck discusses various charms to get rid of warts with Tom, things that should in no way make any difference toward the development or decay of these warts. I wonder if all the boys are as superstitious as Huck, or if he is the only one who takes them seriously.
7. A Fable (1909)
Summary: A painting is hung in front of a mirror, so as to deepen its beauty. A wise cat, idol of all the animals (for he lives in the inside of he house and is therefore knowledgeable about all sorts of human things), tells them of the hole that contains the beautiful painting. The ass is skeptical and goes to find out for himself, but stands in front of the mirror. He reports that the cat is lying, and all he saw in the hole was a handsome ass. One by one, the animals go check the contents of this hole: the cow seeing a cow, the lion tells her she is wrong, because there is only a lion in there and the respected elephant only saw an elephant.
Commentary: I read the title "The Fable" and was surprised to find an actual fable with talking animals and the like. Twain actually provides for us the moral of this fable, writing: "You can find in a text whatever you bring, if you will stand between it and the mirror of your imagination." This is for people who will only read what's in front of them and discard it without really giving it a chance. It doesn't even have to be something that can be read; it can be an idea or a comment that we reject at face-value.
Commentary: I read the title "The Fable" and was surprised to find an actual fable with talking animals and the like. Twain actually provides for us the moral of this fable, writing: "You can find in a text whatever you bring, if you will stand between it and the mirror of your imagination." This is for people who will only read what's in front of them and discard it without really giving it a chance. It doesn't even have to be something that can be read; it can be an idea or a comment that we reject at face-value.
6. Ch 4-6 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Summary: Tom goes to Sunday school, buys himself the prestige of a bible and embarrasses himself, along with his town, in front of an important judge. Then he sits bored in church, until a dog and a pinch-bug interrupt the whole service. On Monday he pretends to have an ailment to get out of school and gets a tooth pulled out. We meet Huck Finn, who trades him his tick for Tom's tooth (Huck drives a hard bargain). He is late to school and he has to sit next to Becky Thatcher. He draws her a picture that says "I love you" and then gets dragged back to his own seat.
Commentary: In these chapters, I learned that boys are grody. Huck and Tom spend like half an hour talking about gross, old tree-stump water and warts and I don't even think I would be able to talk about those things for that long. Also, what in Cardiff Hill is that boy going to do with a tick? That is what I would like to know. I also learned that Tom is a sort of "player," in today's terms. Even considering all these things, I still find the character adorable, but that is not probably something he would enjoy knowing.
Commentary: In these chapters, I learned that boys are grody. Huck and Tom spend like half an hour talking about gross, old tree-stump water and warts and I don't even think I would be able to talk about those things for that long. Also, what in Cardiff Hill is that boy going to do with a tick? That is what I would like to know. I also learned that Tom is a sort of "player," in today's terms. Even considering all these things, I still find the character adorable, but that is not probably something he would enjoy knowing.
Sunday
5. The Story of the Bad Little Boy (1865)/The Story of the Good Little Boy (1870)
Summary: These two short stories follow the lives of two little boys, one bad who is the opposite of every boy in the Sunday-school books and another one who strives to be just like them and lead a virtuous life. One of them ends up a successful and well-respected man, and the other one ends up in pieces. Literally in pieces.
Commentary: I felt like I had to do these two together, instead of individually because they are definitely companion stories. In the Bad Little Boy, the narrator feigns mild bewilderment at the behavior of this boy, but one particular part came across to me as the entire point of the story: "He struck his little sister on the temple with his fist when he was angry, and she didn't linger in pain ... and die with sweet words of forgiveness ... that redoubled the anguish of his breaking heart. No; she got over it." I like the semi-colon in the second sentence a lot. But maybe it's just because I think semi-colons are pretty or something. The Good Little Boy also has a tone of pseudo-astonishment mingled with slight pity for this boy, especially since he always had to go up to the bad little boys and recite his Sunday-school lessons to them like a tired old man. The narrator keeps repeating that even though the good little boy tried really hard to do the very things listed in his Sunday-school books, they never seemed to work out well for him at all. So much so, that one day, when he tried to stop the bad little boys from doing their bad things, he got tangled up in an empty-nitroglycerin-can prank and flew off with a trail of "fifteen dogs stringing after him like the tail of a kite."
Commentary: I felt like I had to do these two together, instead of individually because they are definitely companion stories. In the Bad Little Boy, the narrator feigns mild bewilderment at the behavior of this boy, but one particular part came across to me as the entire point of the story: "He struck his little sister on the temple with his fist when he was angry, and she didn't linger in pain ... and die with sweet words of forgiveness ... that redoubled the anguish of his breaking heart. No; she got over it." I like the semi-colon in the second sentence a lot. But maybe it's just because I think semi-colons are pretty or something. The Good Little Boy also has a tone of pseudo-astonishment mingled with slight pity for this boy, especially since he always had to go up to the bad little boys and recite his Sunday-school lessons to them like a tired old man. The narrator keeps repeating that even though the good little boy tried really hard to do the very things listed in his Sunday-school books, they never seemed to work out well for him at all. So much so, that one day, when he tried to stop the bad little boys from doing their bad things, he got tangled up in an empty-nitroglycerin-can prank and flew off with a trail of "fifteen dogs stringing after him like the tail of a kite."
4. The Capitoline Venus (1869)
Summary: George Arnold, a starving and indebted sculptor in Rome, wishes to marry the love of his life, but her father opposes unless he can make $50,000 in six months. He goes to his best friend, John Smitthe, who takes one of his best sculptures and maims it, assuring him that he was going to take care of it. He purchased a cheap patch of land and transferred it to George, then dug up the statue he had buried there and had it assessed for value by experts, pretending it was an ancient Classical statue. They awarded George ten million francs because of the statue, and the Roman committee decided to create an American joint-stock company to handle future purchases of land
Commentary: There is a note at the bottom of the story that it was written at the time of the "Petrified Giant" scandal, otherwise known as the Cardiff Giant, that also turned out to be a hoax. I like how this story was written in mock-script form, with added scene directions under each chapter title. It retained quotation marks and did not label parts, but it was easy to infer who was saying what. I liked this story a lot because of the melodramatic characters in it. In the third chapter, George went to complain to John and all he responded with was insults like "You are a dummy!" It was wonderful.
Commentary: There is a note at the bottom of the story that it was written at the time of the "Petrified Giant" scandal, otherwise known as the Cardiff Giant, that also turned out to be a hoax. I like how this story was written in mock-script form, with added scene directions under each chapter title. It retained quotation marks and did not label parts, but it was easy to infer who was saying what. I liked this story a lot because of the melodramatic characters in it. In the third chapter, George went to complain to John and all he responded with was insults like "You are a dummy!" It was wonderful.
3. Cannibalism in the Cars (1868)
Summary: The author sits next to this man in the train who then relates to him how he became stranded with several other gentlemen in a railroad car in the middle of a dreadful winter climate. The men found themselves in the need to resort to cannibalism and had elections, with officials and the sort, to decide who would get eaten and when.
Commentary: I was attracted to the cannibalism in the title, but when I actually read the story, I found the political jargon the narrator used a little bit confusing, so I could not really find myself focusing on the actual story. I did enjoy the fact that their elections were exactly like political elections with the complications and standstills and all. My favorite part of the story was the first ballot; it was a tie because half the men valued one candidate's youth, the other half one candidate's size. I found the narrative humorous until I got to the very end, in which the author points out the unnerving pleasantness this man relates this tale with, and I was in fact a little creeped out.
Commentary: I was attracted to the cannibalism in the title, but when I actually read the story, I found the political jargon the narrator used a little bit confusing, so I could not really find myself focusing on the actual story. I did enjoy the fact that their elections were exactly like political elections with the complications and standstills and all. My favorite part of the story was the first ballot; it was a tie because half the men valued one candidate's youth, the other half one candidate's size. I found the narrative humorous until I got to the very end, in which the author points out the unnerving pleasantness this man relates this tale with, and I was in fact a little creeped out.
2. Ch 1-3 of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)
Summary: The first thing Tom Sawyer does is play hooky to swim in the river, and he almost gets away with it, until Sid points out the black thread he used to sew his collar back together. He also gets into a fight with a slightly snotty boy and the next morning tricks several neighborhood boys into whitewashing a fence, and paying him for it on top of that. Then Tom lays eyes on the adorable Becky Thatcher, and later Sid knocks over and breaks the sugar bowl and Tom gets clobbered for it, because let's face it, his hand is in the sugar bowl half the time anyway.
Commentary: I started reading this book in the 9th grade but I wasn't all that interested in it, to be honest. But when I picked it up again this year, I was pleased to find that I truly enjoyed it. Well, the first seven chapters, anyway, because that is all I have read for now. I'd always heard of the infamous whitewashing scam, but this is the first time I actually read it from the source. The way Twain so matter-of-factly narrates Tom's various misadventures only emphasizes the boyish foolishness of Tom Sawyer, and the occasional snippets of moral wisdom that are extracted from Tom's experiences also appeal to the adult I pretend to be.
Commentary: I started reading this book in the 9th grade but I wasn't all that interested in it, to be honest. But when I picked it up again this year, I was pleased to find that I truly enjoyed it. Well, the first seven chapters, anyway, because that is all I have read for now. I'd always heard of the infamous whitewashing scam, but this is the first time I actually read it from the source. The way Twain so matter-of-factly narrates Tom's various misadventures only emphasizes the boyish foolishness of Tom Sawyer, and the occasional snippets of moral wisdom that are extracted from Tom's experiences also appeal to the adult I pretend to be.
1. The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1865)
Summary: Simon Wheeler tells the tale of Jim Smiley, who would bet on anything and everything with little problem. He trained a frog named Daniel Webster to jump higher than any frog in Calaveras County. A stranger came by and Smiley found him his own frog and bet him $40 that he would not beat Daniel Webster. While Smiley was off looking for a frog, the stranger filled Daniel Webster with quail-shot so that he could not jump and Smiley lost his money.
Commentary: When I was reading the story, I expected the stranger to just run off with Smiley's money, seeing as he left it there while he went to "ketch him a frog." I also wanted to be upset that the stranger cheated Smiley but I wasn't. I found out that the actual Daniel Webster was New England's choice for president in 1848, but was beaten by Zachary Taylor, and that made this story funnier than it already was. I particularly enjoyed the bit about Andrew Jackson, and heartily agree that he looks kinda like a bulldog.
Here is the story in stop-motion from the film The Adventures of Mark Twain:
Commentary: When I was reading the story, I expected the stranger to just run off with Smiley's money, seeing as he left it there while he went to "ketch him a frog." I also wanted to be upset that the stranger cheated Smiley but I wasn't. I found out that the actual Daniel Webster was New England's choice for president in 1848, but was beaten by Zachary Taylor, and that made this story funnier than it already was. I particularly enjoyed the bit about Andrew Jackson, and heartily agree that he looks kinda like a bulldog.
Here is the story in stop-motion from the film The Adventures of Mark Twain:
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