An Author and His Work A Kid in King Arthers Court Essay Example For Students

An Author and His Work: A Kid in King Arthers Court Essay Research Term Paper An Author and His Work Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens to John Marshal Clemens and Jane Lampton Clemens. He was born on November 30, 1835 in a small city called Florida, Missouri, which had a population of one hundred people. I increased the population by one percent, he said. It is more than many of the best men in history could have done for a townà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Cox, 7 Samuel, however did not live most of his life in Florida, but moved around throughout his life. His family moved to Hannibal, MO when he was four years old and that was where he went to school. For the reason that there were no public schools in Hannibal at the time, Sam was sent to a private school taught by Mrs. Horr. He had to leave this school at twelve years of age when his father died. There wasnt much money left to support the Clemens after John Clemens died so Sam was forced to be apprenticed to Joseph Ament. Ament owned a print shop and a newspaper called Hannibal Courier. Here was where Sam would cut the last strings connecting him to his childhood and become much of an adult. The apprenticeship led Samuel to fame and fortune in the future and opened his eyes to the world of literature. Cox, 23 The death of Samuels father had a strong effect on him. Although he wasnt very close to John, Sam felt guilt that he hadnt been a better son to his father and promised his mother at the side of Johns body not to brake her heart and to be a better boy. Cox, 23 His time spent in Aments shop was not paid, but he was fed and clothed. He learned to set type and sometimes worked as reporter or assistant editor. Clemens found a great interest in reading during this time and he truly read everything he could get his hands on. He also began enjoying reading a large amount of history. Being brought up in a family of slaveholders, Clemens experienced a lot of brutality and injustice toward slaves. He was taught that it was completely normal and legal for white men to kill niggers over an awkwardly done job and he didnt argue. However, as a little boy, he felt inside that what his father did was wrong and immoral. Many incidents and adventures with slaves that young Sam witnessed wound up in his books decades later. Clemens left Aments shop and went to work with Orion, his older brother, in 1851. His brother offered to pay three and a half-dollars a week but money never seemed to be around. Orion owned a newspaper called the Hannibal Journal and he hired both Sam and his younger brother Henry to be typesetters. However, Sam did more than typeset for Orion. He also wrote for the Journal occasionally. Usually he wrote humorous sketches, but sometimes he also wrote satirical stories, local news reports, and poetry. Samuel first used the pen name Mark Twain for his letters published in the Virginia City, Territorial Enterprise in 1863. Mark Twain is a steamboaters term meaning 2 fathoms or 12 feet of water. Samuels childhood was probably where many of his ideas and stories all originated. He used his adventures as a boy in many novels, such as Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi, and many others. There was an adventure everyday during his life in Hannibal and his friends were just as mischievous as Sam was. The novel A Yankee in King Arthurs Court was strongly influenced by Mark Twains life. It showed the battle that was happening inside Twain between his different feelings for slavery. It also showed Marks hate towards any sort of authority. Cox, 169 This was probably provoked by his early days with his slaveholding family. He saw many times as a child what authority could do to innocent souls and it stayed in his heart for many decades. The Civil War broke out in 1861 and Samuel Clemens decided to side with the Confederacy unlike his whole family. He joined a volunteering unit and fought with the Marion Rangers for some time. Most of this time the small unit was retreating and Sam said, I could have become a soldier myself, if I had waited, I had got part of it learned, I knew more about retreating than the man that invented retreating. Cox, 49 During his life, Mark Twain always had some trouble financially. The Monkey's Paw EssayWhen the king goes with Hank to explore his kingdom in disguise, he is captured and sold as a slave. Twain uses this to show that a king is just as good as any slave and that the only thing that separates him from a slave is his title. He says in his book à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦there is nothing diviner about a king than there is about a tramp, after all. He is just a cheap and hollow artificiality when you do not know he is a king. But reveal his quality, and dear me it takes your very breath away to look at him. The major theme of this novel is the authority and aristocracy issue, but there are other small themes hidden under Twains humor. One such theme is the theme of work. Twain discusses work and pay in this statement The law of work does seem utterly unfair but there it is: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the higher the pay in enjoyment the worker gets out of it, the higher shall be his pay in cash also. The characters in this book were introduced and described through their actions and through dialogue. The main character, Hank Morgan, was almost absolutely a believable character. Only a couple of his traits wouldnt be very believable. One being that he didnt go crazy as soon as he found out what had happened. If he was a real person, I dont think he would just accept the fact that he was in the sixth century so quickly. I think that his other traits were pretty much acceptable. He had normal human being traits like being panicky and he wasnt all good or all evil. There were parts of him that werent angel-like. For example, he never just proved somebody wrong; he always had to make the person feel low and defeated. The other characters, like Sandy and King Arthur, werent really believable. Compared to what is considered normal now, they were actually not realistic at all. However, the story takes place in the sixth century where the characters would be more realistic than if compared to what is considered normal now. Despite the fact that it was sixth century, I still wouldnt be able to imagine real people being like King Arthur or Sandy. They were stereotypical just like all the knights, Merlin, Clarence, and the other characters. This novel wasnt biographical at all. It showed Twains view on certain issues, but it did not describe Twains life. The only thing that might have been at all autobiographical, was the fact that Hank Morgan didnt fit in with his surroundings and was trying to change everything around him. Maybe Twain felt that he was surrounded by people who couldnt understand him. Maybe he only felt secure with several of his friends just like Hank thought only certain men were worthy in the sixth century. Hank Morgan was finally returned to the nineteenth century after war broke out in Camelot. During that war, nineteenth century science and fifty-four young men stood against all of Englands knights and won a flawless victory. Hank was injured and Merlin cast a spell on him that brought him back to nineteenth century. Twains purpose in writing this novel was to show the contrast between the sixth and nineteenth centuries and to show the reader that similar problems exist in both these times. He also brought up some very serious social issues in a humorous way. This novel is truly a work of genius. I enjoyed reading the book a lot. It was exciting and humorous and the plot was really amusing. I especially admired the way Twain wrote the same things that wouldnt be interesting if they werent written the way they were. The way Twain described how Hank was uncomfortable in the armor was an example of how as simple a matter as that can be written so that it sounds interesting and amusing. The way Twain put humor into sixth century economy when talking to Dowley about wages was also excellent. He showed how ignorant the sixth century men were concerning economy. To them, the higher the wages, the better, and it doesnt matter what the prices are. No matter how hard Hank tried to show that if prices are high, then wages mean nothing, Dowley couldnt understand.