Mark Twain

Mark Twain's Biography

Let's start with Mark Twain's biography. Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known to his readers as Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, lecturer, publisher, and entrepreneur.

Mark Twain's Early Life and Tragedy

Mark Twain was born in November 1835 in Florida, Missouri. He was born two months premature and was not expeced to live. As a result, he was fairly sickly for the first ten years of his life. When young Sam Clemens was four, his father sought a business opportunity and moved the family to Hannibal, Missouri.

There the boy would entertain himself with harmless childish pranks and youthful mischief while his father was plagued with debt from poor business decisions, much like Twain would suffer later in life.

It was during this time that Clemens would spend much of his childhood fishing, swimming, and exploring the banks of the Mississippi River. When Sam Clemens was about 12, his father unexpectedly died from pneumonia. Young Clemens then picked up odd jobs throughout Hannibal to help the family pay bills and have enough food to eat.

Clemens worked as a delivery boy, a grocer's clerk, and an assistant blacksmith until he became an apprentice printer as a thirteen-year-old boy. He had a limited elementary education because he had to work to support his family at a young age.

Mark Twain's Careers and Love Life

Samuel then worked for several newspapers, and as he grew he sporadically abandoned journalism to work as a riverboat pilot and journey the 1,200 miles of the Mississippi. In the 1860s he spent time in the West panning for gold and in newspaper work. He also travelled to Europe and the Holy Land, experiences which would later inform his writing in The Innocents Abroad (1869) and Roughing It (1872).

In 1863 Clemens adopted the pen name Mark Twain, and in 1867 he won notoriety for publishing an entertaining collection of writings, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and other Sketches (1867).

Five years later, Twain met Olivia (Livy) Langdon, and began a lecture tour of the American Midwest. He also signed a contract for his first book, The Innocents Abroad. Livy worked as an editor on his manuscript (as well as all others after it), and in 1870 the two married and welcomed their first son, Langdon.

The couple continued to grow the family in their Connecticut home as Twain worked on his two most successful novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). After Langdon, Livy gave birth to three daughters, while Twain traveled, lectured, invented, and wrote.

Mark Twain's Personal Tragedies and Financial Struggles

Mark Twain's life was littered with loss and financial troubles. As previously mentioned, he lost his father as a young boy. Before Twain had even published his first novel, his brother tragically died in a steamboat accident. Two years after the premature birth of their son Langdon, Livy and Twain lost him to diphtheria.

Daughter Susy died of spinal meningitis when she was 24. Following this, Twain suffered the loss of his wife, Livy, in 1904. One year before Twain's own death, his daughter Jean died of a heart attack at 29 years of age.

Because of many failed business ventures, including a printing press and publishing company that left him bankrupt, Twain and his family had to leave their beloved Hartford mansion and move to Berlin, Germany. His financial struggles stayed with him for the rest of his life, and he continued to work, giving lectures and working with a biographer to document his life.

Mark Twain's Cause of Death

Because of his mounting debt and failed business ventures, Mark Twain had to work as a lecturer well into his old age. When Twain was 70, Theodore Roosevelt invited him to the White House and he continued to lecture, even speaking to Congress about copyright issues.

In 1908 Twain moved into Stormfield, a property in Redding, Connecticut. This was the last place he would call home. After a trip to Bermuda to relax and improve his ailing health, Twain developed heart problems, and returned to Stormfield. His only surviving child, Clara, was by his bedside when he died in 1910.

Books by Mark Twain

Mark Twain is credited with writing at least 28 books and many short stories. The topics are probing, and presented in a way that entices and entertains the audience.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer focuses on the title character, Tom Sawyer, an imaginative boy growing up along the Mississippi River. Tom and two of his friends pretend to be river pirates and hide on Jackson's Island. When Tom's Aunt Polly can't find him, the whole town believes he is dead. With the support of his friends. Tom sneaks back into town to attend his own funeral. This is a coming-of-age novel that deals with the importance of friendship.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn focuses on Tom's friend, Huck, who escapes his home and abusive alcoholic father. He journeys down the Mississippi on a makeshift raft with runaway slave, Jim. The title character, Huck Finn, sees a conflict between the legal and social norms of the time and what is moral.

Huck recognizes Jim as a man and more than just a piece of property, and resolves to do what is morally right, rather than what is right according to society. The book deals with the themes of slavery, moral decisions, and even gender roles in insightful and thought-provoking ways.

The Innocents Abroad (1869)

The Innocents Abroad is a humoristic travel guide that examines Americans and the nature of people in highly observant and comical, and sarcastic ways. Twain uses humor to highlight the differences between Americans and people in other countries. It is funny for its self-effacing humor and novel for its insightful observations.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889)

The novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court follows Hank Morgan, the protagonist, as he is knocked unconscious and transported through time and space back into the Dark Ages. He is captured by one of King Arthur's knights, and he uses his knowledge of the future to make others believe he is a skilled magician. Hank attempts to modernize this society and fails at trying to prevent King Arthur's death.

Mark Twain: Facts

A little-known fact about Twain is that he was an inventor! In addition to working on his novels in Connecticut, Twain also:

• invented a board game and bought a patent on it, but never manufactured or sold the game.

• loved scrapbooking and invented a self-adhesive scrapbook that worked like an envelope.

• abhorred suspenders, and sought a way to improve them. He found the buttons and snaps difficult to use and invented a garment clasp system to secure them. Although his invention was not embraced for suspenders, it is now often used to secure the elastic bands on the back of bras.

Mark Twain: Quotes

Mark Twain was a humorist who toured the country and gave lectures. He is famous for his one-liners and keen observations about mankind and life. While many great quotes came from his lectures, some very famous ones can be found in his essays and novels. The quotes reveal his unique perspective on human nature.

In his essay "The Lowest Animal", Twain explains how man is the only animal that is cruel and inflicts pain for the pleasure of it. Cats play with mice, but do not know of the suffering. Man is aware he causes suffering to others, and continues to do so. Very plainly, Twain argues that the true "lowest animal," is mankind.

Arguably the strongest line of the novel, this phrase is spoken by Huck Finn. He struggles with the moral decision of whether to help Jim, a slave, escape slavery or not. The young boy concludes that he would rather help Jim, even if it means damning his own soul. This morally sound admission by a young man is still one of the most famous lines in American Literature.

This line from the novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer reveals one of the main issues Twain surfaced in his novels, short stories, essays, and lectures. Humans rarely challenge or question social habits and norms the longer they have been a part of a culture. It is a criticism of humankind's inability to self-reflect and think critically about action.