“Jim said that bees won't sting idiots, but I didn't believe
that, because I tried them lots of times myself and they wouldn't sting me.” ― Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
That’s right… Samuel L. Clemens was one of the most
influential writers in American literature. He went by the pen name Mark Twain
and wrote some really great stories such as: “Adventures of Huckleberry Fin,"
“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," “Life on the Mississippi," “The
Prince and the Pauper," and “The Stolen White Elephant." He actually
wrote quite a collection of stories in his lifetime, including 28 published
books and many published short stories. Still he is most remembered for his
novel “Adventures of Huckleberry Fin."
The actual story that brought him to the point of fame was
called "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog." After that, the rest was
history. Mark Twain went on to become a legend and made his mark on history as
well as the future. But what was the real man like? Who was the actual Mark
Twain?
You may be surprised to learn that the man we all know as
Mark Twain came from very humble beginnings. He was the sixth child of seven
born into a somewhat poor family. His father held several jobs trying to make it
rich but never succeeded. After the death of his father, Samuel Clemens (nom de
plume: Mark Twain) got a job with a printing company making nothing more than samples
of food for pay. When he needed more he got a job at his brother’s newspaper
company. Unsatisfied still with his position, he eventually became a captain on
a steam boat along the Mississippi. This was a lifelong dream of his, and I
think he would have followed through with this career for the rest of his life
had the civil war not ended it for him. With
his dreams down the drain, Clemens decided to explore the west a little. He
mined for silver for a time but failed miserably at that, so he once again
turned to what he knew best, newspapers. This is where he began the road to fame
and also gave himself his pen name Mark Twain. This term on the river actually
meant safe water or twelve feet deep, which was "safe water" for
riverboats back then. It was at this time that he published his story “Jim
Smiley and His Jumping Frog” and as I said earlier the rest is history.
Later in life, Clemens would tell about his struggles and
what drove him to strike it rich in an autobiography. He told about how he needed
to help support his family back home and just living a dream that he had
planted into his own mind. When he got what he wanted he did everything he
could to hang on to it.
“In order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only
necessary to make the thing difficult to obtain."– Mark Twain
He was a man who made things happen. I think that is why I
look up to him so much and perhaps this is why many more do as well. What he
did was took what he experienced in real life and stretched the story a bit
from his imagination. He created genius works of art that portrayed the true
identity of people from all walks of life and from all over the world in some cases. He was an inventor, writer, steamboat captain, miner, explorer, father, son, and a loving husband.
He was, in short, brilliant. He died April 21, 1910 from heart complications.
Picture Credits:
http://www.saisd.net/schools/twain058/
References:
http://www.marktwainmuseum.org/index.php/research/frequently-asked-questions
I was just told by email from a reader about a site that offers a interactive scrapbook for Mark Twain. I checked it out and it is really awesome. Here is the link:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pbs.org/marktwain/scrapbook/01_tom_sawyer/page1.html