“All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn” (biography.com).
Mark Twain was one of the first to use raw language, short words, and distinct accents in his writings. During his time, most authors looked to the British for their approval. His work was controversial for some because it discussed the issue of slavery/racism. He also wrote his stories to have a humorous effect on people, which wasn’t common at the time. Despite this, he was wildly popular in the nineteenth century and still is today. Mark Twain was an important figure in American literature because his style has influenced many generations of writers.
Mark Twain, whose given name is Samuel Clemens, was born in Florida, Missouri on November 30, 1835. He was the sixth of seven children born to John Marshall and Jane Lampton Clemens, but only three of his siblings survived. He was born two months prematurely and had poor health for the first ten years of his life (history.com). His mother was very protective of him and tried many different remedies during this stage of his life. These events would later inspire his book, The Adventrues of Tom Sawyer (history.com). At around the age of four, his family moved to Hannibal near the Mississippi River. There, he was raised until he was seventeen. He began school when he was four and a half years old. Unfortunately, his father passed away due to pneumonia when he was twelve (biography.com). This left only his mother to provide for their family. So, when the children were old enough, they were put to work. Twain was forced to leave school and got a job as a printer’s apprentice. He worked there until he was fifteen and then got a job as a printer at Hannibal Western Union, a newspaper owned by his older brother, Orion. He began to publish articles under different pseudonyms, such as, W. Epaminondas Adrastus Perkins, Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass, and Josh (brittanica.com).
In 1857, he fulfilled one of his dreams. He began learning how to be a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi and was licensed in 1859 (biography.com). The outbreak of the Civil War cut this dream short. It stopped all boat traffic through the river. Missouri split in two, one for the support of the Union and the other for the support of the Confederacy. Twain was in support for the Confederacy and joined the army in 1861. He was only there for a couple of weeks until his volunteer unit disbanded (biography.com). He then moved to California, where he lived for five years. He had hoped to find gold and silver, wanting to save his family from their financial struggles, but this didn’t work out (biography.com). He had no money and was in need of a job. He became a journalist, lecturer and reporter for the Virginia City newspaper, which is where he developed his writing style and started using the pen name, Mark Twain (biography.com). This is also where he published his first short story, The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, in 1865 (Feldman). This made him an international celebrity. After he published The Innocents Abroad, he moved to Hartford, Connecticut. While writing other books, he used his childhood experiences as inspiration. He used this for many of his works, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Feldman). Many of the characters in his stories are people he met in real life while living in Hannibal (Sweets).
Mark Twain traveled around the globe all throughout his lifetime. He is quoted by saying, “I have traveled more than anyone else, and I have noticed that even the angels speak English with an accent” (Feldman). Hearing these accents influenced him to take a different approach when it came to his writing style, especially in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This was one of the first novels to have distinct dialects, use everyday language, and spoke for the common Americans (history.com). Traveling was not only beneficial to his career, but also to his love life. While on a cruise of the Mediterranean Sea, he met a man named Charlie Langdon. Langdon invited him back to his home to have dinner, where he met Olivia Langdon, the daughter of a wealthy businessman (biography.com). They fell in love and were married in 1870. That same year, they had a son, but he unfortunately died two years later (history.com).
Mark Twain’s writing style was like no other. He was able to state his views in a way that was memorable. His books were also easier for people to read because of the words and format he used. His style was plain with simple dialogue and short words and sentences. He believed that if you could use less but have the same meaning, then you should use it (Feldman).
Twain’s later works differed immensely from the beginning of his career. Many factors contributed to this. Although Twain was a very successful author, he always struggled financially due to wrong investments. This was somewhat reminiscent of his father’s struggle to provide for the family (biography.com). After Huckleberry Finn, he was set on getting money. With the help of his father-in-law, he opened a publishing house. He never received the success he expected, and the house went bankrupt (history.com). These struggles were affecting his state of mind. He became pessimistic and it was showing in his writing. Humor wasn’t as evident but he still used the raw language that made him stand out (history.com). Also, he had a lot of unfinished work because his memory began to falter (biography.com).
The last fifteen years of his life were some of his most honorable years but they were also filled with misery. He was awarded with many public honors, which included degrees from Oxford and Yale. He also went on a world tour with his wife and daughter, Clara, to pay off some of his debts(biography.com). While away on tour, his favorite daughter, Susy, died of spinal meningitis (history.com). After their return to America, his wife was diagnosed with an illness and would soon die. Being the only woman he had ever loved, her death had a great impact on him. He turned bitter and insensitive to his friends and family. His youngest daughter, Jean, had been diagnosed with epilepsy and died of a heart attack at twenty four. Twain would have sudden bursts of rage, paranoia, and was depressed (biography.com). Hamlin Hill, a friend of Twain, says, “Much of the last decade of his life, he lived in hell” (biography.com). On April 21, 1910, Mark Twain died in his home in Connecticut and was buried in Elmira, New York.