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May 17 Mirror of American 文/Pallas
注：最近在挖自己的N年前的作文。原来当年还真的挺迷马克吐温哦。把这篇旧东东贴上来自己欣赏。
另外，我发现，我的毕业论文，自己已经看不懂了
 “ All men are liars. When a merely honest man appears he is a comet—his fame is eternal—needs no genius, no talent—mere honesty—Luther, Christ, etc.”
--Mark Twain, 1885
This was what a well-known brilliant novelist thought. During his whole life (1835~1916), Mark Twain had written many immortal works, most of which exposed the true face of America in a humorous way, without reserving. It is exactly right that Mark Twain is considered as the mirror of America.
The reason why Twain’s works can reflect the reality of society and its people mostly based on the wealth of experience he had accumulated. Twain was born in Florida, with the name Samuel Clemens. He first signed the name as Mark Twain in 1863. Though out Twain’s life, he had been engaged in many careers: tramp printer, river pilot, Confederate guerrilla, prospector, newspaper reporter and novelist. He had the chance to live or work with all kind of people and saw though who they were and what they did. These experiences enable Twain to gain a keen perception of human race.
While his experience increased, Mark Twain’s writing cells worked. His novels and himself grew to reflect every beam of light of the society and human being in his time. In the story What Is Man (1906), Twain attempted to explain the seeming duality of human beings by dividing the forces within him between the “head” and the “heart”; or the “speaking” part and the “felling” part, each of which act wholly independently to one another. Thus, it is understandable that Mark Twain believed that “Truth is strange than fiction”.
However, Mark Twain devoted his whole life to unearth the truth covered by the government of US. In one of his fictions, Twain himself, as the main character of the story, turned into a political man who wanted to join the election of sheriff. But the evil electoral system and medium that worked for capitalists gave him a ruined reputation. Mark Twain used the most light and humorous way in talking about a little joke. Irony filled up the whole story, telling us what was real of democracy in America was.
We can also see another face of America , through the fiction The ￡10,000,00 Bank-Note. According to the story, as long as you have lots of money, you are noble as king, while you haven’t, you are cheap as beggar.
Mark Twain’s cynicism to such a society is well known. Said his secretary, Isabel Lyon—who perhaps spent more time with him than anyone else toward the end of his life, Twain often would rant and rave about the “damned human race,” which, as he wrote in The Czar’s Soliloquy (1905), was nothing but an absurd “joke”, and a bad one at that.
Mark Twain described about other life as well. The adventure of Tom Sawyer and The adventure of Huckleberry Finn are two of his famous stories.
Mark Twain’s own entire life was haunted by tragedy. His loss was extremely difficult to recover from. His loved ones were deprived of by Death: his father, brother, his son and his eldest daughter. However, Twain communicated the truth through “humorous and mendacious” stories. In the case of Mark Twain, humor became a strategy of defense and combat.
Mark Twain’s position within the tradition of America is significant. His humor is a subject that has received a great amount of scholarly attention. His particular form of critic exposes the true dark side of the society he lived in that time. As the father of his wonderful works, Mark Twain is worthy of the name: “The Mirror Of America”. Comments (2)
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