Themes In 'The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg'

Themes in The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg

In the Man that corrupted Hadleyburg, Mark Twain explores a number of themes that are synonymous with the average society of the 19th century. One of the most powerful theme in this short story is hypocrisy. As the narrator reveals in the first paragraph, Hadleyburg was known to be "the most honest and upright town in all the region around and about." In fact, its reputation of being incorruptible seemed to make other neighbouring towns jealous of such an honourable supremacy, since it was unheard of a people that could not be tempted or lured into dishonest acts. What is not known to many is that the residents of Hadleyburg are the most dishonest bunch around.

Their true characters are exposed when

The gambler, who is offended by Hadleyburg, is ill bent on revenging the deeds of the residents by exposing their corruptible nature. The narrator says of the man, "It would have been well to make an exception in this one 's case, for he was a bitter man, and revengeful" (Twain 2). He could not let go of the atrocities committed to him and spent most of his time trying to invent a compensating satisfaction for this (Twain 2). Not only did he want to hurt the people who had offended him, but was bent on hatching a plan which would comprehend the whole town. He later confesses in a separate letter, his desire for revenge by explaining that while passing through Hadleyburg, he was the subject of undeserved wrongdoing. He sets himself apart from any ordinary man by claiming that any other man would have been content to kill one or two of the locals and call it quits, but to him, that would have been a trivial revenge and inadequate since the dead do not suffer. He eventually succeeds in mounting a revenge that exposes Hadleyburg for what it truly represents, hypocrisy and

The stranger’s intent may have been to revenge the people of Hadleyburg, but he actually helped to redeemed them. His plan for revenge helped them see the error in their ways. The town itself, after being exposed for what its residents truly are, decide it is time to redeem its reputation. Hadleyburg, through an act of the legislature in the form of a referendum, decides to change its name. The town further drops one word from their now infamous motto ‘lead us not into temptation’ that had graced the town’s official seal for many years (Twain 42). Mr. Richards, although not exposed by Burgess, is feeling guilty of his corrupt actions. He feels that he can no longer keep this secret and decides to come clean in front of everyone. In his opinion, it is better, to tell the truth, and in so doing die a man, and not a dog (Twain 41). He says of himself, “I was clean, artificially, like the rest; and like the rest, I fell when temptation came. I signed a lie and claimed the miserable sack" (Twain 41). He also exposes Mr. Burgess too, who decide to suppress his claim to the sack, due to a favour he once did to Mr. Burgess. Only Mr. Richards’s testimony could have cleared Burgess, but he opted to remain silent. All these actions are a clear indication of Mr. Richard 's desire to redeem himself before he finally