The Life and Writings of Samuel Clemens

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, or more widely-known for his pen name Mark Twain, is recognized as the father of American Literature due to his distinctive and “Americanized” literary styles, which set him aside from all other literature genre at the time. Destined to become a legendary figure, Mark Twain’s birth and death were observed with Halley’s Comet blazed across the sky. Though his writings were produced in nineteenth century, many of those underlying literary themes are well-applicable to the modern society and have attributed to his everlasting fame started during his time. A humorist is what most of audience considered himself to be, but many took the stance that his light-hearted jokes as the masquerade of a darker, melancholy truth.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a masterpiece of Mark Twain first published in 1885 received initial disappointing sales. His profane use of language grant him critical reviews which ultimately led to the banning of his work from the public library. However the forbiddance actually stirred public interest in the book. It also forced readers actually to purchase it instead of borrow it from library. The sales of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’s immediately went skyrocketed, and the name Mark Twain was known to every Americans overnight. Earnest Hemingway once commented, “all modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn…It’s the best book we’ve had. All American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since (Trogden 175).”

However not all book reviews are positive. One major arguments of Huckleberry Finn is whether or not it served as Twain’s racial outlet directed against slavery, or African Americans...

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...s intended for adult audiences who are capable of conceiving a subtle nuance as the story was told by innocent voices.

It was surprise to Samuel Clemens himself that the literary career actually brought him farthest down the path and also won him the most respect, since Twain had never held back his zealot for being a riverboat pilot, who even coined a river-related pen name. Nonetheless, Eugene O’Neill once commented, “Mark Twain is the true father of all American literature”, has truly spoke out for majority of Americans, whether they lived in the past or surviving in contemporary era (Fishkin 3). The greatest American satirist had employed exceptional humorous tactics to provoke in depth consideration of human nature and society issues revolved around it. American literature in return, owed sincere appreciation to its father for his phenomenal contributions.