Pudd'nhead Wilson
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Pudd'nhead Wilson is a novel by Mark Twain. It was published in 1893-1894 by Century Magazine in seven installments, and is a detective story with some racial themes. The "plot" of this novel is a detective story, in which a series of identities—the judge's murderer, "Tom," "Chambers"—must be sorted out. This structure highlights the problem of identity and one's ability to determine one's own identity. Broader issues of identity are an undeniable problem in this novel. Twain's multiple plots and thrown-together style do serve to inform a central set of issues, with the twins, Pudd'nhead, and Tom and Chambers all serving as variations on a theme.The themes are slavery, tradition, and nature vs. nurture.
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[edit] Context
Pudd'nhead Wilson is one of Twain’s more complex novels from his later, darker period. It is set prior to the American Civil War in the Missouri town of Dawson’s Landing along the Mississippi River. Through the book Twain examines how the fate of the individual is largely determined by society’s (arbitrary) perceptions. The intersection of social perception and the individual in the book can be broken down into several main examples: racial identity, slavery, and first impressions.
Roxy and others suggest that Tom’s hateful behavior is results of something innate, in this case his racial heritage. However, "Tom" has been raised poorly, by a series of sentimental but thoughtless wealthy white people. Which of these factors is responsible for his personality is left a mystery. "Chambers", on the other hand, is a white man who is raised as a slave, in less-than- best possible conditions. He is a decent person. At the novel's conclusion, though, when he has been returned to his rightful position as heir, he is unable to assume the role of wealthy white man, which suggests that his upbringing and not his inborn qualities have had the greater influence on whom he has become. Twain is careful to point out the extreme circumstances behind some of Roxy's more questionable actions, such as her need to switch the babies to prevent her baby from being sold, hints that perhaps he feels that the horrors of slavery, not inborn personality, are the cause of her and other characters' desperate actions.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Thomas Driscoll
Thomas a Becket Driscoll is the son of Percy Driscoll, Tom is switched with Roxy's baby Chambers when he is only a few months old, and is called "Chambers" from then on. "Chambers" is raised as a slave and is purchased by Judge Driscoll when Percy dies to prevent "Tom" from selling him "down the river." "Chambers" is a decent young man who is often forced to fight bullies for "Tom." He was kind and always respectful towards “Tom” but yet receives brutal hate from his master. He speaks in a black dialect spoken during slavery that was broken English.
[edit] Chambers
Valet de Chambre is Roxy's son. At a young age he is switched by his mother with Thomas a Becket Driscoll, a white child who shares his birthday and looks just like him. From then on he is known as "Tom." Raised as a white heir to a large estate, "Tom" is spoiled, vicious, and wicked. In his early year he has an intense hate for “Chambers” even though his hate should contradict his actions because “Tom” was the one that protected and saved his life on numerous occasions. His weakness for gambling leads him into debt, and his "uncle," Judge Driscoll, frequently disinherits him, only to rewrite his will again.
[edit] The Twins
Luigi and Angelo Capello, a set of near-identical twins, appear in Dawson's Landing in reply to an ad placed by Aunt Patsy, who is looking for a boarder. They say they are looking to relax after years of traveling the world. They claim to be the children of an Italian nobleman who was forced to flee Italy after a revolution and died soon afterward. In Twain's original draft of the book, the twins are Siamese; in the text, there are hints that they still are, such as the fact that they were their parents' "only child", they sleep together, they play piano together, and they had an early career as sideshow performers.
[edit] Quote
- "I wish I owned half of that dog."
- "Why?" somebody asked.
- "Because I would kill my half."
- The group searched his face with curiosity, with anxiety even, but found no light there, no expression that they could read. They fell away from him as from something uncanny, and went into privacy to discuss him. One said:
- "'Pears to be a fool."
- "'Pears?" said another. "Is, I reckon you better say."
- "Said he wished he owned half of the dog, the idiot," said a third. "What did he reckon would become of the other half if he killed his half? Do you reckon he thought it would live?"
[edit] Media
A movie in 1919 and a made-for-tv movie in 1984 was based on the book.
