Pudd’nhead Wilson
By Mark Twain
Biography of Mark Twain
• Born Samuel Langhorne
Clemens in 1835
• Raised in Hannibal,
Missouri, a river town
• At age 12, went to work
(as a printer, steamboat
pilot, Confederate soldier
(for only a few weeks), a
prospector, miner, and a
reporter.
X
What’s the big deal about Twain?
TIME magazine
July 14, 2008
• Getting Past Black
and White - TIME
Biography, cont.
• Known as a humorist
because of his early
works. However, after
Life on the Mississippi
and The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn, he
became known as one
of the greatest writers
in America.
Twain’s life was riddled with
tragedy. He experienced the
deaths of his daughters (ages
24 and 29), and was
financially bankrupt most of his
life. His wife died in 1904, and
he died in 1910 at age 74.
•Pudd’nhead
Wilson is not meant
to be humorous as
were the previously
mentioned works.
•Pudd’nhead
Wilson is a novel
that reflects
Twain’s feelings
about racism and
the human spirit.
It also expresses
his belief that
environment
shapes the
human
character.
What do YOU think?
• Is a person’s
• How does history,
character formed
society, and culture
before he or she is
affect who we
born, or does the
become?
environment shape a
person’s character?
• What kinds of traits
do we inherit from our
parents?
Who would you be today if you were
born into one of these families?
Nature
vs. Nurture
• A slave named Roxy
switches her own
baby with her
master’s so that her
son will be free.
Ironically, her son
becomes a selfish,
weak, and horrible
man.
The Connection
to the novel
• Readers are made
aware that Twain’s
point is that
environment shapes
human beings.
Roxy’s son would
have been a humble,
loving, and diligent
man had he been
raised as HER son.
Prepare yourself!
• Twain’s vocabulary is
sophisticated in this
novel! (Notice I used
the word is —why?
)
• You will be required to
keep a vocabulary
journal while reading.
When I ask for it, be
ready!
• For some, Roxy’s
dialect is difficult to
understand. Read
slowly and aloud if it
helps!
A special note from me: I
cannot bear to hear my
students say (or whine!), “This
book is too hard to read. Your
quizzes are too hard.” The last
statement is usually true
because STUDENTS DON’T
TRY TO READ!
Twain’s Effect on Racism in
American Literature
Langston Hughes, one of the
greatest African-American
writers in history (19021967), wrote that:
“Mark Twain, in his
presentation of Negroes as
human beings [in Pudd’nhead
Wilson], stands heads and
shoulders above the other
Southern writers of his times. It
was a period when most writers
who included Negro characters
in their work at all, were given to
presenting the slave as ignorant
and happy, the freed men of
color as ignorant and
miserable, and all Negroes as
either comic servants on the
one hand or dangerous brutes
on the other.”
• “That he makes them
neither heroes nor
villains is a tribute to
his understanding of
the human character.
Color is only skin
deep. In this novel
Twain shows more
than anything else
environment shapes
the man.”
Characters in Pudd’nhead Wilson
LEAVE SPACE UNDER EACH
CHARACTER FOR
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
(TRAITS, ETC.)
Roxy: a slave woman who
belongs to the Driscolls. She
switches her baby with the
Driscoll’s son.
Pudd’nhead Wilson: an attorney
who enjoys the science of
“palmistry” and fingerprints.
Tom: the boy who is known as
Tom Driscoll (a.k.a. Chambers)
Chambers: the boy who is known
as Roxy’s biological son.
Judge Driscoll: Tom’s uncle, a
prosperous man in town
Counts Luigi and Angelo Capello:
two Italian men who come to
Dawson’s Landing to live.
Literary Model Elements
• Exposition: two babies were born in the
same house on the same day—one to a
slave and the other to the master’s wife. A
week later, the white mother died.
• Setting: Dawson’s Landing, MO; 1830
• Hint at conflict: Roxy switches the babies.
IRONY: An abundant element in Pudd’nhead Wilson
• Irony: a method of expression in which the ordinary
meaning of the words is the opposite of the thought in
the speaker’s mind. Irony is an event contrary to what
would naturally be expected.
• There is always irony when a society is unbalanced or
unfair because events result in unfairness toward some
person. When that happens, there is a reckoning or
retribution for an unfair act.
• Irony is used to expose flaws in society and the human
character in either a biting (harsh and/or obvious) or
discreet way.
Your Assignment: A WEBQUEST
• Here’s the 411: You and a partner will serve as either
prosecutors or defense attorneys for an accused criminal
who faces robbery charges. Your client (or “criminal”
you’re attempting to convict) claims he committed the
crime because of his environment. (He has a twin
brother who grew up in a different home! This twin
seems to be a successful, contributing member to
society.)
• Your research: Use the web to answer the following
questions. Also check out the following link for an
interesting news story (“Reunited twins embrace
entwined future”).
Webquest Questions:
• Read the news story at:
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/33433763.stm
• 1) Why are twins used to study the issue of NATURE VS.
NURTURE?
• 2) How could heredity effect one’s tastes, decisions, and
characteristics?
• 3) What types of environmental factors could play upon
people’s tastes, decisions, and characteristics?