Mistaken Identity

MARK TWAIN

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 — April 21, 1910), better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American humorist, satirist, writer, and lecturer. Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has since been called the Great American Novel, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is also known for his quotations. During his lifetime, Clemens became a friend to presidents, artists, leading industrialists, and European royalty.

Clemens enjoyed immense public popularity, and his keen wit and incisive satire earned him praise from both critics and peers. American author William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature".

Years ago I arrived one day at Salamanca, New York, eastward bound; must change cars there and take the sleeper train. There were crowds of people there, and they were swarming into the long sleeper train and packing it full, and it was a perfect purgatory¹ of dust and confusion and gritting of teeth and soft, sweet, and low profanity. I asked the young man in the ticket office if I could have a sleeping-section, and he answered "No," with a snarl that shrivelled me up like burned leather. I went off, smarting under this insult to my dignity, and asked another local official, supplicatingly, if I couldn't have some poor little corner, somewhere in a sleeping car; but he cut me short with a venomous "No, you can't; every corner is full. Now, don't bother me any more"; and he turned his back and walked off. My dignity was in a state now which cannot be described. I was so ruffled that — well, I said to my companion, "If these people knew who I am they — "But my companion cut me short there — "Don't talk such folly," he said; "If they did know who you are, do you suppose it would help your high-mightiness² to a vacancy in a train which has no vacancies in it?"

This did not improve my condition any to speak of, but just then I observed that the colored porter of a sleeping car had his eye on me. I saw his dark countenance light up. He whispered to the uniformed conductor, punctuating with nods and jerks toward me, and straightway this conductor came forward, oozing politeness from every pore.

"Can I be of any service to you?" he asked. "Will you have a place in the sleeper?"

"Yes," I said, "and much oblige me, too. Give me anything — anything will answer."

"We have nothing left but the big family stateroom," he continued, "with two berths and a couple of armchairs in it, but it is entirely at your disposal. Here, Tom, take these satchels aboard."

Then he touched his hat and we and the colored Tom moved along. I was bursting to drop just one little remark to my companion, but I held in and waited. Tom made us comfortable in that sumptuous, great apartment, and then said, with many bows and a perfect affluence of smiles:

"Now, is dey anything you want, sah? Case you kin have jes' anything you wants. It don't make nodifference what it is."⁴

"Can I have some hot water and a tumbler at nine tonight — blazing hot? I asked. "You know about the right temperature for a hot Scotch punch?"

"Yes, sah, dat you kin; you kin pen on it; I'll get it myself."

"Good. Now, that lamp is hung too high. Can I have a big coach candle fixed up just at the head of my bed, so that I can read comfortably?"

"Yes, sah, you kin; I'll fix her up myself, an' I'll fix her so she'll burn all night. Yes, sah; an' you can jes' call for anything you want, and dish yer whole railroad'll be turned wrong end up an' inside out for to get it for you. Dat's so." And he disappeared.

Well, I tilted my head back, hooked my thumbs in my armholes, smiled a smile on my companion, and said, gently:

"Well, what do you say now?"

My companion was not in the humor to respond, and didn't. The next moment that smiling black face was thrust in at the crack of the door, and this speech followed:

"Laws bless you, sah, I knowed you in a minute. I told de conductah so. Laws! I knowed you de minute I sot eyes on you."

"Is that so, my boy?" (Handing him a quadruple fee.) "Who am I?"

"Jenuel McClellan," and he disappeared again.

NOTES

¹ a purgatory — any state or place of temporary punishment (here it is used figuratively)

² your high-mightiness — ironical: on analogy with your highness

³ oozing politeness Irom every pore - ironical: looking extremely polite

⁴ The coloured porter speaks non-standard American English — the so-called "Black English", spoken by the uneducated Negro population in the USA. The phonetic features of "Black English" are recorded by means of deviations from the spelling norm.

Plot Structure and Literary Techniques

1. How is the story structured? Trace the retardation and unexpected turn of events used in the story. Do they contribute to the humorous effect?

2. To what extent does the title prepare the reader for what is to follow? Why is it useful for the author to arouse expectation in the mind of the reader?

3. How sucessfully is the surprise ending technique used in the story?

4. By which technique do you learn more about the characters — by what they say and do, or by what the narrator tells about them?

5. Cite specific instances in the story that bring character to life.

6. How does the narrator differ from his companion in temperament and character? How does each of them view the prospects of getting a ticket for the train? Does it tell you anything about the characters?

7. What is the narrator's reaction when treated disrespectfully? Is this reaction contrasted to his reaction when treated with slavish politeness?

8. Was it really a lamp that he wanted, or was it rather his intention to show his companion how Tom fussed over his whims?

9. How did M. Twain reveal the satisfaction of the narrator at being danced attendance on?

10. How well did the author use dialogue to create reality in character and episode? Choose several passages of dialogue that could also have been written in narrative form, and show why the former approach is more effective as a literary technique.

11. How faithfully did M. Twain record the features of Black English in Tom's speech?

12. Would the story lend itself well to dramatic presentation as a film or a stage-production?

13. What does the story tell us about the author's attitude to social vices and weaknesses of human nature?

14. Does the story exhibit M. Twain's excellent sense of humour?

15. Thomas E. Edison, an American inventor, wrote: "The average American loves his family. If he has any love left over for some other person, he generally selects Mark Twain." How would you account for that?

TEXT 3.

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