Puddnhead Wilson by Mark Twain Click the picture
Pudd’nhead Wilson by Mark Twain Click the picture to learn more about Twain
Don’t write this down, but… • “His writings – whether humorous and witty, or, as in his later years, pessimistic and cynical – are admired as social commentaries on human nature. ” • Sums up Twain in the eyes of most critics
Note… • Pudd’nhead Wilson – first published in 1894 – One of the 1 st American works to seriously deal w/ slavery – Dialogue and dialect are huge parts of the story…do you know the difference? • Dialogue is conversation between two characters • Dialect is the manner of speaking for a particular area
A Whisper to the Reader n Mark Twain’s offhand humor n He addresses us directly n n He did this in Huck Finn, too. Remember? He informs us of his research methods which are…questionable at best
Other works by Twain • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (10 th) • “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” (11 th) • Two Views of the River (11 th) • A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court – Maybe you saw a spoof…
Chapter 1 n Setting: Dawson’s Landing, Missouri (on the Mississippi River) in 1830 n What else figures in to setting? n n n Social climate. . . a slaveholding town Characters: Its “chief citizen, ” York Driscoll – a judge, childless, member of the FFV n Percy Driscoll, judge’s brother, wife dies after giving birth n
Ch. 1 cont’d • David Wilson gets his nickname by making a joke no one understands • Looking back at the calendar entry …. What might it have to do with Pudd’nhead’s nickname?
Chapter 2 • Wilson doesn’t get much business after that, so he has hobbies – “palmistry” – reading palms, telling fortunes – Taking fingerprints • Characters – Roxana – “Roxy, ” who is 1/16 black – Chambers – Roxy’s son, who is 1/32 black
Check this out… 1 16 1 8 1 4 1 2 1 1 32
Ch. 2 cont’d • PW takes the fingerprints of Roxy, Chambers, and Tom when the boys are 5, 7 and 8 months old • Judge Driscoll has some stolen – Roxy is the only innocent slave because she recently got saved • Roxy realizes that her son could be sold from her • Are both blacks and whites doing the best they can given their situation?
Chapter 3 n n Roxy decides to drown herself and her son She puts on beautiful clothes and fixes her hair She notices that Chambers looks pitiful next to her, so she dresses him up as well It happens very quickly: Sees how beautiful Chambers is n Remembers Mr. Driscoll couldn’t tell them apart n Switches their clothes and cribs n Consoles herself b/c white people have done the same n
Ch. 3 cont’d n She is only afraid of PW n Mr. Driscoll has to go out of town n Roxy goes to see Wilson when the boys are 8 mo. old before she is satisfied
Chapter 4 n n n Nature vs. Nurture…which is stronger? From this point forward, “Tom” means Chambers and “Chambers” means Tom compared to Chambers…would they have turned out the same if they hadn’t been switched?
Ch. 4 cont’d n Roxy regrets her decision most of the time…why not come forward? Can’t prove it n Might get sold if people did believe her n Sometimes Tom is kind to her n n n Percy Driscoll dies Judge Driscoll had previously purchased Chambers Tom goes to live w/ Judge & wife Roxy goes to work on a steamboat
Chapter 5 n n n Judge’s wife dies 2 yrs. after Tom comes Tom goes away to Yale & comes home Judge retires It’s now 1850 (20 years have passed) Judge is president of the Free Thinkers’ Society New characters – Aunt Patsy, who owns a boarding house n Rowena, her romantic daughter n The twins, Angelo and Luigi Capello, who are the highlight of Rowena’s life n
Chapter 6 n n The whole town shows up at Aunt Patsy’s house out of curiosity about the twins The twins end a glorious day by playing the piano
Chapter 7 The difference between a cat and a lie n Judge Driscoll is the first to show off the twins…sound like Ranburne? ? ? n Graveyard, jail, richest man’s house, Freemason’s hall, his best friend (PW) n n While he waits, PW ponders something he saw earlier
Chapter 8 • Roxy – is now 35 – has been working on a steamboat for the last 8 years – Put away $4/mo. for retirement in a bank that went bankrupt • Chambers fills her in on Tom
Chapter 8 • Roxy goes to see Tom – She hoped things would be different, but he’s mean to her again – She asks for money – He refuses; she says next time he’ll beg her for a chance – She threatens to tell the Judge what she knows • With his reputation, it could be anything • He does beg • She requests a meeting at the haunted house
Chapter 9 Just when you think things can’t get worse… n Roxy tells “Tom” his true heritage, bluffs about having it written down, he believes n n Tom’s father was Col. Cecil Burleigh Essex…the one we’ve heard about twice but was “of no consequence”
Chapter 10 n n n Tom finally considers slavery and racism unjust His attitude and personality change…he is humbler He steals enough to sell and pay off his gambling debts
Chapter 11 n n The twins and Tom show up at PW’s house at about the same time Tom tries to embarrass PW by talking about his hobbies, but it backfires n n The twins believe in palmistry PW reads Luigi’s palm Accurately describes Luigi’s character n Reveals details about his past n Even that he has killed a man n
Ch. 11 cont’d n n Tom learns that the knife he stole from them is the murder weapon and is quite valuable Tom refuses to let PW look at his hand The twins and Tom go to a meeting of men who support the buying, selling and consumption of rum Angelo doesn’t drink, Tom insults him, Angelo kicks Tom in the butt, in the confusion, the building catches on fire
Chapter 12 n n n Judge finds out through Pembroke Howard that Tom didn’t fight Luigi but took him to court PW, in his 1 st case ver, defended Luigi and lost Judge is so ashamed that he challenges Luigi to a duel himself
Chapter 13 n n n Wilson is also surprised that Tom went to the court instead of fighting Luigi PW accidentally reveals part of the plot to get the twins’ knife back to the person who stole it, Tom The Democratic party asked PW to run for mayor
Chapter 14 n n n Judge Driscoll respects Luigi because he accepts the dual challenge Judge puts Yom back in the will just in case he gets killed, but he doesn’t tell Tom about it Tom reads the will and vows to behave from now on Roxy is also ashamed that Tom wouldn’t fight She got shot She sets Tom straight about behaving from now on
Chapter 15 n n n Tom, Constable Blake, and PW meet in the street Tom gives both a hard time about the case smug because he is a thief CB even turns on PW Tom told Roxy about the plan, and her “smarter mind” was able to rfigure out the rest of it: They advertised the reward for the knife, but they only advertised the reward for the thief to pawn brokers
Chapter 15 n n Tom suggests that the knife doesn’t exist Tom confesses to his uncle that Luigi is a murderer Tom gets on a boat that night to take things he has stolen to sell The knife is stole from him while he sleeps
Chapter 16 n Roxys new plan: Tom will sell her (even though she is free) n This will pay his gambling debts and he canput some back to buy her back in a year n He sells her down the river assuming that she wont know the difference n Of course she does because she has been steamboating for 8+ years n
Chapter 17 n n Judge Driscoll and Tom campaign for PW and against the twins JD gives the closing speech of the campaign in which he refers to the knife PW wins instantly The twins withdraw from society , only going out at night
Chapter 18 n n n Tom in St, Louis Roxy has run away and come bto find him She’s very angry Tom has seen the man and helped him print up a reward flyer She demands that he go straight to the judge and ask for $300 to buy her back
Chapter 19 n n Plans for another dual have been made – as soon as the judge is rested from the vigorous campaign Around 11 that night , the twins are walking and Tom comes home for another raid on the townsuspects the twins, who were the first to arrive PW knows they didn’t do it Tom plays the devaststed nephew well
Chapter 20 n n n Aunt Patsy Coope 4 r is the twins’ only friend and supporter Pembroke Howard is the prosecutor PW deefends the twins PW stays up all night, knowing there is some detail he’s overlooked Tom comes to visit him’ PW takes his final set of prints from Tom and then realizes in a dream…
Chapter 21 n n n He painstakingly makes copies of the fingerprints to use on an overhead projector “Tom” is handcuffed Roxy stands and confesses
Conclusion n n The twins are popular again “Tom” is sold to pay the Driscoll debtors “Chambers” is given his rightful place, but he has no idea how to speak, write, or act Roxy is forever heartbroken
- Slides: 35
