I wanted to discuss the topic I brought
to class the other week outlined in my Précis assignment. Mark Twain’s humor
and use of sarcasm appeal to my own sense of humor. He uses the sometimes
ridiculous happenstances to parody the societal norms of the time. The indirect
criticism is a clever and poetic way to attack the institutions that create a
paradox. Racism is a self-contradicting social construction that is still alive
today.
My Précis assignment focused on the idea
that Pudd’nhead Wilson and Those Extraordinary Twins were meant to be a single
novel, not separated as they were published. This little bit of information is valuable;
however the larger issue of race and racism in this country is expounded upon
by the author of the academic journal I researched. Being a Spanish major I
have been enrolled in many cultural studies and language courses. Some of these
courses have made me more culturally sensitive and have revealed the more
profound nature of racism. Even though institutional racism is not as apparent
or regulated today, it still exists in a significant way. There are many large
and small legislative maneuvers that attempt to control minorities within the
United States. In the 19th century and even late into the 20th
century people of color have been subject to discrimination and segregation.
What I appreciate about Mark Twain’s work is that he appropriately creates a satirical
work that highlights, in sometimes a not so subtle way, the flaws of the
standards have created for themselves and others. He utilizes the two pair of “twins”
to develop an argument against the very core of racism. The switching of the
twins points out the blatant contradiction of the blood argument. The blood of
a person of color is only different because society makes it different. The
small community creates the distinction between black and white, when there is
no physical, visible difference. Mark Twain continues to satirize the irony in Those
Extraordinary Twins with the idea of “killing half”. Society, represented by
the court system, elects to execute one twin, but because they are conjoined
twins they doom the other to die as well. Those who judge a decision are truly
caught between a rock and hard place. Mark Twain uses this fiction as a way to
illustrate the impossibility of a solution and relates it back to the inability
of society to make a proper decision.
The two novels make a fun read and
demonstrate the ridiculous contradiction racism presents.