"Two Views of the River"

Mark Twain, born Samuel L. Clemens, grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, not to far from here, and growing up in the "west" influenced his writings (Twain 496). While Mark Twain was riverboating down the Mississippi River, the rest of the country was in an Industrial Revolution (Divine). "Two Views of the River" an exert from Life on the Mississippi was published in 1883 (Twain 496). In 1883 the Brooklyn Bridge under the guidance of financial supporter Boss Tweed, five time zones in the United States are created by John D. Rockerfeller, J. P. Morgan and Canadian railroad companies to help trains run smoother across the large country, and is published just after Booker T. Washington opened up the Tuskegee Institute (Divine). To think that Mark Twain was cruising down the Mississippi, observing the fauna, flora, and beautiful sunsets while the East Coast was experiencing great monopolies and political machines running cities, while the West Coast was still mining for gold and coal and building railroads eastward. Even though slavery was no longer legal in America, Mark Twain's tales of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn involve racial difference and inequality (Divine). Mark Twain's novels let the rest of the country know what was going on in the middle of America and on the river that gave the land life.

"Two Views of the River" is part of Mark Twain's memoir, Life on the Mississippi (Twain 504). He recounts how he viewed the river and nature around it with intense imagery of rivers turning to the color of "blood", "gold", then "black and conspicuous" when a log floated into his view (Twain 504). As Twain sailed the Mississippi and became more consumed with getting his steamboat safely to the final destination and less observant of the beauty of the life surrounding him (Twain 505). By comparing his experience to that of a doctor not being able to see past possible infections, disease, and ailments in his fellow man, Twain relates his experience to all readers as they might never might a Mississippi steamboat pilot, but with a high probability have met a doctor before (Twain 505). Henry David Thoreau would have been a friend of Twain as both men believed in the beauty of nature and how it affected everything around it (Harding). Twain could have visited Thoreau at Waldon Pond and they could have expressed their views on nature with each other.



Divine, Robert A., T. H. Breen, George M. Fredrickson, R. Hal Williams, H. W. Brands, and Ariela J. Gross. America Past and Present AP Edition. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.

Harding, Walter. A Thoreau Handbook by Walter Harding: pp. 131-173 (New York University Press, 1959). © 1959 by New York University Press. Quoted as "Thoreau's Ideas" in Harold Bloom, ed. Henry David Thoreau, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2003. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. 26 Feb. 2012.

Twain, Mark. "Before You Read." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 496. Print.

Twain, Mark. "Two Views of the River." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 504-505. Print.