Mark Twain – "Two Views of the River"

Samuel Langhorne, whose pen name is Mark Twain, lived in Missouri during his childhood (Wilhelm). He lived in Hannibal. Twain fell in love with the Mississippi River at a very young age, and he had always wanted to be a riverboat pilot. His father died when he was very young causing him to find a job as a printer's apprentice. After several years though, Twain managed to have his dream job. Later in life Twain moved to Nevada. From his experiences in Nevada, Twain wrote his short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County". Twain later wrote "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" from his experiences he had as a riverboat pilot. These two novels made him a very well known and iconic writer. Twain also wrote, "Two Views of the River" from his river boating experiences (Wilhelm).

Mark Twains, "Two Views of the River" is about his life as a riverboat pilot. Twain has wanted to be a riverboat pilot all his life (Wilhelm). Once he finally becomes a riverboat pilot and is one for a very long time, he finds that something is missing that used to be there (Twain). Twain soon finds that a river that he once loved very much has no interest to him anymore, and it is very sad.

This story portrays Realism in that it shows a lot about an American Hero chasing after his American Dream. Twain grew up without a father, so he did not have a lot of money (Wilhelm). He had to get a job at a very early age, so his dream of being a riverboat pilot was far from attainable. Somehow, Twain was able to obtain his American Dream, though, going from "rags to riches", (riches being his dream of being a riverboat pilot) and he soon was living a pretty good life (Wilhelm). Unfortunately though, in Twain's "Two Views of the River" the reader of Mark Twain's novels finds out that his extreme love for the Mississippi River and passion for river boating have come to an end (Twain). Twain finds that something is missing in what he used to love, which is a very sad thing for one to read about because that same thing happens to a lot of people. It is extremely sad to here it happen to one's favorite author though.

Nature is also present in Twain's "Two Views of the River" because Twain is talking about a river which is definitely in nature. Twain always describes how beautiful and peaceful the river is and how he always looks at it in awe (Twain). This is a trait of Realism because nature is a main element in telling a story how it really happens. Nature tends to have a huge impact on a story especially in Realism.

Human nature is somewhat a part of "Two Views of the River" because Twain tries to get his reader to think about what they really want (Twain). He describes how his love for the river and being a riverboat pilot of died, and he asks the reader to think about what they really want which brings out the human nature in all of the readers (Twain).

Works Cited:

Twain, Mark. From "Two Views of the River." Glencoe Literature. Ed. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Colombus: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 504-505. Print.